Legacy of Kain: Defiance Hands-On Impressions

During a recent visit to the PlayStation Experience event in London, we had the opportunity to check out the PS2 version of Legacy of Kain: Defiance. The build on show allowed us to play only as Kain (Raziel will also be featured in the final game), but it afforded us a good opportunity to check out some of his special moves, as we were attacked by numerous soldiers.

The castle interior level we were playing in seemed at first to be very linear in design, but once we discovered that Kain is able to walk through iron gates and the like by automatically assuming his mist form, we found that a number of other areas were available for us to explore. There were plenty of prisoners chained to the walls inside the castle for us to feed on, but there were also plenty of enemy soldiers out to get us. Kain is more effective in combat than ever before, and, with good timing on the player's part, he is able to send enemies up into the air with a rising attack and then strike them with up to three more blows before they have a chance to drop back to the floor. Kain is also able to pull enemies toward him using his telekinesis ability, which proved especially useful when we came under attack from an archer in a high position.

The telekinesis ability can also be used to locate secret areas by causing certain areas of brickwork to crumble. We didn't find anything particularly exciting during our brief time with the game, though--just enemy soldiers lying in wait. At the end of our session, we left feeling pretty impressed with what we'd seen in Legacy of Kain: Defiance--even if we were a little disappointed that we didn't get to take Raziel for a spin. The game's visuals are impressive throughout, the combat is enjoyable, and the prospect of getting to play as both Kain and Raziel in the same game is exciting to say the least. For more information on Legacy of Kain: Defiance, which is currently scheduled for release in November, check out our previous coverage of the game.