Crystal Dynamics recently gave us a look at Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2, the sequel to Silicon Knights' 1996 PlayStation game. The game will be the fourth installment in the Legacy of Kain series--a series that is coming dangerously close to usurping Tomb Raider as Eidos' flagship series.

　　Click for full-size image Because the game's story takes place thousands of years before the events in Soul Reaver, it stars a much younger and less-powerful Kain. After a heated battle with the vampire-hunting Sarafan roughly 200 years after the events in the original Blood Omen, as the story goes, Kain goes deep underground in a state of vampiric hibernation. Stripped of his Soul Reaver and left for dead by the Sarafan lord, Kain eventually wakes up, years later, in the city of Meridian, in an altogether different world. As it turns out, many of Kain's ex-brethren have joined the ranks of the Sarafan, who have begun to mercilessly persecute Nosgoth's vampires. Resurrected by agents of a vampire resistance centered in Meridian, Kain must seek out his ex-clansmen one by one. Ultimately, his quest to reclaim both his honor and his magical weapon will lead him to the very warrior priest who felled him years ago.

　　As previously reported, Blood Omen 2 will focus heavily on combat. A lot of work has obviously gone into the game's weapon-based combat system, and its effects are readily apparent, even at this early stage. Throughout the game--scattered on the ground as well as equipped by enemies--will be a variety of weapons, including swords, axes, staves, and daggers. Kain can pick up these weapons, each of which has its own combat characteristics; for instance, axes are powerful but slow, while daggers are weak and swift. He'll also animate differently depending on which weapon he's using, rather than relying on a single canned sequence for each. Kain can also grab enemies when he gets close enough to them and assault them with his weapon while they're defenseless. Again, the animations used for the grapple attacks will be particular to the weapon Kain's using. If he's holding a dagger, he'll stab his foes repeatedly; if he's armed with an ax, he'll brutally cleave their groins.

　　Click for full-size image Blocking and evasion are integral to combat. Combat in Blood Omen 2 is fast paced, so you can expect battles to unfold at a frenetic pace. Enemies will block your attacks fluidly, fending off both high and low attacks with appropriate animations.

　　Stealth also factors heavily into the game's combat system. As a vampire, Kain can fade into darkness, which lets him move undetected through many of the game's environments. If he attacks enemies while hidden, he'll kill them instantly, much like the ninja in Activsion's Tenchu games. Depending on how he's armed, these slayings will bear differing visual representations. During our visit, we were witness to both a grisly disemboweling, courtesy of Kain's sword, and an impromptu heart extraction, by sole means of his hand.

　　Despite being a relatively young vampire at the outset of Blood Omen 2, Kain is still an extremely powerful and engaging character, possessed by a great many intriguing powers, inside and outside of combat.

　　Throughout the course of Blood Omen 2, Kain will acquire a host of vampiric abilities. Click for full-size image

　　He starts the game with three of them intact: invisibility, his classic bloodsucking power, and a graceful "silent glide." Invisibility is the root of Kain's stealth abilities; with it, he can prowl through shadows unseen. His bloodsucking ability lets him drain health from his slain enemies to replenish his own strength. When he performs the bloodsucking ability on an enemy, a mini-cutscene plays, which will surely excite fans of the original Blood Omen. Finally, the silent glide ability lets Kain safely and noiselessly fall from otherwise deadly heights without revealing his presence to enemies.

　　As he defeats Sarafan leaders, though, Kain will gain access to their powers and become more powerful. Called "dark gifts," these powers will let Kain affect the gameworld and its inhabitants in a number of ways. The charm ability is a perfect example. With it, Kain can literally possess townsfolk and use them to enact his will. The power will play a large role in the game's puzzles: Crystal Dynamics showed us one puzzle that involved Kain charming a human into releasing him from a cell where he was being held. Presumably the charm power will also be useful for scouring the game's environments safely, without arousing the suspicion of enemies. We were also shown Kain's superjump ability, which lets him effortlessly cover enormous distances with his leaps. To use this ability you move a sort of targeting marker onto your destination before executing the jump. A successful jump results in a dynamic animation of Kain darting through the sky. While this element could potentially lead to less challenging gameplay, its execution seems tight, and the effect isn't unsatisfying. Crystal Dynamics also mentioned the force blast ability, though we didn't get to see it in action. This ability will be useful for clearing obstacles blocking Kain's path, effectively destroying them. In the final game, in any case, Kain will gain access to a total of six abilities. We hope they're as interesting and diverse as the ones we've already seen.

　　Click for full-size image Kain's myriad abilities really seem to immerse you in the dark, seedy city of Meridian. The city itself, though, is impressive in its own right, possessed as it is by a great many small details that set it in motion. Aesthetically, the city's tone is grim, stifling, and intimidating. Heavily armed guards patrol the streets, and fog seems prevalent, lending both its lowliest slum and most resplendent mansion the same thick, heavy feel. Crystal Dynamics cites steam punk as the design's influence, and the term is appropriate--the game is set in an era comparable to Earth's renaissance, though certain magical techniques have made life a bit easier for the world's inhabitants. Specifically, Meridian's inhabitants use magical glyphs as a form of energy to power everything from machines in factories, to magical anti-vampire barriers. Of course, these glyphs will have a bearing on the game, and so will their creators--the mysterious glyphwrights. Exactly how much of a bearing, though, has yet to be seen.

　　As you travel through the city, you'll notice that the inhabitants will interact with one another, chatting with and greeting each other as appropriate. Even in combat, the relationships between the city's inhabitants come into play. Engage both a thief and a guard in combat simultaneously, for example, and they'll attack each other, often allowing you to escape unscathed.

　　Crystal Dynamics clearly seeks to imbue its Legacy of Kain series with a mythology as deep and rich as that found in the most popular science fiction and fantasy series. Only by creating rich, living worlds, though, can it hope to achieve this. Fortunately, games like Blood Omen 2 give the impression that the studio is on the right track. We'll have more on Blood Omen 2 as soon as additional information is revealed. The game is due out at the end of this year.