Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
Encyclopedia
Blood Omen 2 is an action-adventure game
developed by Crystal Dynamics
and published by Eidos Interactive
. It is the fourth game in the Legacy of Kain
series. Although chronologically it is set between the events of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
, the events of the game did not occur in the original history, and only took place in Nosgoth's history due to a paradoxical time-altering event which took place in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
which distorted the timeline. It was released on the PlayStation 2
, Xbox
, GameCube
, and Microsoft Windows
.
A pattern is established early on: Kain fights his way to a small puzzle, which is solved with something simplistic (i.e. pull a lever, lower a bridge). Next the player fights more enemies while working his or her way to a larger puzzle, which is then solved and a cutscene is triggered to reveal the next step in the storyline. At the end of a series of puzzles to progress through the level, Kain meets the boss or speaks to the creature he's seeking. The glyph energy channels spread throughout the city of Meridian, where the game takes place, offer various brainteaser challenges to the player. On occasion, the player has to clear an area of its enemies in order to solve an intricate puzzle. Puzzles in the game begin simplistic and then advance in complexity, with some of the more advanced ones involving several working parts to fully solve. The "Charm" and "Telekinesis" gifts are integral to puzzles in later levels, as described below.
One of the two initial Dark Gifts; when Kain is standing in mist he is able to assume a mist form, making him near invisible, unless he moves directly in front of an enemy. While in mist form, Kain moves silently, and is able to sneak up on and dispatch enemies with a particularly gory stealth attack. The attack varies depending on the weapon Kain is carrying at the time. When a skull appears above an enemy's head, a stealth attack can be executed.
The second of the two initial Dark Gifts; in combat this allows Kain to execute a single strike at double his normal strength. This power, like all combat Dark Gifts, is fueled by Kain's 'Rage Bar'. When Kain starts to glow red, the Fury attack can be executed.
Allows Kain to leap further than humanly possible. When the gift is activated, Kain tenses for the jump, and a ghost image of his form appears. This image shows where Kain will jump to. When the ghost image adopts a purple hue, the jump can be made by pressing the button again. If Kain jumps into an enemy, the ghost image turns red, and a strong knock-down attack is executed as Kain completes the jump.
Allows Kain to take control of a non-hostile character. When the gift is activated, a target appears. Once it is moved over a civilian character, the button can be pressed again, and the player then assumes control over that character. While under Kain's control the character can be moved, and can activate switches etc., but cannot attack and cannot stray beyond a certain range of Kain's person. If the charmed individual moves too far, the entire effect is canceled.
Allows Kain to execute a flurry of attacks against a single enemy, culminating in a slow motion scene where the camera attempts a 180-degree pan and the enemy is seen flying through the air after Kain's final blow. Also a combat Dark Gift, this attack is fueled by the Rage Bar.
Allows Kain to manipulate certain objects using his mind, particularly the special telekinetic emblems which act as switches during the latter portion of the game. This gift is targeted, much like Charm. It can also be used to attack enemies from a distance, always triggering a knockdown. There is no boss battle to gain this gift; it is acquired after Kain meets an ally vampire later in the game.
The final Dark Gift. This power allows Kain to set his enemies on fire using only his mind, causing instant death to the targeted foe. The sole enemy powerful enough to withstand this unstoppable attack is the Sarafan Lord, the final boss of the game. This gift, like Fury and Berserk, is combat only and is fueled by a completely full Rage Bar.
While not a Dark Gift as such, this weapon is gained during the battle with the Sarafan Lord. It also acts as his health interface symbol throughout the fight. It is the strongest weapon in the game, and is unbreakable. It can also be gained, along with Kain's Iron Armour from Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, at the start of a new game following the entry of a cheat code at the Main Menu.
, refused to sacrifice himself to restore the Pillars of Nosgoth at the end of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, thus damning the Pillars and the world of Nosgoth to an eternity of depravity and decay. Following his refusal, Kain built a vampire army with Vorador's help and attempted to conquer the world.
Four hundred years after the events of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Kain awakes in Meridian, Nosgoth's industrial capital city. He remembers very little, and is lacking much of his former power. He is greeted by a vampire called Umah, who informs Kain that he has been asleep for two hundred years.
Two hundred years before, Kain's conquest of Nosgoth had been opposed by an army of vampire hunters called the Sarafan Order. The Sarafan Order destroyed Kain's army, and Kain himself was defeated in combat by their leader, the Sarafan Lord who then claimed the Soul Reaver from Kain. In the years since, the Sarafan have imposed harsh martial law on Nosgoth's human population, and started an industrial revolution. Employing 'Glyph magic'—a new kind of magic, deadly to vampires—they have hunted the remaining vampires to near extinction: as a result, several vampires have agreed to serve the Sarafan out of self-preservation. Umah is a member of the Cabal; an underground resistance movement formed of vampires and working to undermine the Sarafan at every turn. The Cabal hopes that Kain will destroy the Sarafan Lord, and the traitorous vampires that protect him.
Kain sets out to get his revenge, reclaim the Soul Reaver sword from the Sarafan Lord, and continue his ascent to power.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
developed by Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
and published by Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
. It is the fourth game in the Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain is a series of action-adventure video games developed initially by Silicon Knights in association with Crystal Dynamics. After a legal battle, Crystal Dynamics continued the series without Silicon Knights and Eidos Interactive became the publisher...
series. Although chronologically it is set between the events of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is a cult top-down action-adventure game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics...
and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1999 and for the Dreamcast in 2000. As the second game in the Legacy of Kain series, Soul Reaver is the sequel to...
, the events of the game did not occur in the original history, and only took place in Nosgoth's history due to a paradoxical time-altering event which took place in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 is an action-adventure game that was released on the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and the third game in the Legacy of Kain series. It was released in 2001 developed by Crystal Dynamics & published by Eidos...
which distorted the timeline. It was released on the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, and Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Blood Omen 2 centers around the anti-hero vampire Kain in a mix of 3rd-person fighting and puzzle-solving to progress through levels and trigger key cutscenes in the storyline. Fighting in Blood Omen 2 revolves around the Lock-On combat system, a combat style first introduced in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and a signature aspect of further games in the series. By way of the Lock-On system, Kain is able to center his attention on a single enemy, and then block, dodge or strike at them with either his claws or a weapon that he procures in the field. The game's A.I. recognizes when the player performs a Lock-On and then triggers attack chains and powerful strikes for only the enemy Kain is engaged with in combat. If the player cancels the Lock-On or flees from combat, the A.I. of the surrounding enemies are signaled in unison to attack Kain. The Lock-On system simplifies combat so that the player isn't forced to split focus and battle several enemies at once, thus running the risk of being overwhelmed and defeated. As a general rule, the player must defeat an enemy or knock him down before the A.I. of surrounding enemies are signaled to attack Kain. This sets a working, albeit dynamic pace for the player in combat. Some Dark Gifts, described below, are purely for combat purposes, and require a partially or completely full Rage Bar to execute. The Rage Bar is only filled when Kain successfully blocks an enemy attack. When filled, Kain glows with an aura of bloodlust, signaling that the selected combat Dark Gift is available for use.A pattern is established early on: Kain fights his way to a small puzzle, which is solved with something simplistic (i.e. pull a lever, lower a bridge). Next the player fights more enemies while working his or her way to a larger puzzle, which is then solved and a cutscene is triggered to reveal the next step in the storyline. At the end of a series of puzzles to progress through the level, Kain meets the boss or speaks to the creature he's seeking. The glyph energy channels spread throughout the city of Meridian, where the game takes place, offer various brainteaser challenges to the player. On occasion, the player has to clear an area of its enemies in order to solve an intricate puzzle. Puzzles in the game begin simplistic and then advance in complexity, with some of the more advanced ones involving several working parts to fully solve. The "Charm" and "Telekinesis" gifts are integral to puzzles in later levels, as described below.
Dark Gifts
Legacy of Kain vampires evolve over time, and the curse of vampirism manifests differently in every individual, giving them various supernatural abilities. In Blood Omen 2, these abilities are known as 'Dark Gifts'. Kain's personal Dark Gift is 'Mist', the ability to assume an insubstantial form when immersed in clouds of fog or mist. He also possesses 'Fury', the ability to unleash a powerful attack when sufficiently enraged. Though he starts with only his own evolutionary traits, Kain can obtain and use (to a lesser extent) the abilities of the traitorous vampires who have sided with the Sarafan upon defeating them and "absorbing their veins". Each Dark Gift has a symbol which is visible in their respective recipient's health display in the interface during the boss battle with them. When the Dark Gift menu is triggered, all game movement freezes. This allows the player to switch Dark Gifts on-the-fly to suit either the intricacies of the puzzle or execute several Dark Gifts in battle. The Dark Gifts and their inherent benefactors are listed here.- Mist Form (Kain):
One of the two initial Dark Gifts; when Kain is standing in mist he is able to assume a mist form, making him near invisible, unless he moves directly in front of an enemy. While in mist form, Kain moves silently, and is able to sneak up on and dispatch enemies with a particularly gory stealth attack. The attack varies depending on the weapon Kain is carrying at the time. When a skull appears above an enemy's head, a stealth attack can be executed.
- Fury (Kain):
The second of the two initial Dark Gifts; in combat this allows Kain to execute a single strike at double his normal strength. This power, like all combat Dark Gifts, is fueled by Kain's 'Rage Bar'. When Kain starts to glow red, the Fury attack can be executed.
- Jump (Faustus):
Allows Kain to leap further than humanly possible. When the gift is activated, Kain tenses for the jump, and a ghost image of his form appears. This image shows where Kain will jump to. When the ghost image adopts a purple hue, the jump can be made by pressing the button again. If Kain jumps into an enemy, the ghost image turns red, and a strong knock-down attack is executed as Kain completes the jump.
- Charm (Marcus):
Allows Kain to take control of a non-hostile character. When the gift is activated, a target appears. Once it is moved over a civilian character, the button can be pressed again, and the player then assumes control over that character. While under Kain's control the character can be moved, and can activate switches etc., but cannot attack and cannot stray beyond a certain range of Kain's person. If the charmed individual moves too far, the entire effect is canceled.
- Berserk (Sebastian):
Allows Kain to execute a flurry of attacks against a single enemy, culminating in a slow motion scene where the camera attempts a 180-degree pan and the enemy is seen flying through the air after Kain's final blow. Also a combat Dark Gift, this attack is fueled by the Rage Bar.
- Telekinesis (The Seer):
Allows Kain to manipulate certain objects using his mind, particularly the special telekinetic emblems which act as switches during the latter portion of the game. This gift is targeted, much like Charm. It can also be used to attack enemies from a distance, always triggering a knockdown. There is no boss battle to gain this gift; it is acquired after Kain meets an ally vampire later in the game.
- Immolate (Magnus):
The final Dark Gift. This power allows Kain to set his enemies on fire using only his mind, causing instant death to the targeted foe. The sole enemy powerful enough to withstand this unstoppable attack is the Sarafan Lord, the final boss of the game. This gift, like Fury and Berserk, is combat only and is fueled by a completely full Rage Bar.
- Soul Reaver (Sarafan Lord):
While not a Dark Gift as such, this weapon is gained during the battle with the Sarafan Lord. It also acts as his health interface symbol throughout the fight. It is the strongest weapon in the game, and is unbreakable. It can also be gained, along with Kain's Iron Armour from Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, at the start of a new game following the entry of a cheat code at the Main Menu.
Story
The vampire, KainKain (Legacy of Kain)
Kain is a fictional character and the titular character that appears in the Legacy of Kain series of video games. Depending on the game and its viewpoint, Kain has been either the central protagonist, or an antagonist, but in all his depictions he is an anti-hero, interested only in his own goals...
, refused to sacrifice himself to restore the Pillars of Nosgoth at the end of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, thus damning the Pillars and the world of Nosgoth to an eternity of depravity and decay. Following his refusal, Kain built a vampire army with Vorador's help and attempted to conquer the world.
Four hundred years after the events of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Kain awakes in Meridian, Nosgoth's industrial capital city. He remembers very little, and is lacking much of his former power. He is greeted by a vampire called Umah, who informs Kain that he has been asleep for two hundred years.
Two hundred years before, Kain's conquest of Nosgoth had been opposed by an army of vampire hunters called the Sarafan Order. The Sarafan Order destroyed Kain's army, and Kain himself was defeated in combat by their leader, the Sarafan Lord who then claimed the Soul Reaver from Kain. In the years since, the Sarafan have imposed harsh martial law on Nosgoth's human population, and started an industrial revolution. Employing 'Glyph magic'—a new kind of magic, deadly to vampires—they have hunted the remaining vampires to near extinction: as a result, several vampires have agreed to serve the Sarafan out of self-preservation. Umah is a member of the Cabal; an underground resistance movement formed of vampires and working to undermine the Sarafan at every turn. The Cabal hopes that Kain will destroy the Sarafan Lord, and the traitorous vampires that protect him.
Kain sets out to get his revenge, reclaim the Soul Reaver sword from the Sarafan Lord, and continue his ascent to power.
Major characters
- KainKain (Legacy of Kain)Kain is a fictional character and the titular character that appears in the Legacy of Kain series of video games. Depending on the game and its viewpoint, Kain has been either the central protagonist, or an antagonist, but in all his depictions he is an anti-hero, interested only in his own goals...
: The protagonist of Blood Omen 2. Kain is a nobleman turned vampire, with ambitions to rule the land of Nosgoth. He is also the last survivor of the Circle of Nine, as the Guardian of the Pillar of Balance.
- Umah: A vampire and lieutenant of the Cabal. She guides Kain through the first part of the game, reminding him of his vampiric abilities, and introducing him (and the player) to Meridian.
- Sarafan Lord: The antagonist of Blood Omen 2. He is a Hylden, one of a race banished from Nosgoth by the Ancient Vampires before Nosgoth's recorded history began. When Kain refused to sacrifice himself to restore the Pillars of Nosgoth in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, this Hylden re-entered Nosgoth, and rebuilt the defunct Sarafan order. As the Sarafan Lord, he intends to wipe out all vampires and non-Hylden races by activating 'The Device', an ancient weapon concealed beneath Meridian. He is really the Hylden Lord.
- Vorador: An old vampire and an acquaintance of Kain from Blood Omen: Legacy of KainBlood Omen: Legacy of KainBlood Omen: Legacy of Kain is a cult top-down action-adventure game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics...
. Vorador is the leader of the CabalCabal (disambiguation)A cabal is a group of people united in some design, often secretivelyCabal, Kabal, or the Cabal may also refer to:* The Cabal Ministry, a government under King Charles II of England...
, and gives Kain directions and advice.
Secondary characters
- Janos Audron: The last of the Ancient Vampires. Janos is enslaved to power the Device, and this has caused him to devolve into a huge beast. Later, when the Device is destroyed, Janos regains his normal winged, humanoid appearance.
- Faustus: A vampire who has sided with the Sarafan. Formerly one of Kain's lieutenants, this indifferent soul betrayed the vampire's army and sided with the Sarafan Lord for power and protection. Faustus confronts Kain after his revival in the Smuggler's Den, but is killed. Kain drinks his blood and gains his 'Jump' Dark Gift.
- Marcus: A vampire who has sided with the Sarafan Order, with powerful psychic abilities. Kain and Marcus meet in the Upper City region of Meridian, and after exchanging harsh words they engage in a race to find the Bishop of Meridian who will guide Kain to the Sarafan Keep. Kain kills Marcus using the holy power of the cathedral's sound, drinks from his veins and gains his Dark Gift, 'Charm'.
- Sebastian: The greatest of the Sarafan Lord's generals, Sebastian is a quick-moving vampire who sided with the Sarafan Order. He arranged the ambush that allowed Kain's army to be defeated by the Sarafan. Kain meets him in the Lower City region of Meridian, and later in the Industrial Quarter where they battle for the Nexus Stone. Kain defeats Sebastian, who reluctantly provides him with information on the Sarafan Lord's plans before dying. Kain claims the Stone, absorbs Sebastian's 'Berserk' Dark Gift, and narrowly escapes the Quarter.
- Magnus: A mad vampire in the Eternal Prison. Kain first 'meets' Magnus while observing him as he obliterates two of the Prison's guardians. Kain lures Magnus into numerous pits of water leading into the Prison's sewer system before confronting him in a large arena. After a lengthy fight, Magnus regains his sanity. After Kain realises that this vampire was in fact his most powerful general before his defeat, Magnus explains that he did not betray Kain, but attempted to assassinate the Sarafan Lord before the final battle yet was defeated and sent to the Eternal Prison. Kain grants the dying Magnus his release by draining him of his blood thus gaining the 'Immolate' Dark Gift, and departs.
- The Seer: A soothsayer that lives in the wastelands outside of Meridian who helps Kain along his journey. She is "an extremely powerful and mysterious Hylden". According to Vorador, she owes him a favor, but the reasons for this are not detailed.