E3 09: Kojima, Mercury Steam team up for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on June 04, 2009

News: First PS3 and Xbox 360 entry in the series is coming in 2010.

Konami has announced the next entry in the Castlevania series and it will be quite a departure from the usual whip-wielding adventures of the Belmont clan. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will be the first game in the series not released on a handheld since 2005's Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (not counting last year's Wii spinoff). Instead, the game is in development for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for a 2010 release.

The game will be created by an all-star development team consisting of Spain's Mercury Steam (who last worked on Clive Barker's Jericho and Hideo Kojima's Kojima Productions (the creators of the Metal Gear series). Konami's Koji Igarashi (IGA), the producer of the last 12 Castlevania games, will not play a part in Lords of Shadow's development.

This is because Konami wants to take the series in a new direction:

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow takes place at the end of days. The Earth's alliance with the Heavens has been threatened by a dark and malevolent force Ц the mysterious Lords of Shadow Ц darkness reigns the world. Across this shattered land, the souls of the dead wander unable to find peace, whilst creatures of evil roam free wreaking chaos and death upon the living.

Gabriel [ed. No last name was given for Gabriel] is a member of the Brotherhood of Light, an elite group of holy knights who protect and defend the innocent against the supernatural. His beloved wife was brutally murdered by the evil forces of darkness and her soul trapped for eternity. Neither living nor dead she realises the horrific truth of what is at stake and guides Gabriel to his destiny Ц and hopefully salvation for the worldЕ but at what cost?

Thus, Gabriel must travel the destroyed world, defeating the evil tyrants in order to use their powers to bring balance back to the world. Armed with the versatile Combat Cross Ц the world's last hope must encounter the three factions of the Lords of Shadow and end their unholy rule.

This destroyed world is southern Europe of the middle ages and will include snowy mountain ranges, Gothic castles, and undead-strewn wastelands in an open world setting.

The game's next generation look and feel will also bring Hollywood-style voice acting to the Castlevania series for the first time. Gabriel will be voiced by Robert Carlyle while Patrick Stewart will play the mysterious Zobek. Natasha McElhone and Jason Isaacs round out the voice cast.

We'll have more soon.