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Other additions to the game are decapitations, a new aiming reticule to address previous manual aiming problems and other fatal moves. There will be some form of the original warp gates, but not handled on the same scale at the original PS version. And, although we were already impressed with what we saw, Hennig assured us that there will be much more texture detail and polygons in the final build.As Raziel, players venture back through time in pursuit of Raziel's creator and nemesis, Kain, to unveil the mysteries of Nosgoth’s past and the extinction of the vampire clans. In this new game, which uses several of the same techniques utilized on Soul Reaver (such as data streaming to eliminate loading and morphing backgrounds), players find themselves going back in time to rediscover what happened befoe the fall of Nosgoth, and Kain's evil ascension. Players familiar with Blood Omen will rediscover old lands and areas they once played through, and they'll travel through several ports of time in order to discover what Raziel's real reason for beign resurrected is.

Players will encounter many of the same creatures from before, in addition to new ones, and loads more fighting situations. The list of new creatures includes new vampire hunters, different humans, spectral spirits, and demons from a parallel dimension. As part of this well-balanced mix of action and adventure, you venture through these worlds hunting and destroying entire tribes of vampires using a quiver of hand-to-hand, projectile, and environmental weapons. As Raziel, you start the game with all of the powers you earned in the first Soul Reaver, in addition to starting off with the use of the Soul Reaver itself. Additionally, players can acquire new and improved spells and Soul Reaver enhancements to unlock the new secrets of Nosgoth.

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The original vampire is back and this time there's no Raziel to keep him in check. First screens and details of the coolest looking new PS2 action adventure game.

Soul Reaver was a great game for both the PSOne and Dreamcast -- there's no denying that. There's always been a special place in our hearts, though, for the original Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen. This is the game where it all started. Players played the part of Kain, the head vampire himself, back in quieter times as he tried to rid the world of an ancient evil. Along the way, Kain embraced his dark side and developed the powers of the vampire, turning into a bat, a wolf and ultimately mist during his quest.
Like a true vampire, Kain fed off the blood of mortals, entrancing them and draining them of their precious life. It was up to players to decide whether to drain them all the way and kill them -- and ultimately, this prepared them for the decision that came at the game's end. After defeating the last of his enemies, Kain was given a choice to sacrifice himself and cleanse the world of the last of the dark powers, or to seize the power of his enemies and rule over a land he knew would be damned for eternity.

The storyline we're all familiar with assumes that Kain chose the dark path, and Soul Reaver picks up hundreds of years later, as Kain's rule has literally stripped the lands of life. Blood Omen 2, however, seems to take place between the two games. When a mysterious power begins to kill off Kain's minions and strip him of his powers, the dark lord of Nasgoth must disappear into his own quite populated and still lively lands to hunt down his enemies.

There are very few concrete details concerning the plot, but there are some juicy tidbits about gameplay that have us excited. First on that list is an intuitive and socially aware AI. As Kain moves through urban environments he is forced to keep to the shadows, dragging victims down alleys and quietly killing them. If the peasants and merchants of the villages spot Kain they will flee in terror (he is the walking undead, after all), alert the militia and attempt to drive Kain from the area or kill him.

To keep from being killed by what are basically just walking juice bars for the antihero, he can slowly regain his undead powers. These include a super leap that enables him to literally jump from rooftop to rooftop, mind control to lure in hapless mortals, and the ability to fade into the shadows without notice.

There is also a complicated fighting engine being developed that allows combos, weapon attacks and brutal stealth kills a la Tenchu. We don't know much more right now, but these screens are all in-game, and it's incredibly hard to look at them and not feel your bloodlust rising.

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