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Revenge, betrayal, destiny and freedom. No, I’m not talking about the extremely shortened summary for a new soap opera, I’m setting the stage for Eidos’ Legacy of Kain series. When the first title was released on the PlayStation seven years ago, gamers were introduced to a classic anti-hero in Kain, a prince of Nosgoth whose death and resurrection as a vampire lead him on a quest of revenge. Cutting a bloody path through the land, Kain succeeded in exacting retribution on his enemies. The offshoot of the series, Soul Reaver, managed to turn the hunter into the hunted, with Kain’s progeny, Raziel, seeking his own vengeance against his sire for his attempted murder.
  
The settling of scores isn’t the sole motivation for Kain and Raziel; betrayal and manipulation by outside forces seemed to plague both characters in the material and spiritual worlds. Well, the latest chapter in the series, Legacy of Kain: Defiance sees both heroes struggling to free themselves from the shackles of fate and their tormentors. Fans of the series will be pleased to know that the brainteasing puzzles have returned, but there’s much more impaling and Reaver-swinging in this title than previous ones. We’re going to take a quick look at both heroes in a two part extended preview, as we explore the realm of Nosgoth and Defiance’s twisted plotline. We’ll start off with the scourge of the land, Kain, but first, a summarized history lesson.   
Flawed Destiny For centuries, life was regulated by the Pillars of Nosgoth and their guardians, powerful mortals with dominion over life, time or other forces. Presiding over these beings was Ariel, the balance Guardian, whose kept good and evil in perfect equilibrium. Unfortunately, Ariel was murdered when Mortanius, the guardian of death, was possessed by evil spirits, throwing the world into chaos and the fellow sentinels into madness. This action also had future ramifications, as the world started dying and the successors of the guardians were slowly eliminated.
  
Unbeknownst to him, Kain, a privileged nobleman was predestined to succeed Ariel as the Balance Guardian. Murdered by an assassin, Kain was resurrected by the insane Mortanius as the last hope for the world, but in a cruel twist of fate, was returned to life as a vampire. Seeking vengeance against those who killed him, Kain slaughtered his attackers and the corrupt guardians and sought a cure for his vampirism. As he journeyed across the land, he acquired the Soul Reaver, an ancient blade with a hunger for destruction that rivaled his thirst for death. However, during this quest, he also managed (through the machinations of Moebius, the time guardian) to irrevocably alter the history of Nosgoth, something that could only be solved with the restoration of the Pillars. Thus, his destiny was revealed to him, and Kain was presented with a choice: Heal the world and sacrifice himself, or destroy the world and take absolute power. Furious with both guardians, Kain decided to doom Nosgoth and hunt down Moebius through time and space.   
Defiance starts off hundreds of years after the destruction of Nosgoth during a part of this hunt, with Kain infiltrating a stronghold of the Sarafan, warrior priests dedicated to hunting down vampires. Pawns of Moebius, Kain constantly wages war on what he considers to be pathetic humans, seeking their leader. Well armored and trained, the Sarafan have slaughtered countless vampires. However, they’ve never met one with Kain’s power. Able to float across small gaps, Kain can also leap huge distances with incredible agility, giving him access to virtually any area. Even bars can’t keep Kain away, because he can simply turn into mist and float through them. This ability to pass through bars means that Kain will always have access to food: prisoners chained to the wall in jail cells. Like any other vamp, Kain has to feed to restore his health. However, with his powers of Telekinesis, Kain can literally suck the blood from a victim from a distance, wringing them dry.   
Much more than a feeding implement, Kain can also use these abilities to smash enemies around him. Kain can project force blasts, which can push enemies away from him and into objects. He can also perform a force grab, a la Darth Vader, suspending soldiers high above the ground before flinging them over parapets or onto spikes. If you do decide to engage in hand to hand combat, you can expect to fade into mist as you jump from one target to another, becoming solid long enough to inflict damage with each blow of the Reaver. Even better, Kain can acquire new battle combos to cause even greater pain on your foes. This can include the ability to juggle and string together incredibly sick attacks. For example, Kain can start by force slamming an opponent into the ground, slashing them up into the air, leaping and attacking them as they fall, finally force impaling them on a spike. Finally, Kain can imbue the Reaver itself with one of eight different energies, including the elements and other mystic powers. As more of an action hero than a puzzle solver, Kain’s missions look like they’ll feature tons of blood, tons of killing and tons of vengeance - the things that make Kain the mass murdering vampire we know and love. His “son”, Raziel, however, has a completely different experience, one which we’ll look at tomorrow, so check back then and get ready for our full review of Defiance next week!
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