I can still remember parts of the internet going nuclear when Spanish developer Mercury Steam was chosen to do a new 3D Castlevania game with Hideo Kojima doing a it of supervision. Konami, the developer and even Kojima himself got raked over a few coal beds, the game was deemed to be doomed before anything was playable and the usual crowd of “if it isn’t 2D, it sucks!” folk were there to condemn the building as the foundation was being laid . Of course, 2010’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow definitely wasn’t the train wreck many predicted and in fact, it was one of the nicer surprises in terms of aged franchises getting a chance to shine on current generation consoles.

As you can see here, the sequel and final chapter not only looks even more amazing, it’s packing in some really nice surprises for longtime series fans and it seems that this one is set to be the best non-2D entry in the long running Castlevania series. The developer calling it quits and making this the final LoS chapter is an interesting choice, as it goes against the usual “churn out a yearly game” deal we usually see once a game does really well. Then again, Nintendo 3DS owners did get what could be called the middle chapter in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Resurrection for the 3DS, although that game isn’t necessary at all to enjoy what’s here.

In a really great move for PC gamers, Konami and Mercury Steam have also announced a PC version of the first Lords of Shadow called Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Ultimate Edition, which packs the original game and both DLC packs into a single product with even better visuals and solid 60 frames per second gameplay (if your system can handle it). This probably means LoS2 will also end up on PC down the road, which is a great thing as the more who play this pair of instant classics, the better. I’m not sure what Konami has planned for the Castlevania series after this game, but new consoles almost always mean new possibilities, so here’s hoping whomever gets the gig does the franchise just as much (or even more) justice…