I love me some horror games. Regardless of the genre in which it's presented, a game that aims to terrify me is one I rarely pass up. From The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on the Atari 2600 to the infamous Resident Evil series, I have played just about all there's been -- including everything on the Dreamcast. The DC's last dark pleasure was Acclaim's excellent Shadow Man, and while I'd be the first to defend its place among the "grim" titles of the last few years, I'd also be the first to say that I've already found something better in the form of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

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Amazingly, the two titles offer numerous parallels with one another. Both games follow the exploits of a lone warrior of the dark, with the impossible task of saving the world. Both games feature anti-heroes collecting souls to increase their overall power. And both games possess a kick-ass Tomb Raideresque engine, complete with spectacular visuals and voice-acting. But I'm getting too far ahead of myself, let me start at the beginning...You are Raziel, faithful lieutenant to the Vampire King, Kain. After millennia of servitude and dedication, you have failed your master by your own evolution. Because of your sudden and magnificent wings, the lord Kain has sentenced you to a horrible death -- A plunge into the Lake of Lost Souls. Falling into the painful abyss after what seems like forever, your descent has finally ceased. Trapped in a battered shell of a body and greeted by a mysterious booming voice, your purpose becomes clear: end the madness that has attached itself like a plague to the land of Nosgoth and destroy your former master, destroy Kain.Awesome setup, no? Laced with elements of vengeance and justice, the paragraph above doesn't even come close to explaining this complex tale. Definitely one the better character-based plots I've followed in awhile, Soul Reaver keeps things moving at a constant pace. Inter-cut with small narrative scenes, almost every cathedral, abbey, and passageway seems to have its own history and personality, highlighted by brilliant cutscenes explaining the state of affairs in each area. This seemingly minor detail left me encouraged to check out all that I could for fear of missing an interesting snippet of the back-story. That feature alone was enough to get me hooked, but happily it's not all that did.The graphics, for instance, absolutely blew me away. The Dreamcast version of Kain is leaps and bounds beyond the jagged edges and broken seams found in the PlayStation version -- even eclipsing the PC edition's solid framerate and texture effects. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the Dreamcast version of Legacy of Kain is perhaps one of the best looking console games yet made! Appropriately dark and moody, the atmosphere is comparable to something right out of your own worst nightmare. From the slothy, decaying corpses of Melchia Castle to the intricate wall designs found in the various cathedrals of pain, every sight seen continues to be even more impressive and disturbing than the last. This is high-res. glory at its best.Also of mention has to be the improved secondary visual effects. While the PlayStation version was plagued with an overabundance of fog to hide background polygon clipping, the Dreamcast translation offers a blanket of mist for a different reason. Instead of using what's come to be known as "The Turok-effect" to hide a system's shortcomings, the developers can finally let loose and use vapor for mood enhancement, and they do it very well. Oh and don't forget about those above-par light sourcing and transparency effects!Then we have the treat for our ears. Forging a score from what seems like only the best elements of classic horror movie soundtracks, Soul Reaver's short but haunting melodies compliment the atmosphere perfectly. While the musical arrangements are few in number, their effectiveness in the story easily makes up for it. Subtle drum beats and various other musical chimes only add to an already impressive audio display.However, the most striking aural aspect in the game has to be the voice acting. Equally on par with any major motion picture, the quality of the script and the actors are exceedingly high. Raziel, the game's hero and lead antagonist delivers one of the most convincing narratives I've ever heard. The supporting characters too, do just as well and I dare you not be reminded of Transformers the Movie when you listen to the Elder's Unicron-like voice. In a nutshell, this stuff is powerful.The real star of Soul Reaver, though, is the gameplay. Successfully blending elements from its distant cousin, Tomb Raider, with traditional weapon's-based adventures, puzzles and action are the name of the game. Faced with some truly brain-busting dilemmas, players may that find their way to the end of Legacy of Kain without going insane a few times can consider themselves lucky -- especially when you realize just how open the world really is.Between the land of Nosgoth and the Spectral zone (a twisted and bizarro version of reality), getting around to every point on the map isn't as easy as you might think. To travel from land to land you must unlock special teleportation devices and discover secret entrances, or you'll be stuck for infinity. Switches, block puzzles, and every other obstacle you can think of are eventually thrown your way. Plus, puzzles can only sometimes be solved by making moves between the physical and spiritual realms to and fro, so exploration and experimentation are what it's all about. But don't think that "just getting by" will be good enough if you want to survive the bosses.Yes, the bosses. Reminiscent of the olden days of 8- and 16-bit gaming, the honchos in Legacy of Kain are tough as nails. Straying away from the current trend of hitting a boss with your most powerful weapon as much as possible, Soul Reaver pushes your brain as much as you push its buttons. Take, for example, the first shadowchief, your brother Melchia. Assembled from what appears to be the remains of every Friday the 13th victim ever, Melchia is as hard to defeat as he is to look at. In order to win, you have to decipher the best way to use the combination of a crank, a cage, and a grinding machine. But that's the beauty of Soul Reaver -- it's exciting, it's frightening, and it's thought-provoking all at the same time.To help juggle the challenges thrown his way, Raziel has been given many abilities to use to his advantage. Jumping, attacking, crouching; the basics are all there. But so too are his more unique abilities. You see, while Raziel cannot truly be killed, in order to survive the flesh-based land of Nosgoth he has to satisfy his hunger for souls (which of course gives you a feed button). With it, you may dine on the spirit of your fallen enemy to replenish your strength. If you do not feed however, or sustain too much damage, your physical body will give... and you're sent back to the beginning again. Bummer, but it's enough to keep you on your toes.