[ Legacy of Kain: The Lost Worlds ]

Soul Reaver-Style Combat

article by Ben Lincoln

 

Early prerelease versions of Soul Reaver 2 featured more of Raziel's combat abilities from Soul Reaver. Video footage and screenshots depict him using the instant-kill charge attack of the Reaver, as well as picking up and throwing enemies.

It is uncertain if either ability was ever intended to survive into the retail game. The vampire enemies in the first game - which could only be stunned by conventional attacks - required some special means of killing them. The Reaver's charge attack was one method, and Raziel's ability to throw them onto environmental hazards was another. Because Soul Reaver 2 contains no vampire enemies it seems likely that these attacks were removed as unnecessary.

Raziel does retain a stabbing attack with the Reaver in the final version of the game, but it is devoid of the electrical arcing effect and the instant-kill power.

The Constrict ability was probably removed for similar reasons, although it has never been depicted in prerelease imagery and may never have been present in the game.

The screenshot below of a black Reaver with pink electrical arcing documents three deleted elements of Soul Reaver 2 simultaneously: it includes an early version of the Dark Reaver, it depicts the charge attack, and it is from the cancelled Dreamcast version of the game.

 
[ The Reaver's Killing Strike ]
The Reaver's Killing Strike
[ The Reaver's Killing Strike ]
The Reaver's Killing Strike
[ The Reaver's Killing Strike ]
The Reaver's Killing Strike
[ The Reaver's Killing Strike ]
The Reaver's Killing Strike
[ Raziel prepares to throw an enemy ]
Raziel prepares to throw an enemy
 
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