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Bonus Mode

article by Ben Lincoln

Blood Omen 2 includes one traditional cheat code, which starts the game with Kain featuring his Blood Omen-era Iron Armour and the Soul Reaver as his permanent weapon (see below for the button sequences - a successful entry at the title screen will result in hearing Kain/Simon Templeman say "Go Cheese!"). While the armour is a cosmetic touch (and a nice nod to the original game), the Reaver is an incredibly powerful in-game weapon. It is approximately three times more powerful than any of the normal weapons, it can be enhanced by the weapon boxes, and it is unbreakable. Its "pick up and attack" mode is an instant-kill impalement. Its stealth attack is a decapitation.

This feature is the remnant of a more extensive bonus mode, possibly cut from the game because it wasn't finished in time for the release. Hidden within the game's data files is an unused room called "ForBonusKain" which not only gives Kain the Iron Armour and Soul Reaver, but allows him to select any level of the game and begin it with maximum health and all of the Dark Gifts. Since Kain recovers the Soul Reaver from the Sarafan Lord at the end of the game, it seems safe to assume that the Bonus Mode would have been a feature unlocked on completion.

Although the Bonus Mode is incomplete, it is possible to access it using hacked savegame files, which are provided at the end of this article.

Having the Dark Gifts from the beginning of the game makes it possible to reach a handful of areas that are otherwise inaccessible. This could be an intentional effect - part of the bonus material - or a coincidence. The developers have not commented on it.

As might be expected given that it is not accessible through legitimate in-game means, there are a number of known problems with the Bonus Mode room:

• The doorways to The Hylden City, The Device, and The Canyons warp the player into parts of those stages that make it impossible to progress.
• Saving the game or completing a level resets the Dark Gifts to whatever would have been legitimately obtained by that point. To play through a level with all Dark Gifts, it is necessary to warp to it using the Bonus Mode room and not save your game. Because of the first issue, this means it is currently not possible to play through The Canyons with Telekinesis and Immolate.
• Using the level-select doorways results in the black cinematic bars extending and covering the entire screen (not just the letterbox effect borders). There are instructions in the PC savegame file for disabling the user interface, which includes those bars. On the PS2, a cheat device code is necessary (Codes (Playstation 2 Cheat Device))
• On the PC, loading any savegame which has Kain equipped with the Reaver will result in it being invisible until Kain shifts to Mist Form.

Blood Omen 2 (GameCube)	Author: Crystal Dynamics
Effect	Code(s)
Start with Iron Armour and the Soul Reaver	Z, R, L, B, X, Y

Blood Omen 2 (PC)	Author: Crystal Dynamics
Effect	Code(s)
Start with Iron Armour and the Soul Reaver	Block, Autoface,
	Dark Gift Menu,
	Lookaround,
	Action, Dark Gift,
	Bloodsuck

Blood Omen 2 (PS2)	Author: Crystal Dynamics
Effect	Code(s)
Start with Iron Armour and the Soul Reaver	L1, R1, L2, R2, Square,
	Circle, Triangle

Blood Omen 2 (Xbox)	Author: Crystal Dynamics
Effect	Code(s)
Start with Iron Armour and the Soul Reaver	White, Black,
	Left Trigger,
	Right Trigger,
	X (Blue), B (Red),
	Y (Yellow)

Download
File	Size	Version	Release Date	Author
BO2 Bonus Mode for PC	1 KiB	1.0	2002-10-19	Ben Lincoln
Starts the game in the Bonus Mode room with all Dark Gifts, the Iron Armour and Soul Reaver, and maximum health.

Download
File	Size	Version	Release Date	Author
BO2 Bonus Mode for PS2	5 KiB	1.0	2002-10-19	Ben Lincoln
Requires a SharkPort. Starts the game in the Bonus Mode room with all Dark Gifts, the Iron Armour and Soul Reaver, and maximum health.

Download
File	Size	Version	Release Date	Author
BO2 Bonus Mode for PC	1 KiB	1.0	2002-10-19	Ben Lincoln
Starts the game in The Slums with the Iron Armour, Soul Reaver, and maximum health.

Download
File	Size	Version	Release Date	Author
BO2 Bonus Mode for PS2	5 KiB	1.0	2002-10-19	Ben Lincoln
Requires a SharkPort. Starts the game in The Slums with the Iron Armour, Soul Reaver, and maximum health.

Last updated: 15 February 2007

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