Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

From Sega Retro

n/a

LegacyOfKain title.png

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Developer:
Distributor: Halifax (IT)
Peripherals supported: Jump Pack, Visual Memory Unit
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages:
  • English
  • Français
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Italiano
  • Release Date RRP Code
    Sega Dreamcast
    US
    $49.9949.99[2] T-36802N
    ESRB: Mature 17+
    Sega Dreamcast
    DE
    T-36803D-18
    USK: 16
    Sega Dreamcast
    ES
    T-36803D-06
    ELSPA: 15+ OK
    Sega Dreamcast
    FR
    T-36803D-09
    SELL: 16+
    Sega Dreamcast
    UK
    £39.9939.99[5] T-36803D-05
    ELSPA: 15+ OK
    Sega Dreamcast
    IT
    T-36803D-13
    ELSPA: 15+ OK
    Sega Dreamcast
    AU
    $89.9589.95[8] FLEG02DCS
    OFLC: MA15
    Sega Dreamcast
    BR
    197256
    Tectoy: 18+
    Non-Sega versions

    This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.


    Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is a 1999 action game and sequel to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. It was ported to the Sega Dreamcast in 2000.

    Soul Reaver was developed by Crystal Dynamics, which had worked alongside Silicon Knights and Activision in the development of Blood Omen. After various disputes covering the direction and ownership of the franchise, Soul Reaver emerged as a property of the company, which was subsequently bought out by Eidos Interactive.

    Gameplay

    Unlike Blood Omen which is a top-down 2D action game, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is a 3D third-person "Metroidvania" action game, where the player, Raziel, travels across the world of Nosgoth seeking to harvest the souls of the vampires, led by Kain, who betrayed him. Throughout the adventure Raziel obtains new powers and abilities allowing him to access new parts of the map. A mechanic also exists to allow the player to shift between the "material" and "spectral" world.

    History

    Legacy

    Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was set to be followed up by Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 on the Dreamcast, however Soul Reaver 2 would jump platforms to the PlayStation 2 and PC before being released in October 2001.

    Versions

    Soul Reaver was originally developed with the PlayStation in mind, and for its time was highly regarded for its seamless open-world levels (i.e. being able to traverse from one of the map the other without the need for loading screens) and sound design.

    The Dreamcast version builds on what is seen on the PlayStation, running at 640x480 while targeting 60FPS (versus the 512x240 resolution of the PlayStation, where the game would target 30FPS). Draw distances are improved and polygon counts are increased for major characters such as Raziel and Kane (though levels and enemies use the same geometry as the PlayStation).

    Textures are generally more compressed on the Dreamcast and exhibit compression artifacts not seen in the PlayStation version, however in other cases (such as on Raziel's character model) the textures were upgraded. The lack of affine texture warping, common in 3D PlayStation games (and the aforementioned increase in screen resolution) generally leads to a better picture on the Dreamcast overall.

    Both the PlayStation and Dreamcast fail to reach their target frame rate most of the time. On the PlayStation, busy scenes cause slowdown, with the frame rate dipping to between 20 and 30FPS. On the Dreamcast, a double-buffer V-sync option is used, meaning that when the game cannot handle 60FPS, it immediately targets 30FPS, creating a more jarring experience as it attempts to avoid screen tearing. This affects the Dreamcast most in larger environments, though dips can occur whenever there is too much on screen.

    Some effects, such as the snow, are hard-coded to update at 30FPS. Controls are also less fluid than on the PlayStation, due in part to the lack of buttons and second analogue stick. On the Dreamcast, the camera is mapped to the D-Pad, meaning it is more awkward to both move and control the camera at the same time.

    While also ported to the PC, the PC version stems directly from the PlayStation original, and lacks the dynamic music of the console versions and higher resolution display of the Dreamcast version. Frame rate is also capped at 30FPS at all times.

    A significant amount of content was cut from Soul Reaver, in part due to development deadlines, but also due to technical challenges posed with the PlayStation hardware. The Dreamcast version does not re-add any of the missing content, which means the remnants of these missing features, such as corridors with dead ends, are still present.

    Magazine articles

    Main article: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver/Magazine articles.

    Promotional material

    Logo-pdf.svg
    Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #127: "February 2000" (2000-01-11)
    also published in:
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Print advert in Dreamcast Magazine (UK) #7: "No. 7" (2000-03-23)
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Print advert in Next Level (AR) #14: "Marzo 2000" (2000-xx-xx)
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Print advert in Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel (FR) #3: "Mars/Avril 2000" (2000-xx-xx)
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Logo-pdf.svg
    Print advert in Consoles + (FR) #99: "Avril 2000" (2000-0x-xx)
    Logo-pdf.svg

    Physical scans

    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Score Source
    {{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
    Based on
    0 review
    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Version Score
    Arcade (UK) PAL
    75
    [10]
    Consoles + (FR) PAL
    80
    [11]
    Dreamcast Monthly (UK) PAL
    90
    [12]
    DC-UK (UK) PAL
    90
    [13]
    Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel (FR) PAL
    90
    [14]
    Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL
    90
    [5]
    Dreamplanet (ES) PAL
    87
    [15]
    Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
    89
    [16]
    Entsiklopediya igr dlya Dreamcast (RU)
    83
    [17]
    GameFan (US) NTSC-U
    75
    [18]
    GamePro (US) NTSC-U
    85
    [19]
    GameZine (UK)
    80
    [20]
    Gamers' Republic (US) NTSC-U
    91
    [21]
    Incite Video Gaming (US) NTSC-U
    100
    [22]
    Joypad (IT) PAL
    85
    [23]
    MAN!AC (DE) PAL
    88
    [24]
    Neo Plus (PL) PAL
    80
    [25]
    Next Generation (US) NTSC-U
    75
    [26]
    Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL
    70
    [27]
    Official Dreamcast Magazine (US) NTSC-U
    80
    [2]
    Playmag (FR) PAL
    70
    [28]
    PSX Extreme (PL)
    90
    [29]
    Revista Oficial Dreamcast (ES) PAL
    80
    [30]
    Strana Igr (RU)
    78
    [31]
    Sega Dreamcast
    83
    Based on
    24 reviews

    Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

    Dreamcast, US
    LoKSR DC US Box Back.jpgLoKSR DC US Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    LoKSR DC US Disc.jpg
    Disc
    SoulReaver DC US Manual.pdf
    Manual
    LegacyofKain2DCUSInlay.jpg
    Inlay
    Dreamcast, UK
    LoKSR DC EU backcover.jpgLoKSR DC EU Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    LoKSR DC EU disc.jpg
    Disc
    LegacyOfKain SoulReaver DC UK Manual.jpg
    Manual
    Dreamcast, DE
    LoKSR DC DE backcover.jpgLoKSR DC DE frontcover.jpg
    Cover
    LoKSR DC DE disc.jpg
    Disc
    Dreamcast, FR
    LoKSR DC FR back.jpgNospine-small.pngLoKSR DC FR front.jpg
    Cover
    LoKSR DC FR disc.jpg
    Disc
    Dreamcast, IT
    LoKSR DC IT back.jpgNospine-small.pngLoKSR DC IT front.jpg
    Cover
    Dreamcast, ES
    LoKSR DC ES back.jpgLoKSR DC ES front.jpg
    Cover
    Dreamcast, AU
    LoKSR DC AU back.jpgNospine-small.pngLoKSR DC AU front.jpg
    Cover
    Dreamcast, BR
    LokSR DC BR Box Back.jpgLoKSR DC BR Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    LokSR DC BR Disc.jpg
    Disc

    Technical information

    Main article: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver/Technical information.

    ROM dump status

    System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
    Sega Dreamcast
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    GD-ROM (US)
    Sega Dreamcast
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    GD-ROM (EU)
    Sega Dreamcast
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    GD-ROM (FR)
    Sega Dreamcast
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    GD-ROM (DE)
    Sega Dreamcast
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    GD-ROM (ES)
    Sega Dreamcast
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    GD-ROM (IT)
    Sega Dreamcast
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    1999-12-13 GD-R Page
    Sega Dreamcast
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    2000-01-18 GD-R Page

    External links

    References

    1. http://www.sega.com:80/sega/catalog/SegaProduct.jhtml?PRODID=240 (Wayback Machine: 2002-02-04 05:49)
    2. 2.0 2.1 Official Dreamcast Magazine, "March 2000" (US; 2000-02-08), page 92
    3. http://www.chipsworld.co.uk/detProd.asp?ProductCode=2315 (Wayback Machine: 2002-09-18 22:05)
    4. https://groups.google.com/g/uk.games.video.dreamcast/c/B3Iglum5F4c/m/N-D9RzKGhsoJ
    5. 5.0 5.1 Dreamcast Magazine, "No. 6" (UK; 2000-02-24), page 58
    6. http://www.micromania.fr/cgi-micromania/tri3.pl?criteria=DREAMCAS;status=1 (Wayback Machine: 2000-04-07 11:43)
    7. http://www.futuregamez.net:80/outnow/dc.html (Wayback Machine: 2001-07-31 23:17)
    8. Hyper, "June 2000" (AU; 2000-xx-xx), page 66
    9. GamePro, "April 2000" (US; 2000-0x-xx), page 70
    10. Arcade, "March 2000" (UK; 2000-02-29), page 90
    11. Consoles +, "Mars 2000" (FR; 2000-0x-xx), page 106
    12. Dreamcast Monthly, "March 2000" (UK; 2000-02-17), page 20
    13. DC-UK, "March 2000" (UK; 2000-02-18), page 20
    14. Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel, "Mars/Avril 2000" (FR; 2000-xx-xx), page 78
    15. Dreamplanet, "Mayo 2000" (ES; 2000-0x-xx), page 36
    16. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "March 2000" (US; 2000-02-08), page 143
    17. Entsiklopediya igr dlya Dreamcast, "Izdaniye chetvertoye, dopolnennoye" (RU; 2002-xx-xx), page 108
    18. GameFan, "Volume 8, Issue 4: April 2000" (US; 2000-xx-xx), page 15
    19. GamePro, "April 2000" (US; 2000-0x-xx), page 116
    20. GameZine (UK) (+0:00)
    21. Gamers' Republic, "March 2000" (US; 2000-xx-xx), page 92
    22. Incite Video Gaming, "March 2000" (US; 2000-0x-xx), page 104
    23. Joypad, "Aprile 2000" (IT; 2000-0x-xx), page 64
    24. MAN!AC, "04/2000" (DE; 2000-03-04), page 64
    25. Neo Plus, "Maj 2000" (PL; 2000-xx-xx), page 42
    26. Next Generation, "May 2000" (US; 2000-04-18), page 98
    27. Official Dreamcast Magazine, "April 2000" (UK; 2000-03-09), page 80
    28. Playmag, "Mars 2000" (FR; 2000-0x-xx), page 118
    29. PSX Extreme, "03/2001" (PL; 2001-0x-xx), page 40
    30. Revista Oficial Dreamcast, "Mayo 2000" (ES; 2000-0x-xx), page 52
    31. Strana Igr, "Sentyabr 2000 2/2" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 21


    Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

    LegacyOfKain title.png

    Main page | Comparisons | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception | Bootlegs


    Sega Dreamcast
    Prototypes: 1999-12-13 | 2000-01-18