Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge: The Belmonts storm Facebook

Living up to the series' wicked name, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge is definitely not your run-of-the-mill Facebook game. Designed to accompany the most recent console game to carry on the 24-year-old series, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, this is Konami's first time bringing the brand to Facebook. Upon loading the game you'll instantly notice from the intense orchestral music and lively animations that the studio is not messing around on the platform.

Find out more about Castlevania's first appearance on Facebook after the break. After choosing sides between the Lords of Shadow and the Brotherhood of the Light and from either Gabriel Belmont or Zobek as your avatar, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge takes place entirely in the Arena, a circular platform where you'll do battle with your friends. Recruiting your friends, or Followers, will increase your standing with the rest of the game's vampire slayers and make their avatars appear in your Arena to duke it out with.

Double-click your avatar and then click anywhere on the field to move into fighting range of your enemies. To fight your friends' avatars in real time, just click and drag on the lightning spires in your arena to shock your enemies until you reach Level 5. It's then that you'll unlock your first combat ability, Combat Cross, an area attack that will strike anyone around you. Any damage done to your enemies in the Arena--as well as recruiting more followers--will net you experience points to level up. To keep the competition alive, you can also "Taunt" your friends by posting on their Facebook pages when you deal out particularly nasty combos to your friends in the Arena.
The more levels you gain, the more combat abilities inspired by the console games you'll learn. More importantly, you'll also unlock preview content with each level like trailers, screen shots and concept art of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

If you haven't guessed already, the main hook of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge is to fuel excitement for the console game through this gated preview content. We have to admit, we would rather have been able unlock content in the console game like behind the scenes development journals or bonus items for Gabriel to use in his adventures on the console. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge is one of most animated and full-sounding Facebook games I've played in a long time, but better unlockable content would make this game that much more enjoyable.

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