With the look and feel of a cross between the Legend of Zelda and Castlevania, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain unleashes the darker side of the Playstation. Your character (Kain) is murdered at the beginning of the game, then resurrected in the form of a vampire so that he can exact revenge upon those who have wronged him. As you will quickly discover, revenge is a dish best served at body temperature. Since Kain is a vampire, the easiest way to keep him alive is to suck the blood of anything that stands in his way. After a few whacks with his sword, his victim strikes a Mortal Kombat-style "Finish Him" pose. This leaves you with a choice: he can either finish his prey off with one last slash, or bite into the hapless victim like a good vampire should. The graphics in Kain are great. Everything from the power bar to the blood spurting out of an unsuspecting villager looks terrific. On the downside, the action is seen from an overhead perspective that is unnecessarily dark (as in not enough light). This darkness, unfortunately, makes it easy to miss items and doors. The music is appropriately foreboding, and it perfectly congeals the mood of the game. The voice talent is also superb, and continual voice-overs from your character both add to the story and point the you in the right direction. Capturing the spirit of Zelda and Beyond Oasis, Legacy of Kain is a great hack-and-slash role-playing game. With lots challenging and fun gameplay, sucking the blood out of hapless prisoners and townspeople is pure Playstation pleasure. --Jeff Gerstmann
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12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 Epic and InvolvingDec 08, 1999
Although graphically ancient compared to the games nowadays, when this game came out 3 years ago...WOW. It has the feel of the old style 2-Dimensional arcade games. Besides running around and hacking things up..which is cool and all...you get to do a variety of exploring. New abilities granted to you in the game (Changing into a bat or mist) allow for hours of exploration to previously unattainable areas. The storyline is compelling and the gameplay is fun for anyone. There are a variety of weapons, spells and powerups that contribute to the lasting effect of the game. The computer generated movies are still well done even today...although parents may want to be cautioned at some of the violence depicted in them. For any lover of the vampire genre..this game is an epic!
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Before Soul Reaver, there was Blood Omen...Mar 01, 2000
If you're looking for a moody, intricate RPG with plenty of action and dark themes, here's your best bet. Even if it's a few years old and has some "ancient" graphics, everything about Blood Omen is AWESOME. The creepy music, the deep gameplay, the spells, the levels, the secrets, the FMV...it's just something you don't see everyday.
11 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 Fun but the puzzles are a little obscure...Nov 10, 1999
I am enjoying this game but it is primitive compared to "Soul Reaver: Legacy of Kain" which I played first. "Soul Reaver" is the sequel to this game and its graphics and scenery are SO far advanced compared to this that it is unbelievable! I like the freedom this game gives you to explore the world of Nosgoth but I am frustrated occasionally by how obscure some of the solutions are to the puzzles- ther eare still doors I can't open because I haven't figured out the trick. The shapechanging and spell abilities are cool though!
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 "The Beginning of the Next Big Series"Apr 21, 2001
By Gerrit R Wynkoop
This game is the first of several games in a budding new series. Here is a list of the series so far: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1997) for the PSX/PC Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999) for the PSX/DC/PC Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 (2001) for the PS2/DC/PC Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 (2002) for the PS2/DC/PC As you may have guessed from the list above, the series will split in to two later this year. "Soul Reaver" will follow Raziel. And "Blood Omen" will follow Kain. The makers of the popular series (Soul Reaver went GOLD, aka selling millions) plan to make more games so long as the fans keep buying them! The series itself is very promising when compared to others that have done well even though they had for example, crappy voice acting. The Legacy of Kain series has superb acting, play them and you'll know what I'm talking about. I still believe to this day that Soul Reaver has the best opening sequence in a game EVER! It is truly jaw-dropping. The music, the game play, the graphics, the voice overs, just everything about this series is incredible. Blood Omen may be a little primitive when it comes to graphics, but it is still a great game. The 2 New games coming out look amazing!! I've seen pics throughout the net and it really has me excited. It has been mentioned by other reviewers that Blood Omen is very hard to find, and they are right! However, I managed to find a BRAND NEW UNOPENED COPY of Blood Omen on Ebay just the other day! In fact, there were at least 10 unopened copies up for bid! Hurry over, as this is truly a great opportunity. If you're a fan of vampires and darkness, these games are for you! There's just no words to describe them.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
The Legacy of kain franchise starts hereSep 02, 2005
By Michael Corona
"Nemesis Legion"
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - Circa 1996
GOOD:
- Mature and Dark foreboding story
- Voice work is really good
BAD:
- Graphics may looked dated to some
- Game play may feel dated for some who never played a top-down RPG
IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- Top-Down RPG
- An original take on the Vampire story
- Takes place in a medieval type of world similar to Dungeon and Dragons
GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- The Legend of Zelda: A link to the past
- Alundra
- Beyond Oasis
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- This game was made by Silicon Knights, who also made Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear: The Twin Snakes on Game Cube
- Silicon Knights lost the rights to the franchise and Eidos made all the sequels called Soul Reaver
- Blood Omen and Soul Reaver are two different franchises that fall under the Legacy of Kain franchise
- A version of this game was also made on the P.C
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