One night in the spring of 1997, my older brother came home with this game called, "Blood Omen: The Legacy of Kain." He had neither heard of it by way of mouth or by seeing someone else play it. He bought it just in blind faith. When I saw him play it that night, I was enthralled by its dark, Gothic scenery and powerful, chilling musical score. That was just my initial reaction to the game. Then, when I played it, I could not stop because of its intriguing story line. It is about a petty nobleman, Kain, who goes into a small town and tries to lodge there for the night. But the innkeeper refuses him and sends him back into the cold, bitter night. Outside the inn, he is killed by unknown assailants and is sent to the hellish underworld. Chained and tortured, Kain is confronted by the necromancer Mortanius. He offers to resurrect Kain so that he can take vengeance upon his assassins. Kain accepts this, not realizing that by doing this that he will become a vampire. And so Kain returns to the world of Nosgoth, his home, and wreaks blind vengeance upon all. That's all I'm going to tell you about. If you want to know more, PLAY THE GAME.
The brilliant diction and syntax of the script is spectacular, and in my case educational, for it inspired me to build my vocabulary quite a bit (my brother's too). An excellent voice talent cast brings the characters of this masterpiece to life. Simon Templeman is excellent as the blood-thirsty, hate-driven Kain. Voice actor Tony Jay with his deep, throaty voice does well to give life to the shady necromancer Mortanius. Great performances from Neil Ross, Richard Doyle, and Anna Gunn, who did the bulk of the voices in this game (Anna Gunn did all the female voices). And Paul Lukather is incredible as the veteran vampire Vorador. To anyone who likes fantasy games, or any kind of action/adventure game, this one is worth at least a try.
