In Shiver Games’ Lucius 2 you play the son of Satan, on his dark quest to bring about the apocalypse. The narrative picks up immediately after the events of the first installment, as Lucius has escaped the burning wreckage of the place he once called home, leaving victims in his wake. He is taken to St. Benedicts Hospital for psychiatric analysis, here he assembles followers desperate to aid him in his quest to rise to power and rule the world with an iron fist as the book of Revelation predicts.
As you traverse different levels of the hospital, objectives are given to you peacemeal. Markers are placed on the map, and many times these markers are placed behind locked doors. Every locked door has an identification code that matches the keys, in order to gain passage into this locked room, you must… recover them from the hospital staff.
Lucius 2 allows the player to creatively kill off npc’s and those generally standing in your way (and even a few bystanders). Is that doctor holding the key to room you need to get into? Slip some pills into his donuts! Or douse him in acid and go for the less subtle approach! Using telekinesis, pick up a defibrillator and attach it to a water line, shocking the next person who decides to wash their hands. Lucius 2 encourages players to slaughter in creative and imaginative ways. All of this sounds morbid and sort of twisted, but the real appeal of this title is testing your own limits, and the intelligence of the AI.
As you kill all those who stand in your way, players unlock various skills and powers through three distinct skill trees. You may choose the subtle art of mind control, bending innocents to your will and force them to aid in your cause. Users may also choose to upgrade their telekinetic abilities, manipulating the world around them with a flick of the wrist. Or if you are looking for a simple approach, upgrading the fire tree will allow you to douse your enemies in flames, using only your mind.
As I played, I found myself thinking about Dishonored quite a bit. For those who like the challenge of being placed in confined spaces with a set amount of obstacles in your way, and those objects being people, there will be a lot of enjoyment to be found here. It is incredibly satisfying to set a trap, or hatch your own play to dispatch those in your way and seeing that it actually works. But after seeing the innocents in your way perish, the nagging sense of “wow this is really messed up” may catch up with you.
The overall look of Lucius is a good one, with quality textures and lighting effects. Where this game really falls flat are it’s animations. Deaths cause instant rag doll effects to kick in, even when they aren’t necessary, making it look a bit silly at times. This cheesiness however beings to add a certain charm to the game. Lucius 2 begins to feel like a B horror movie from the 90’s.
This title has been met with mixed reactions from fans of the series, and having not played Lucius, I cannot comment. But from my experience, Lucius 2 challenges players to think outside the box and find solutions to the “problems” at hand. This game is nowhere near perfect, with laughably bad voice acting at times, awkward death animations, and the odd glitch once in a while. But at times these faults feel like quirks that add an odd charm to game. If you can stomach the wanton violence this game has to offer, there is a lot of fun to be had here.