Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

"Sometimes you get what you wish for. The Necromancer Mortanius offered me a chance for vengeance. And like a fool, I jumped at his offer without considering the cost. Nothing is free."

- Kain

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is a top-down action-adventure video game with role-playing game elements. It is the first game in the Legacy of Kain series, and the only one developed by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics. The game was first released in 1996 for the PlayStation, and later ported to Microsoft Windows. A Sega Saturn version was announced during production but later cancelled before release. It was followed by four sequels, which were all developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive.

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain introduces the fictional setting of Nosgoth. In the game, the player takes the role of Kain, a human nobleman, who is murdered and given the chance to exact revenge on his assassins by becoming a vampire. He travels Nosgoth, slaughtering the corrupt sorcerers of the Circle of Nine in hopes of discovering a cure for his vampirism, but gradually begins to view his transformation as a blessing over the course of the story.

Though praised for its scope, high-quality voice acting, moody atmosphere and rich, compelling storyline, the game was criticized for lengthy loading times. During development, Crystal Dynamics contributed several staff members to aid production. After the release, a dispute arose between Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics concerning ownership of the game's intellectual property rights, with Crystal Dynamics ultimately retaining permission to continue the series. This led to the 1999 release of a sequel - Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.

Backstory and setting
"Not even revenge."

- Kain



In the fictional land of Nosgoth, which resembles Medieval Europe, the health of the world is inextricably tied to the Pillars of Nosgoth, nine columns of "marble and other indescribable materials" which reach infinitely into the sky. Each Pillar is linked to a fundamental principle: the Mind, Dimension, Conflict, Nature, Balance, Energy, Time, States and Death. Equally, each Pillar is represented by a Pillar Guardian, culled from Nosgoth's human population; together, the Guardians form the Circle of Nine, an oligarchy of immortal sorcerers dedicated to serve and protect the integrity of the land. When a Guardian dies, the Circle remains temporarily broken, until their successor is found. Since the times before Nosgoth's recorded history, it has been the responsibility of the active Guardians to locate, apprentice and induct new members.

Hundreds of years before the events of the game, Nosgoth's vampire population increased. In response, the Circle of Nine formed, and sponsored the crusades of, a monastic order of fanatical, vampire-hunting warriors, known as the Sarafan brotherhood. The Sarafan vampire purge devastated their enemies, prompting the vampire Vorador to retaliate. Vorador stormed the Circle's domain, and slaughtered six of the Pillar Guardians before defeating Malek, the leader of the Sarafan and appointed defender of the Circle. The Circle recovered, but one of its senior members - Mortanius the Necromancer - damned Malek for his failure, condemning him to serve the Circle for eternity as an unliving wraith. Since then, the Sarafan have long since disbanded, and humans and vampires co-exist in a state of relative, if uneasy, truce. Humanity is pre-occupied with a new threat: the encroaching Legions of the Nemesis from the north.

Decades ago, Ariel, the Balance Guardian, was murdered by an unknown traitor within the Circle. When her lover, Nupraptor (the Mind Guardian), found her corpse, his anguish was too much to bear; vowing vengeance, he turned his powers against his fellow Guardians, irrevocably poisoning their minds with relentless waves of hatred. The magical onslaught left the nine active Guardians insane: some rave like madmen, whereas others remain maliciously in control of their actions. Regardless, Nosgoth is at their mercy. Reflecting the mental state of their servants, the Pillars visibly darkened with corruption, fractures crawling across their surfaces. Kain is obligated to kill each of the insane Guardians, thus restoring their Pillars, in exchange for a cure to his curse.

Characters
"Oh, little vampire, the game grows interesting. But with so many pawns, can you find the true player?"

- Mortanius



The characters of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain were devised to accommodate the developers' ambition to create "a world where you had to kill innocents to survive and a world that you are the ultimate pawn", aiming to offer a story with no real "good guys" or "bad guys" (including the protagonist). Silicon Knights said that ''"we wanted to ask the questions of "What is evil? Perhaps it is merely a perspective"''.


 * Kain (voiced by Simon Templeman), "an ambitious young noble whose lust for vengeance overrides his sense of judgment", is the protagonist of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Conceived by Denis Dyack, he was partially modeled upon William Munny, the lead character of Clint Eastwood's 1992 film Unforgiven. Moral ambiguity is a central theme in Kain's story, and the developers wished to put the player "in the position where everyone believes you are evil", hoping to introduce "a game were [sic] everyone in the world was your enemy (including yourself)" in an attempt to challenge the monomyth. Silicon Knights explicitly identified Kain as an anti-hero, a non-archetypal lead character whose personality can be perceived as being villainous and heroic at the same time. Initially, Kain is obsessed with finding a cure to preserve his humanity, but this hope declines over the course of the story as he comes to accept, and even embrace, his vampiric gifts, forsaking the machinations of the living. Kain narrates events, his surroundings and his thoughts through the literary device of retrospective soliloquy.


 * Mortanius the Necromancer (Tony Jay) is Kain's enigmatic benefactor, responsible for resurrecting him as a vampire after his seemingly-inexplicable murder at the hands of assassins. Though arguably the most potent wizard in Nosgoth, his incredible power is tempered by a sense of mercy and judgment. He is also one of the most senior members of the Circle of Nine - the Death Guardian - although this fact is not made clear until the final acts of the story. Mortanius periodically guides Kain throughout the land, but his motivations are somewhat murky and ambiguous. After the game's release, Silicon Knights explained that he is the victim of possession by a Dark Entity determined to bring down the Pillars. "In constant conflict" with this being, Mortanius seeks to "correct the imbalance" in Nosgoth, and "as the game progresses, some of Mortanius's actions are his own, some are him being controlled".


 * Ariel (Anna Gunn), the former Balance Guardian, directs Kain from the Pillars of Nosgoth. "Her magic influenced the regulation of the other magic in Nosgoth", and her prowess was rivaled only by her beauty. Murdered decades prior to the events of the game, she now haunts the Pillars as a disembodied specter, doomed to linger there until the land receives its salvation. Although an ally to Kain, her sincerity is questionable; she leaves him ignorant of his true destiny to ensure he fulfills his duty as the scourge of the Circle.


 * Moebius the Time Streamer (Richard Doyle), operating under the alias of the Oracle of Nosgoth, is the malevolent Time Guardian. Intensely devious and conniving, Moebius is not trusted by many of his peers in the Circle, and constantly abuses his unique ability to forecast Nosgoth's time-stream. Passing himself off as a wise hermit, he was viewed as wise and benevolent by pilgrims, but by the Blood Omen era is noted for "predicting omens and horrific events" - a puppeteer, manipulating others for his own ends. The character of Moebius was partially based on Adolf Hitler, and some of his actions - particularly towards the end of the story - were modeled upon fascism, Nazism and the Nuremburg rallies.


 * Vorador (Paul Lukather) is "a proud, arrogant and long lived vampire", who has witnessed the world's transition from being young and vibrant to sour and corrupt over the eras. Though outwardly portrayed as an "arrogant, egotistical braggart", he is privately tormented by the past loss of many of his friends, children and lovers to the crusades of the Sarafan. Renowned but reclusive, he fiercely despises the living, whom he regards as nothing more than cattle. Vorador represents what Kain is to become if he allows his curse to consume him, and serves as a father figure of sorts of the younger vampire, assisting him in the quest to destroy the Circle, but staunchly warning him to stay out of human affairs.


 * Malek the Paladin (Neil Ross) is the Ward of the Circle, the Conflict Guardian, and an antagonist. Once a ruthless warrior-priest and leader of the Sarafan brotherhood, he was condemned for his failure to defend the Circle of Nine, and is now a wraith deprived of the "pleasures of the flesh". Thus purged of his humanity, his "hate has been entirely focused on exacting revenge upon the vampire that caused him to be damned for eternity". The "endless struggle" between Malek and Vorador is representative of the conflict between Kain's sense of humanity and his newfound vampire nature.


 * Anarcrothe the Alchemist (the States Guardian; Doyle), Azimuth the Planer (the Dimension Guardian; Gunn), Bane the Druid (the Nature Guardian; Lukather), DeJoule the Energist (the Energy Guardian; Gunn) and Nupraptor the Mentalist (Doyle) collectively form the remainder of the corrupted Circle of Nine, acting as bosses fought throughout the game. As Kain kills each Circle member, he collects their Pillar token, necessary to restore their respective Pillar.

Other notable characters include King Ottmar (Ross), the melancholic ruler of Willendorf, whose assistance Kain elicits to fight the Legions of the Nemesis. The Nemesis himself, otherwise known as William the Just (Jay), is a mighty warlord whom Kain is forced to contend with towards the conclusion of his quest. Elzevir the Dollmaker, a minor antagonist and boss, must be killed in order to gain Ottmar's favor. Lastly, the Dark Entity (Jay) - a malevolent being also known as Hash'ak'gik - is an otherworldly creature desperate to destroy the Pillars, whom Kain must defeat at the conclusion of the game. Despite appearing only briefly in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, the Entity's role is greatly expanded in later entries in the series, in which he becomes a major character. The infamous vampire Janos Audron, who likewise becomes a significant presence in future games, is occasionally mentioned, but does not appear in the game.

Fateful Dilemma
The game features a mature and well crafted story of deception, betrayal and manipulation of the main character. Kain, a nobleman in the world of Nosgoth, is murdered by assassins and offered new life as a Vampire by the necromancer Mortanius to take vengeance. Kain easily kills his murderers, but Mortanius convinces Kain that they were mere pawns and that the real perpetrators can be found at the Pillars of Nosgoth, which protect Nosgoth from destruction. There, the ghost of Ariel, the former Guardian of the Pillar of Balance, tells him that the humans guarding the Pillars from decay have gone insane, and that they must be killed for the Pillars to be saved.

Kain embarks on a quest to kill the guardians and visits their fortresses, gaining numerous powers in the process, and often encountering strange and deranged characters, like the Oracle, which tells him of the Nemesis and tells him to seek the aid of Vorador -- a powerful vampire. After eliminating several more guardians, Kain learns that an army commanded by the Nemesis -- a corrupted ruler once named William the Just -- is on the brink of conquering Nosgoth. Kain tries to neutralize this threat using a Time streaming device -- which he found in a cathedral in the city of Avernus -- to go 50 years back into the past, and kill the young King William. He succeeds, but in the altered history, the murder of William at his hands sets off a genocidal crusade against all vampires, rendering him the last of his kind. Kain discovers that he has been manipulated into changing history by the guardian of time, Moebius, posing as the Oracle, whom he finally manages to kill.

At this point, Kain encounters the two remaining guardians, Mortanius, and Anarcrothe the Alchemist, fighting. Anarcrothe is killed by Mortanius and Kain challenges him, believing he is the last guardian. After defeating him, Mortanius turns into a monster, who is revealed as the author of the murder of Ariel and Kain as part of a plot to destroy the pillars.

After defeating the monster, Kain learns that he is the last guardian, the guardian of the Pillar of Balance. He is given two choices: sacrifice himself, restore the land, and free Ariel while condemning vampires to extinction, or refuse the sacrifice and let the pillars fall. Later games in the series were based on Kain's decision to refuse the sacrifice. Blood Omen 2, the sequel, is meant to show the player an altered storyline 400 years after the pillars fall due to the events of Soul Reaver 2.

Overview
Blood Omen is a two-dimensional action-adventure game. The game camera is fixed in a bird's eye view position and follows Kain as the character travels the world of Nosgoth. Gameplay is divided between outdoor exploration and visiting internal structures, including crypts, houses, castles, cathedrals and temples. The game screen constantly displays three features, being the sun gauge, and health and magic meters respectively. The sun gauge monitors the passage of time via the use of icons (e.g. sun and moon), with the screen also becoming lighter or darker to accurately reflect the time. Certain doors, or "Moon Gates", possess a "time trigger" and only open when a full moon occurs. A full moon briefly occurs once every two hours of real time. The health meter is a red blood vial that monitors Kain's current level of health. By finding small vials throughout the game it is possible to increase the size of the vial. The magic gauge is signified by a series of blue glyphs, and by finding additional glyphs the gauge increases in length.

During the course of the game, the character Kain acquires a variety of abilities, weapons, armor, magic and items. Kain acquires four additional forms, being "werewolf" (enhanced strength and speed), "bat" (instant travel to other locations such as Bat Beacons), "mist" (used to bypass solid objects and water) and "human peasant", later "nobleman" (to fool enemies and townspeople into talking to Kain). Weapons include an iron sword, a mace, twin battle axes (called "Havoc" and "Malice"), the Flame Sword and the Soul Reaver, with each having benefits and drawbacks (e.g. the use of the battleaxes prevents the use of magic and items, while use of the Soul Reaver drains the magic gauge). During the course of the game certain weapons are required to enable progression to new areas. Five different types of armor can be found, being iron, bone, chaos, flesh and wraith respectively. Each suit of armor has its own distinctive advantages.

Magic can be used as either a spell or an item, with several of each being hidden throughout the game. There are 13 spells in total, being practical (e.g. "Light"), offensive ("Lightning") and on occasion functional (e.g. "Mind Control"), being necessary to allow game progression. Throughout the game numerous colored orbs can found that will replenish the character's magic levels. There are also ten items in total, which can be found in hidden "Spirit Forges". Like spells, these vary in effect, and include both offensive (e.g. "Flay") and support (e.g. "Heart of Darkness") options. There are 100 "secrets" hidden in the game, which can be found when the character performs actions such as activating hidden switches, pressing buttons, entering Moon Gates or finding items such as Spirit Forges, but finding all of them won't change the ending(s).

Production
The concept of Blood Omen was conceived by Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack, and was first considered for production under the working title The Pillars of Nosgoth in 1993. Silicon Knights attempted to create a strongly cerebral action role-playing game "where you had to use your head as well as your reflexes". The creative team focused on developing a cinematic and immersive storyline, narrative and atmosphere in an attempt to evolve the genre. Actual technical production was delayed in the absence of a suitable console; for approximately eight months, Silicon Knights worked on game design without a designated hardware platform.

In 1993, fellow game development studio Crystal Dynamics agreed to publish the game, with an extended development period requiring Silicon Knights to double staff levels and Crystal Dynamics contributing several employees. The game was released for the PlayStation in late 1996 "after herculean efforts", and ported to personal computers in 1997. Work on a Sega Saturn version was also commenced after the initial release, but was eventually terminated.

Influences
In developing the character of Kain, Silicon Knights deliberately veered away from following the monomyth despite being advised that a brooding anti-hero would not appeal to gamers. Silicon Knights adopted the vision of a character whom everyone believes is evil, partially inspired by William Munny, the protagonist of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, as opposed to a stereotypical "totally kick-ass" protagonist.

The world of Nosgoth was created by using a combination of high fantasy and vampire mythology as a template. Influenced by the Necroscope and The Wheel of Time series, the creative team attempted to ensure no character fell into a simple "good" or "evil" typecast. Cover art for The Pillars of the Earth served as inspiration for the Pillars of Nosgoth themselves. Content director Ken McCulloch, who co-wrote the storyline and the majority of in-game texts, was urged by marketers to use more accessible names late in the design process, with Mortanius and Hash'ak'gik considered "Names from Hell" that were difficult to get past the "marketing censor".

Audio
Simon Templeman provided the voice of Kain, and prior to recording Dyack expressed concern that the actors would be unable to convey McCulloch's complex dialog. Dyack, however, stated their performances "blew him away", and commented that "after five minutes with Simon Templeman [...] we knew that there was no problem."

Critical reception
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain was well-received by critics, with an average review score of 83% as determined by Game Rankings. IGN cited the story as "the best of many strong features in the game", praising the voices and atmosphere. Although the game's CD-based load times were described as long and "agonizing", IGN commended the developer for keeping them from interfering with the game.

Sales
Specific sales figures were never released, but Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain was described as "immensely successful" by a Crystal Dynamics employee. Denis Dyack stated that "all parties involved [were] very pleased" when it shipped, and Amy Hennig later revealed that it had "sold remarkably well for its time", but that its profits were not comparable to the standards of 2000's blockbuster games.

Credits

 * Director: Denis Dyack (SK)

Art:
 * Lead Artists: Darren Cranford (SK), Kevin Gordon (SK) , Ken McCulloch (SK)
 * Senior Artists: Scott Collie (SK), Scott Derby (SK)
 * Artists: Ryan Andrews (SK), Tony Ascroft (SK) , Al Grace (SK) , Clint Green (SK) , Brad Ryan (SK) , Phil Tauro (SK)

Code:
 * Lead Programmer: Denis Dyack (SK)
 * Senior Programmers: Clint Lipczynski (SK), Andrew Summerfield (SK)
 * Programmers: Andrew Bates (SK), Rick Goertz (SK) , Doug Tooley (SK)

Design:
 * Lead Designers: Seth Carus (CD), Armando Marini (SK) , Ken McCulloch (SK)
 * Designers: Albert Alejandro (SK), Riley Cooper (CD) , J Epps (CD) , Chazz Geiwitz (CD) , Jack Meier (SK) , Rodney Rapp (CD) , Kenny Reeves (CD) , Josh Rose (CD) , Eric Simonich (CD) , Ted Traver (SK) , Caroline Trujillo (CD) , Jaime Wojick (CD)

Other production:
 * Product Marketing Manager: Jim Curry (CD)
 * Director of Marketing: Scott Steinberg (CD)
 * Kain Concept: Denis Dyack (SK)
 * Blood Omen Story Line And Mythology: Denis Dyack (SK), Ken McCulloch (SK)
 * Original Cinematic Script: Ken McCulloch (SK)
 * Cinematic Script Edits & Additions: Jim Curry (CD), D. G. Chichester
 * Original In-Game Scripts: Ken McCulloch (SK)
 * Revised In-Game Script: Sheatiel Sarao (CD), Seth Carus (CD) , Jim Curry (CD)
 * Design Manager: Amy Hennig (CD)
 * Producers (alphabetical order): Rick Goertz (SK), Lyle Hall (CD) , Joshua Marks (CD) , Mark Wallace (CD) , Jeff Zwelling (CD)
 * Executive Producer: Jonathan Miller (CD)
 * Activision Producer: Jason Kay
 * Supplementary Art: Ross Cutler (SK), Mike Tweedle (SK)
 * Programming Support: Adrian Longland (CD)
 * IGOT Tool Support: Sean Vikoren (CD)

Audio:
 * Music: Steve Henifin
 * Additional Music: Scott Shelley
 * Cinematic Sound Effects: Dave Nelson, Outpost Studios, Jim Lebrecht
 * Cinematic Foley: Dave Nelson, Outpost Studios
 * In-Game Sound Effects: Denis Dyack (SK)
 * Additional Sound Effects: Earl Vickers
 * Cinematic Voice Director: Todd Bonzung
 * In-Game Voice Director: Maddy Bascom


 * Simon Templeman as Kain
 * Tony Jay as Mortanius and William the Just
 * Paul Lukather as Vorador and Bane
 * Anna Gunn as Ariel, Azimuth and DeJoule
 * Richard Doyle as Moebius, Nupraptor and Anarcrothe
 * Neil Ross as Malek, Ottmar and Elzevir the Dollmaker


 * Sound Support: Mark Miller (CD)

Testing:
 * Test Manager: Alex Ness (CD)
 * Lead Tester: Sheatiel Sarao (CD)
 * Assistant Lead Testers: Rich Krinock (CD), Steve Papoutsis (CD)
 * Testers: Ron Allen (CD), Greg Becksted (CD) , Tony Borba (CD) , Attilio Brandi (CD) , Jeremy Bredow (CD) , Mike Brown (CD) , Chris Bruno (CD) , James Cabot (CD) , Shun Chang (CD) , Ed Chennault (CD) , Rolef Conlan (CD) , Casey Craig (CD) , Scott Crisostomo (CD) , Joe Damon (CD) , Jim Delgrosso (CD) , Chris DeMartini (CD) , David Dao (CD) , Mitch Giampaoli (CD) , Kari Hagemann (CD) , Scott Hill (CD) , Billy King (CD) , Kevin Kwan (CD) , Doug Leslie (CD) , Craig Locicero (CD) , Samson Maciel (CD) , Sean MacGrath (CD) , Scott Matt (CD) , Dan Miley (CD) , Billy Mitchell (CD) , Matt Prescott (CD) , Bret Robbins (CD) , Kenny Reeves (CD) , Jim Reuter (CD) , Narcisse Roze Shields (CD) , Jason Sinclair (CD) , Sam Villanueva (CD) , Pat Walsh (CD) , Jeff Wilkinson (CD) , John Yanik (CD) , Matt Young (CD)
 * Manual: Carol-Ann Hanshaw


 * Thanks To: Karyn Depetris (SK), Ross Lillo (SK)
 * Special Thanks: Tom Carey, John Mitterer, Lyle Hall, Coffee Guy, All The Digital Widows Made By This Project