Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (May 12, 1999 prototype)

'''The Early Beta Build '''

This is the closest version to the original cut ending. It has an accessible debug menu, lots of different sounds and textures, animations, etc. A screenshot gallery with description can be found here.

List of features/glitches:
 * the game canˈt be played normally because it does not remember your actions when you return somewhere (it has issues with free and saved memory),
 * it has a unique title screen, the characters do not change to vampires,
 * this version freezes very often (memory issues), 1*
 * FMV and introductory cutscenes have a different dialogue,
 * there is no spectral music in the game however it can be triggered within debug menu, music does not play properly, it misses many tracks but has Dumah Encounter, prototypes of Drowned Abbey music and different Underworld battle music, 2*
 * frequent sound glitches,
 * music has much louder volume than in any other version,
 * Raziel can walk on air horizontally and vertically after pressing R1 and R2 together and up or down direction (pressing R2 to move the camera when holding R1 does not work), after this, press triangle and move camera to the desired location and land – it will allow Raziel to walk trough walls,
 * flying bug is present,
 * Debug menu is present along with many options, it can be activated while walking on air, 3*
 * it contains (or lacks) different dialogue in numerous cutscenes, 4*
 * the planar portal is different,
 * many sounds are missing or are different (sluagh cry, spectral reaver slash, Razielˈs attack with claws, vampiric screams and cries),
 * Raziel can pick up knives and staves after vampire worshippers and they can be impaled or set on fire,
 * elements of landscape, buildings or location of enemies are very different from the retail, 5*
 * this version has no clan flags in most of the territories,
 * the glow of health coil is blue and looks different in spectral than in retail,
 * Reaver makes a sound when active even in spectral and the game does not automatically change its colour to blue when shifting, Reaver withdraws fully when carrying a weapon,
 * Fire Reaver has no finishing move, instead, it kills on a touch, its projectile is unfinished and FR has red and white colour,
 * Reaver has a projectile from the beginning, it has no finishing move,
 * the design of the force projectile is different,
 * animation when impaling an enemy is awkward,
 * Raziel thrusts his claws vertically towards an enemy when doing a strike,
 * phase through gates ability occurs much quickly and covers more distance,
 * enemies impaled on wall spikes are horizontally placed,
 * textures are very different, 6*
 * Glyphs are present, Water and Fire Glyph have the same visual animation, while Sunlight has no visual effects and it doesnˈt work,
 * the order of the Glyphs in the ring menu is mixed up,
 * using Glyphs does not consume Eldritch energy,
 * the location of health pieces and Eldritch energies is different,
 * Eldritch energy doesnˈt acumulate, it stays at 0 value, when collected, it is added as a piece of health instead,
 * Zephon canˈt be killed, he has no script for moving just yet,
 * blocks can be pushed up and down on steep pathways,
 * the game starts in material instead of spectral in the abbys after saving,
 * the order of the Warp gates when selecting them is different.
 * Rahabim have different dying animation, Zephonim have different attack stance,
 * stones donˈt shatter when used against and thrown at enemies,
 * thrown weapons do not always kill,
 * Raziel animation when climbing sideways is different and slower,
 * thereˈs a glitch when enemies die sometimes – they die and reanimate immediately,
 * wings animation is awkward,
 * during a cutscene, Raziel is placed not in the middle where he was standing (like in the Abyss or Sanctuary) but is placed slightly to the right,
 * glitch can cause Raziel can swing the Reaver on the water surface,
 * sometimes thereˈs a sound glitch when Raziel slides on a wall or when an enemy burns in the water

1* – The game freezes at certain areas and it is impossible to go further (notably the Drowned Abbey, Ruined City, Necropolis lake area, Pillars). However, it is still possible to overcome this issue.

2* – The game does not have the puzzle type music and much of it is still not present. During a boss encounter, boss theme is played during and after the cutscene, no combat music is triggered. Dumah Encounter music is triggered when you enter the thone room and together with Turel Encounter the second boss theme was cut from the retail.

3* – Debug menu grants the access to „Rileyˈs test areas“, Push rooms, City 10, Demo Fire Glyph Area. When you activate the shift-at-will and turn off the swim ability, a message pops out when selecting the plane shift glyph, warning you that you have to beat Aluka boss before second Kain encounter.

4* The most notable ones:

- there is no cutscene at the Pillars and Chronoplast,

- there are no chronoplast visions present (Crystal Dynamics logo serves as a placeholder for the chronoplast visions),

- there is no dialogue between Raziel and Morlock,

- Raziel sucks Morlockˈs soul when he gains the force projectile (no dialogue),

- there are sentences missing during dialogue with Melchiah and Dumah,

- Rahabˈs dialogue with Raziel is entirely different,

- there is no cutscene with Moebius´ statue,

- two cutscenes trigger after killing Melchiah, in the first one Elder tells Raziel to go to Silenced Cathedral, second has no dialogue (just before the gate leading outside the complex)

5* – It appears that the room beneath Skinnr1 has not been finished, making it impossible to finish the puzzle, but the tunnel leading to Melchiah is present. Some of the murals and destroyable doorways have different design. To get inside the Water Tower, Raziel must switch to spectral to phase through it unlike in the retail. There are two openings in the upper level of Silenced Cathedral with living cocooned humans and the pipes in the chamber with two vampire hunters are not destroyed. Sarafan Tomb contains ornate caskets. Kain can not escape to the past because there is no Chronoplast portal.

6* – This is particulary notable at Razielˈs territory which has white colour and the outter City walls are black. The design of Pillars is different and they contain pictures.