Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

According to Cox, the balance of action, platforming and puzzling is "about even" in Lords of Shadow, so expect to do just as much thinking as running, jumping and fighting.

Don't expect to do much hiding, though. Hideo Kojima may be helping out with the game's development, but it doesn't sound like there's any chance of him trying to sneak a bit of stealth gameplay in there.

"He's got more of an advisory role, so he's looking at the game from afar more than anything else," says Cox. "He always says to me, 'Dave, you're the producer, it's your project and it's your call. You don't have to do what I say, I'm just here to help you.' But when Kojima-san gives you advice you've got to take it seriously, really."

So what kind of advice does Kojima-san give? Put more cardboard boxes in, perhaps? "Haha! Funnily enough, there are a few Kojima in-jokes in the game. But he's more about mentoring us. So, when he first saw Gabriel, he said, 'You need to look again at your main character, because your story is so important and it's such an emotional trip.' "He said he couldn't identify with this bombastic, muscle-bound hero, and that we needed a more human character.

"So we started changing Gabriel. And Kojima said to us, 'You know, we work on Snake constantly. Even up to master submission, we make little tweaks and changes here and there.'"

But even with Kojima's help, MercurySteam has a tough challenge on its hands. The Castlevania series has been around a long time and it's got a large, dedicated fanbase. How concerned is Cox about the reaction to all these fancy new changes?

"Some of the fanbase aren't going to like it, no matter what we do. We've accepted that," he says. "But most of those who remember the classic games will feel right at home here. The more we reveal about the game, the more the core community seems to get on board with what we're doing. And there are lots of nods, winks and homages for Castlevania fans in the game, especially with regard to the music.

"But at the same time we want to broaden the appeal, not just appeal to the core group. In that respect we're not beholden to them... I just wanted to bring the classic gameplay of Super Castlevania IV to a 3D game, and make it contemporary and exciting and give it a cool story. Hopefully that will appeal to the fanbase as well."

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow could well have widespread appeal, judging by the atmospheric presentation, flashy combat, fluid platforming and smart puzzles we've seen so far. With a bit of luck, this could be the most fun lone warriors have had battling supernatural creatures with a whip for some time.