 Reaction to Lords of Shadow was highly positive . 1UP 's review praised how the game took elements from other series and executed them well . GamesRadar drew favorable comparisons to other action games it has given a perfect score , including God of War III , Bayonetta and Dante 's Inferno , while praising it for being " huge in scope , length , and depth , and it 's polished with obvious love and passion " . Official Xbox Magazine lauded the size of the game 's content , writing " ... [ it ] is big . Actually , big 's too little a word . It 's monolithic ... From the <unk> 4 mood of the scarecrow puzzle to the unexpected oddity of the music box level , this is a game that seemingly hasn 't heard of DLC – and decides to offer you immense value for money instead . " The publication concluded it was otherwise a success . Other reviews noted that it was derivative of other games and that it was unlike the classic Castlevania series . GameSpot 's review calls the game " a good start for a series in need of some new blood – so to speak – it 's just unfortunate so much of it comes from other games and not an original source . " IGN found the combat repetitive but felt the puzzles and platforming provided good pacing . Game Informer 's Tim Turi praised its boss battles , its magic @-@ based combat system , and its story . GameZone ranked it as the sixth best Castlevania title . The staff praised the developers ' success at bringing Castlevania to 3D . 
