Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 demo now on Steam

All Gabriel "Dracula" Belmont wants to do is be left in peace.

All Gabriel "Dracula" Belmont wants to do is be left in peace. He longs to stare into the night sky and occasionally feast on the blood of the pure, but that stupid Satan just won't stop showing up and kicking over Dracula's Gothic sand castle. We'll soon get to stick our Void Swords right in the Devil's derriere when Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2hits PCs on February 25, but at least we can sate our bloodthirst in the meantime with the free demo available on Steamalong with a 10 percent cut of the $60 pre-order price.

Lords of Shadow 2 continues Belmont's saga from last year's Lords of Shadow after shedding his mortal coil and becoming Dracula. Expect to see MercurySteam's excellent combo of traditional Castlevania with fast-paced, Devil-May-Cry-style combat but with greater camera control and more open environments. Dracula's sinister castle has seen a neo-Gothic city sprawl across its grounds, and the extent of Dracula's various abilities has a far more vampiric theme with blood-based attacks and siphoning strikes.

Besides Satan, Dracula also has to deal with the rest of the Belmont clan hunting after him, including his son Alucard and a few other shadowy characters. Because nothing gets in the way of family bonding more than an undead patriarch who'll never show up to beach parties.

Get the demo from Steam, and check out more trailersand screenshotsfor Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.