Lucius

Lucius takes players on a heinous adventure through the eyes of Satan's prodigal son, so named Lucius. Equipped with telekinesis, mind control, combustion, and memory erase, Lucius secretly wreaks havoc throughout his home, killing and collecting souls from the residents of Dante Manor.

Lucius harvests souls for Lucifer by killing maids, handymen, and even family members. His victims are in general unaware of their fate, with their deaths appearing accidental. To watch Lucius' murderous rampage unfold players must follow a series of clues discovered by listening into conversations, looking in Lucius' journal, and utilizing items around the manor. Execute the correct combination of actions and see the handyman meet his demise squished under a piano and the maid take a freefall off the balcony.

Ouch, that looked like it hurt.

Generally completing each chapter is a tolerably difficult task with helpful tips acquired from a map of Dante Manor and eavesdropping on conversations. The first handful of chapters can quickly be played through with an active tutorial and less exploration of the complex mansion. As players progress through the chapters the game becomes more difficult, often leading to frustration. Finding yourself stumped makes for a monotonous search of Dante Manor, frequently blindly searching for an object already collected or one visible only with a specific power activated.

As noted previously, the map of Dante Manor is helpful with symbols pointing players in the right direction and a highlighted path to your destination. However, this highlighted portion of the map is not available for the entirety of each chapter, visible only to get players to the first step of the chapter. The symbols are decipherable but questionable; what do they really mean? Lucius would be much less disheartening if there was an option to turn this highlighted path on and off and a key decoding the maps symbols when finding yourself at a roadblock.

This priest is suspicious and unwanted.

How are the people of Dante Manor not catching onto Lucius' scheming? In order to appear like a good little boy Lucius completes chores throughout the game. His mother and other members of the household ask Lucius to sort laundry, fetch them a tool, or take out the trash. Completing these chores is exhausting but necessary to receive gifts that aid in your journey; gifts are limited with only three at your disposal. One of the more annoying chores is sorting laundry. Lucius must run around through the labyrinth that is his home, picking up a sock or a pair of underwear, one at a time. Truly a chore for both Lucius and gamer. Beyond obtaining said gifts, further completion of chores does not seem necessary as incompletion does not lead to different gameplay.

Lucius being a good little boy and sorting laundry.

The most exciting piece of Lucius is the cut scenes. Correctly put the pieces of the puzzle together, watch the characters die in obscure ways, and complete the chapter. Many of these scenes are captured in slow motion enabling the viewer to enjoy a sick scene of blood splatter, head removal, and gunshot wounds. Without spoiling the game, one of the best cut scenes involves mind control and a loaded nail gun.

Megan Bethke, NoobFeed (@XboxBetty)