European PS3 users who subscribe to PlayStation Plus will receive early access to the demo for Konami's latest Castlevania title, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, starting today. The demo comes out on September 29 for regular PSN users, with an Xbox 360 demo coming shortly afterward.

The story in the game seems a little thin on substance, with a generic "man avenges his dead love" approach, but any excuse to go kill Dracula isn't a bad one. Gameplay seems to be drawing a tiny bit from the God of War series in its approach, with the combo system differentiating between direct attacks and area affect attacks while using an extending weapon, in this case the "Combat Cross," which is essentially a chain whip. Slaying undead in this manner seems entertaining, though.

Lords of Shadow will also sport an upgrading system, 40+ enemy types (including several large bosses), and 50 levels to explore. Not to mention, Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions served as the executive producer and co-developer, respectively. No doubt Kojima will bring his own style of cinematic direction to the game.

If you haven't seen it yet, you should enjoy the game's TGS trailer, which shows the latest Belmont, Gabriel, in action against hordes of the undead. In case you missed it, this new Castlevania features famed actor Robert Carlyle as the voice of Gabriel Belmont.

The first and last 3D Castlevania title I ended up playing was Lament of Innocence on the PS2. I actually enjoyed the experience rather well. I had some small issues with the title, mainly not being able to jump where I wanted to all the time, but the combat execution was very fun, and added a lot of depth to what used to be merely a simple attack.

When I initially heard about Kojima Productions being involved in a Castlevania title, the level of excitement I possessed definitely skyrocketed. There's bound to be that small level of ridiculousness that Hideo Kojima titles have that add just enough without being excessive. Here's hoping Lords of Shadow will be everything it can be, and more.

Have any European Ranters had a chance to play the demo? Are the rest of you ready to give Lords of Shadow a chance?

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow returns to kill Dracula again (with a possible Collector's Edition) on October 5, 2010 for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Source: GamePro