Game Review #1: Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

A month ago I came into a bit of money. What I did with it is the same thing that I usually do when I come into such an amount: I go game shopping. So I went down to the local music & game shop and browsed around for pre-owned games, then I walked out with Viewtiful Joe (GCN) and Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (PS2) in my possesion for only $25.

It wasn't until the last week that I actually started playing CoD though, and now that it's beaten I have a few thoughts on it. Thoughts on topics such as...

1. Plot

Compared to other Castlevania games - you are Belmont, Dracula is alive, go kill him - Curse of Darkness breaks the trend a little by instead starring another supporting hero, this time in the form of one of Dracula's two "Devil Forgemasters" (with this being the only time ever hearing of them). Hector, as he is known, had betrayed Dracula sometime during Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and gone off to do his own peaceful little thing. Some time later the other Devil Forgemaster Isaac orchestrated the death of Hector's fiancee Rosaly via burning at the stake.

Isaac then plays cat and mouse with Hector as Hector struggles across the cursed countryside - another departure from Castlevania's tradition of just a giant castle - to kill Isaac and avenge his lost fiancee. Along the way he meets various characters such as the monk-like Zead, the enigmatic Saint Germain and Julia the witch. He also ends up encountering Trevor Belmont - the hero of Castlevania III - several times throughout his travels. I won't go into details or spoilers here but even though the cutscenes are spaced out farther than I would have liked, the plot does have it's share of twists and is quite good. And to top it off, I find Saint Germain to be an excellent character.

2. Gameplay

The meat and bones of the game, and what you're purchasing the media for. Unlike a bulk of the Castlevania games - 2D action platformers or "Metroidvania/Castleroids", Curse of Darkness follows in it's precursor's footsteps in being an action game set in a 3D enviroment. Unlike Lament of Innocence though, Curse of Darkness deviates even farther away from the typical whip + sub-item attack scheme that so many other Castlevania games have.

For example Hector fights in a system more akin to a Dynasty Warriors game, with one button being standard attacks and another being more powerful combo-finishing techniques that are used after the standard attack button has been pressed X number of times. The differences don't end there though, as Hector gains several different weapon types - ranging from swords to spears to even a guitar - and each type has it's own moves, pattern and speed.

However, unlike a normal game where you gain different weapons by finding them, Hector forges his own weapons using the items he gains via enemy drops or by stealing. Some of the best weapons in the game can only be forged by stealing from the proper enemy or boss, and a few of them are quite difficult to obtain. Death's item is especially a pain in the ass but is worth it in the end. This is because each enemy has a certain time when the item can be stolen from them (shown by a purple cursor instead of green when you've locked onto them with R2). Each enemy has a different window of steal availability with some being rather easy (Skeletons) to others being incredibly tedious (Death).

Another addition, and a bulk of the gameplay, is the Innocent Devil system. Representing his Devil Forgemaster status, you collect and raise various species of Innocent Devils to aid you in both exploring the areas around Dracula's lands and in combat. They range from the fairy species (seen previously in Symphony of the Night), which can heal you as well as provide other player-aiding abilities, to the Battle and Bird species which help with heavy doors and large gaps respectively.

With these expansions onto the usually run and hit of the 3D Castlevanias, the gameplay does get repetive and a tad boring after awhile. Much more detail could have gone into the areas that Hector explores and they could have dealt with being a tad less linear, especially Dracula's Castle. So many bland and empty hallways that existed for the sole purpose of running down could have been dealt without. And like I said earlier, combat does resemble a Dynasty Warriors game quite a bit. Could have been better, but still good overall.

3. Graphics

I'm not really much as far as opinions go on graphics. I'm a guy who still enjoys SNES and Genesis titles afterall, so the overall look of a 2005 PS2 game is that it looks good. The cutscenes look detailed and nice, and the character models during gameplay are decent. Backgrounds and level design is repetive though and flat, so it doesn't do great in that respect. Overall, it's good, but not much better than that.

4. Music

Finally, the music. Every Castlevania game has an incredible score worth listening to, and Curse of Darkness is no exception. Where some other aspects of the game may fail, the music is there to help you deal with it and still have a good time. The music has all of the old Castlevania appeal, but with the addition of the electric guitar in many songs - something that was missing from a few previous games. Personally, the battle theme that plays when you fight Isaac is my favorite.

All in all, I enjoyed the game for what it was worth but I think there could have been several improvements. It's still worth picking up and trying out though, so it shouldn't be just tossed aside in favor of one of the Castleroid games.

Final score: 8.0

Until the next save point, Sobou's out.