Article by Chris Playo

Castlevania is one of the more storied franchises in the history of the gaming industry. Gamers have been reaping the benefits of excellent gameplay, and a truly immersive atmosphere for years. The series’ latest foray into the realm of gaming consoles marks the third attempt by Konami to bring the historically 2D adventure to a three dimensional world. Is this Action RPG worthy of the name Castlevania, or is this game a curse of darkness?

Facts and Features

Use Devil Forgery skills to develop & enhance Innocent Devils allies

RPG elements featuring character growth based on experience points

Deep storyline that unfolds against a backdrop of beautifully environments

Increased number of unlockable features to enhance replayability

Presentation

The Castlevania series has consistently yielded games that have drawn the player amazingly well into the world of the game. This level of immersion is one of the major draws of the series, as gamers have previously enjoyed truly wonderful castles to explore. In Castlevania: Curse of Darkness it seems that the level design has taken not one, but two steps backwards. The game progresses fairly straightforward, following a pattern of exploration, boss fight, reward, and repeat. At certain points in the game finding your way around the area is far too simple, offering little in terms of hidden areas, and treasure. This is one aspect of Curse of Darkness that certainly hurts the title, as there is virtually no point in fully exploring a given area of the game.

This lack of exploratory value is not characteristic of the series, and seemingly transcends the title into an almost different style of game. However, it is required to judge the game as it is, rather than what it could have been. With that said, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is its own game, and rightfully so. Konami should be applauded for attempting to take the series into a new direction. The realm of 2D gaming is inherently limited, and no longer socially acceptable for current, and next generation consoles. 2D gameplay has found a wonderful home on the Nintendo DS and other handheld gaming systems, but it will rarely transcend well on consoles.

The big question is this. Is Castlevania: Curse of Darkness a step in the right direction for the series? Absolutely so. The game takes what the series has to offer, and puts its own unique spin on it; offering up a truly enjoyable gaming experience for the Xbox and Playstation 2.

For starters, the game controls very well, and provides gamers with the option to map the controller layout to their desires. The default control scheme of the title provides for easy and effective control of the game’s protagonist Hector and his summoned Innocent Devils. Castlevania: Curse of Darkness’ control is inherently simple, however the game offers up a wide variety of combo attacks to spice up the adventure. The X button of the Xbox controller controls Hector’s attack option with the B button providing a nifty little “Final Attack” option. For instance, when Hector has a battle type Innocent Devil summoned (don’t worry we’ll define these shortly), if the B button is pressed at the right time after a combo, the summoned creature will automatically land a devastating hit on Hector’s enemy.



Additionally, the title offers up an amazingly effective method of dodging and blocking enemy attacks. Moments before being struck, players can hold down the R trigger, and simply hit the A button and the analog stick to roll in the desired direction.

Given the 3D nature of the game, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness consistently places the player in the position of controlling the rotating camera of the game. This is handled nicely with the right analog stick of the Xbox controller. While this method of control is effective, it will take some getting used to. Luckily, the early part of the game is fairly relaxed, allowing the user to easily pickup on the subtleties of the control scheme.

Quite possibly the coolest aspect of Curse of Darkness comes in relation to the aforementioned Innocent Devils. Before the events of the game, Hector served as a Devil Forgemaster under the control of Count Dracula. However, Hector broke free of the evil villains grasp and began to live a normal life without utilizing his unique powers. Three years have passed since Dracula was slain by the Belmont family. Hector and his wife Sarah are living in peace when Hector’s old ally, Isaac suddenly kills her. Given the course of events, Hector once again takes to the sword and attempts to rekindle his talents as a Devil Forgemaster.

Hector’s prowess as a Forgemaster has withered with time, and now he must begin the process again. When Castlevania: Curse of Darkness begins Hector is able to summon only a single, small Innocent Devil that isn’t exactly devilish. Hector’s ally at the beginning of the adventure is a minute fairy, but the ID possesses the power to heal the wounds of Hector.