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Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
The classic console game, Castlevania
arrives on XBox Live with Castlevania: Harmony of Despair and unlike the
original game, this title supports co-operative play with
up to six players, which is pretty damn impressive. If you’ve played
this game on either the DS or the PlayStation, than coming back to this
universe is like coming home again and although this title shares many
of the same elements, there are enough changes to keep this title fresh
and entertaining to play. Add in 6-levels of fun (I lied) bone crunching
frustrating levels and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is considerably longer
due to its difficulty than other XBox Live titles. Just be warned, the
gameplay can be quite unforgiving in this 2D action adventure game but
hey... Castlevania has its fans and this is what the developers were
counting on.
Before
embarking on your Castlevania experience, you need to select a character
to play and each of these characters have been taken from previous
instalments such as Soma Cruz from Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow or Charlotte Aulin from
Castlevania: Bloodlines. Thankfully the characters are not just added for their looks and each
has their own strengths and weaknesses, including whether their attacks
are based on magic or melee attacks. As the characters are so different,
this works well in multiplayer because they balance each other out quite
well as you explore this strange world.
The
game is not just a sword and sorcery slasher but there is an element of
RPG to the game and by finding or purchasing weapons, this will increase
your statistics. Apart from fighting enemies, discovering chests and
attempting to get through the almost labyrinth like level, another problem for the player is
the counter and you have a set number of minutes to finish the level
which can make things quite difficult. If you do happen to fall in
battle, you can either be revived by another player or come back as a
skeleton with basic melee attacks until the next level. Accessing items
and equipment is a little clunky though which does hamper the gameplay a
little, especially if you're getting attacked as there is no real way to
pause the game nor the counter.
Needless to say, once you have played the game a few times, you will know
where the bosses are located which does increase the enjoyment factor of
the game, especially with other players as you attempt to beat that
accursed clock. Just be warned that some bosses do come looking for you. The control system on the XBox 360 is well mapped on the
controller, however it doesn’t feel as sturdy as similar modern games
from this genre but overall, it works but it may take a few people to
get use to this. You can't beat the original controls though! Apart from the main co-operative mode, there is also a
survival mode which pits you against other players which is okay but is
not as enjoyable as the main mode.
Graphically, it’s obvious that this current instalment of Castlevania
has been ported from another version but overall, it still looks quite
acceptable on the XBox 360, although a little too LEGO or blocky at
times. The characters are detailed well but the
backgrounds are a little lacklustre. Music on the other hand is awesome
with rock Goth as are the various sound effects as you explore these
castles. In terms of the entire presentation, it is a little pricey for
an Xbox Live game.
In
conclusion, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is definitely a game aimed
at Castlevania fans and if you are new to the franchise, you might be
scratching your head on what on Earth is happening because it does
require prior knowledge of the series. Even though the game is excruciating frustrating and
difficult at times, when linked with other players, the game really
shines, especially if you have a full assorted of gamers to play. With
some tweaking of the gameplay, controls and graphics, this could have
been better! |
