Welcome to World Zero - Reviews for the hardcore gamer

2003's Lament of Innocence was a promising, though inherently flawed effort at bringing the Castlevania series to the third dimension--a concept which had almost been universally written off as a lost cause after the series’ outings on the Nintendo 64. And while there were things about LoI that IGA nailed right on the head such as the game’s combat and aesthetic, other aspects concerning the level design and scant platforming elements were botched horribly. Curse of Darkness is the console follow-up to Lament and, IGA--arrogant bastard that he is--addresses none of the widely noted flaws of its predecessor but instead sidesteps them and creates an excellent game out of spite.

It would have been easy for IGA to diversify the level design a bit. I’m talking on a very basic geometric level. I’m sure it would have taken his team of artists no more than a few minutes to hash out something a little more interesting than the big room, small hallway motif that LoI repeated time and time again, but that’s not his style. IGA is unhappy with the demands of the 3d hungry market at large and this is his way of showing it. You’re going to run up and down the same hallway for hours, killing the same enemies and collecting the same items. And you’re going to like it, goddamn it. Why back in my day, we ran to the right and collected one hundred coins for an extra man and did it all without any electricity or shoes, etc, etc.

And I say the above with a (mostly) straight face. Obviously IGA is incredibly fond of two dimensional game design because Curse of Darkness is completely flat. Ironically enough, the areas in recent 2D Vania outings have had more of a sense of up and down. However to the game’s credit, things aren’t quite as claustrophobic as they used to be because a vast majority of the game takes place outside ala NES era Castlevania, but the same linear hallway structure remains in full effect. And what’s more is that CoD is a sizeably large game taking upwards of 10 hours to complete, which is quite a long time to run down a hallway. I encourage you to try it sometime. The fact that CoD remains thoroughly compelling throughout is just testament to how great a game designer IGA has become.

Too stubborn, or perhaps just unable to rectify faults with the level design, RPG elements borrowed from recent 2D efforts are directly transposed into CoD to distract you from this fact. This is accomplished in a few ways, the first of which is the ability to steal from every enemy in the game. Taking a page from the ‘Gotta Catch ‘em All’ soul stealing of AoS, in CoD you are capable of jacking items from your foes in a much more conventional manner. This plays directly into the games weapon synth system, ripped straight out of last month’s DoS. By finding new materials you are able to forge new and increasingly interesting weapons and armor. The last new feature--though I use that term loosely--is the game’s equivalent of SotN’s familiars, the Innocent Devils. Borrowing from Capcom’s Chaos Legion, you’re able to summon your own creatures to help you in battle. These creatures grow and evolve over time pending on certain of your actions and add a bit of diversity and excitement into an admittedly sparse combat engine. These aforementioned features, though not entirely innovative or impressive in there own right, do wonders for distracting you from the monotonous nature of the gameplay. At times, CoD shows more in common with Phantasy Star Online and other grind-based dungeon crawlers than with a straight up action title, as most of your time is spent caught up in the quest for new items and abilities for your Innocent Devils rather than on the simple focus on getting from point A to point B.

Another thing that CoD has going for it, and indeed, its driving force, is atmosphere. Melancholy guitars and exquisite set dressing do more for the game than anyone is likely to give it credit for. The one thing that Castlevania has gotten really good at over the years is portraying a cohesive gothic atmosphere. CoD doesn’t just look and sound the part though, it’s got that certain intangibility that makes it Castlevania. This game has soul. The world of Vallachia is just so believable. There’s a layer of depth and care poured into the presentation that is quite uncommon in the medium in general. IGA and his team have just become so good at unifying the series within itself so that each new release seems to reinforce its cohesion and make it stronger. Taking place sometime after the events of Castlevania III, Curse of Darkness serves to flesh out the Belmonts' eternal struggle with the Count, yet takes the perspective of an outsider to do so. What you end up with here is a self referencing, multi-generational myth that is still actively creating its own history. This adds to the game in ways that are hard to put into words. Things don’t get much better than Castlevania done proper, and CoD is literally dripping with classic Castlevania atmosphere.

But atmosphere and RPG elements aside, a fair share of the game’s addicting qualities have to be chalked up to how much this game feels like a Simon’s Quest style Castlevania, but in 3D. Curse of Darkness, though still plagued by monotonous level design, is great insofar as it portrays a sense of forward motion better than its predecessor. It’s fairly uncommon to feel trapped in a cage which was possibly Lament’s biggest failing, and the deep RPG elements give the constant battling the semblance of real importance. But these things still do not explain why the game is so much fun to play, they merely hint at why it’s tolerable. The best answer I could give you would be that at what it does, CoD does well. And if that means it’s good at being Castlevania and nothing else, then that’s good enough for me.

Rating	The rating scale in detail
7.0	+/- An entirely mixed bag of great design and lackluster implementation.
9.2	++ Undoubtedly Yamane’s best work since SotN, what the music lacks in variety it makes up for in strength of composition.
8.0	+ Simple and involving combat system that ditches the use of dial-a-combos. ++ Weapon forging is incredibly addicting. +/- The ID system works well in combat scenarios but is underutilized in general exploration.
8.5	++ Creature design is of a higher quality than we’ve become accustomed to with recent outings. + Beautiful landscapes. - Monotonous textures. – The white haired pretty boy protagonist has got to go. This is the fourth Castlevania lead to ape Alucard’s style in about as many years.
8.0	++ The main extra unlocked after the game’s completion is arguably more enjoyable than the main quest. + Tons of obsessive compulsive RPG typical things to stress over after the game is done. - The already monotonous nature of gameplay combined with the at times needlessly bland and padded-out levels forms a deterrent for future playthroughs.
8.0	+ Classic Castlevania down to its very core, this is one case where the whole greatly exceeds the sum of its parts.

	Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
	Platform: Playstation 2 • Developer: Konami • Genre: Action Adventure • ESRB Rating: T • Words: Man9child