What a terrible night to have a curse...
This review was originally posted on my own personal blog... just an FYI. http://ricardosgarden.blogspot.com/2010/08/i-rix-review-castlevania-harmony-of.html
2010 seems to be the year of our lord Dracula. Not only is Konami's venerable vampire-killing franchise getting a proper current-gen console release when Lords of Shadow comes out later this year, but during Xbox LIVE's summer of arcade, we're given a unique take on their side-scrolling adventures in the form of Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. With its focus on multiplayer speed-runs over the more traditional story-driven castle exploration of its more recent efforts, Harmony of Despair is somewhat of an enigma. As such, it's ironic that the title of the game includes both the words "harmony" and "despair", because for those players that are not intrigued with the idea of working in harmony with fellow vampire hunters, this game will likely only lead to despair.
PROPER PROs
This is still Castlevania. However different the general mechanics of what you're attempting to accomplish in the game are, it still plays the same as the series has played since Symphony of the Night. The smooth platforming action combined with great character sprites and detailed environments still make this a joy to play. This adventure is a bit condensed however, with no story to speak of and 6 smaller environments taking the place of a larger castle, but that actually gives the game a bit of a retro feel as the goal of each map is simply to reach the boss and defeat it.
This plays into the main draw/downfall of the game, and that's its five playable characters and six-player online multiplayer. The game includes five characters from the more recent games in the series and each play different and have a different levels of progression that reward players for sticking with their favorite character. For example, on top of collectible weapons and armor, most have some kind of talent that can be buffed up through continued play as them. This includes Soma Cruz's ability of Dominance which allows him to collect the souls of slain enemies and use them as sub-weapons and summons, or Charlotte Aulin's ability to bind projectiles to her spell-book, gradually increasing the number and power of her magical spells. Taking your character online will mean that you'll have a particular role to play as you and 5 others go through the game's 6 stages and (hopefully) work together to take down the endboss, Dracula. That, however, works better in theory than it usually does in practice.
Lastly, like every other game in the series, the soundtrack in Harmony of Despair just kicks ass. From the very moment the opening guitar licks light up the first chapter, you're guaranteed plenty of the awesome music the series has become known for. If I ever see a soundtrack for this game in stores, I will not hesitate to purchase it.
CRAP-TASTIC CONs
The problem with Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is that each and every one of its positives (aside from its fantastic soundtrack) can also be seen as a negative, starting with its graphics. Although the environments look good and the character and enemy sprites animate well, every inch of this game is recycled from previous Castlevania efforts. Even if you're not such a fan of the game that you'll notice this, you'll probably notice that despite the HD in the title of this game, the textures are just a bit... jaggy. It's obvious that they attempted to touch-up their old models for this release, but perhaps instead they should have re-drawn some stuff if they seriously wanted to push this game as a major release.
As for the five playable characters, it again seems that Konami went with the economic choice in selecting characters that already had current-gen sprites. The oldest player model is Alucard (and as such he looks a tad out of place), which means that series stalwart Simon Belmont is not in this game. No, this game doesn't have Simon simply because they didn't have sprites for him, but even as such, a classic character like Richter Belmont who actually DOES have useable sprites is not included. The developers have already hinted (and leaked) DLC characters and maps, but that makes the game seem even more of an attempt to cash in. It also stands to mention that at 6 stages (each meant to be beaten within a time limit of a half-hour), this game is a little light on content.
And that finally brings us to actually playing the game. I actually like the fact that this game is challenging and a bit grind-y when played alone, but it's obvious that it was meant to be played with 5 others. That means your enjoyment of the game is going to be dependent on who you're playing with and, with no off-line co-op, that means it's most likely going to be strangers. While most players are relatively cool and attempt to stick with you throughout the stage, there are quite a few jerks or people who have absolutely no idea what they're doing, which isn't a whole lot of fun. Also, the only other mode included is a Survivor mode in which 6 players try to kill each other. I think the only way to describe why this mode doesn't work is this statement.
THIS IS CASTLEVANIA.
THE FINAL VERDICT
If you're a Castlevania fan, this can be a fun addition to your collection. There is some fun to be had here, and the idea of putting together the series' hunters to take down Dracula is a great idea. The execution, however, is far from perfect, and everyone else not acquainted with the franchise aren't going to really see a lot of appeal. Do yourself a favor, if they ever release the soundtrack on CD, use the 15 dollars you would have spent on this game on that.
Final score: 2.5 Bone Pillars out of 5
