Castlevania

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

is an interesting experiment. While it looks just like the 2D Castlevania games we've grown accustomed to since Symphony of the Night, it's actually very different than any previous entry in the series. This is a multiplayer adventure designed for up to six vampire hunters to jump into the game together. In six maps, they must find and defeat the boss before time runs out. When you get a group of people together and finally figure out how the game works, it's definitely fun. But it's not very enjoyable to play on your own, it fails to explain its mechanics to the player, and most of the assets look like they're pulled straight from existing Castlevania games. This one is for the hardcore Castlevania fans only, but I do think they will enjoy it.

There are six recognizable characters from the series to choose from and each behaves the way you would expect them to. For instance, Shanoa, from Order of Ecclesia, can use her Magnes ability to attach herself to magnets and use them to slingshot to hard-to-reach areas. The game doesn't tell you about the differences between the characters, though, so you may be left wondering why Shanoa isn't learning new spells or can't equip new weapons. That's a problem with the entire game. There is no in-game tutorial explaining how everything works – you're just dropped into the action to fend for yourself. You can read the "How to Play" section of the main menu, but that's not the most effective way of learning a game. Even if you do read the tutorial, it only explains a small fraction of what you can do in Harmony of Despair.

If six maps don't sound like much, know that you'll have to play each one many, many times before you are able to reach the boss and put it to rest. When you first arrive in an area you will be underpowered and ill equipped to battle Dracula's minions. Harmony of Despair is all about finding loot that will make you a little bit stronger for the next time. You don't level up, but you're always finding better and better equipment and are slowly becoming more powerful. It is an addictive formula, but I wish it were even deeper and included an experience system like that of Symphony of the Night.

The maps are intricate and you'll have to spend some time with them to learn the best path to the boss. Harmony of Despair is definitely designed to be a multiplayer game, so you may find a switch that one player can stand on to douse a fire so that another player can access a new area. Try to go it alone and you can't use these shortcuts, making the game considerably more difficult and denying the player the use of these fun devices. Solo players cannot add bots to help them.

Closing Comments

There have been many 2D Castlevania games in recent years and they're all rather similar, so I applaud Konami for trying something new. Xbox Live is also a great place for multiplayer games, and Harmony of Despair is quite enjoyable when you have a posse backing you up. But I'd have to say this Castlevania experiment is only a modest success and there is definitely room for improvement. The focus on multiplayer came at the cost of the single-player experience. With so little of the game explained, some players may find themselves confused or, worse, frustrated. And because assets seem to have been plucked straight from previous games, that $15 price tag is questionable. But, Castlevania fans will definitely have fun with Harmony of Despair. It's basically a six-player time attack mode with all your favorite characters, and there isn't anything else quite like it on Xbox Live Arcade. If Konami ironed out the kinks, a follow-up to this could be really great.