Castlevania Harmony of Despair is not your typical Castlevania game. As either Alucard, Jonathan Morris, Shanna, Soma Cruz, Charlotte Aulin or Shanon, you must battle Dracula and his demonic powers. Unlike previous Castlevania games, CHOD is segmented into stages. The stages are enormous; they are filled with traps, trademark Castlevania creatures (i.e. Axe Knights, Fleamen, Mermen, Zombies, etc.,), treasure chests, and obstacles that have given the series its hallmark.
New to the series is the ability to pan out and see the entire level. This ability has 3x magnification, and it allows you to see the entire level. By pressing the right thumbstick, the screen will zoom in or zoom out respectively. This feature has multiple purposes; some creatures are difficult to dispatch up close, but when zoomed out, you have a clear vantage point. In multiplayer mode, this feature helps you keep track of your friends.
Books floating on golden pedestals also offer quick breaks from the action and allow you to customize your character. From this menu you can equip armor found during gameplay, equip health potions, view a list of Martial Arts moves, view the Monster Compendium, and also customize sound, window, screen, and camera settings.
The only drawback is that you are forced to visit a pedestal every time you want to equip a health potion or new piece of armor.
Another milestone for the series is having multiple characters to choose from. Your progression (even after you are finished playing) is recorded at the Select Character screen. Your kills and play time are displayed underneath the name of the last character you played. For those of us who like variety, each character has 8 palette swap colors to choose from. A dark blue and purple Alucard? Say it isn’t so.
The gameplay is your classic Castlevania fare. Every stage is timed, so it’s basically a time attack approach on the classic formula. Don’t expect an easy run through; this game is very hard. With the timer ticking away, and with so much coming at you, expect to repeat the same level more than twice.
The controls are solid and easy to understand. The X button is used for attacking and the A button jumps. The B button throws projectiles. Interestingly enough, you can equip up to 4 different projectiles in CHoD by using the golden pedestals mentioned earlier. Each projectile can be assigned a joypad direction and then executed by pressing the B button. The RB button allows you to block. While it doesn’t seem very effective in most cases, it does reduce damage taken by enemies. Items can be used by holding down the Left Trigger button and then pressing the Right Trigger button.
CHoD’s biggest attraction is its 6-player online multiplayer feature. In co-op mode, six players work together as they battle the undead in an effort to destroy the Prince of Darkness. The gameplay from single player stays the same. In Survival Mode, players battle it out until only one is left standing. Plus, if your friends want to join in on the fun, you can invite them to an Xbox Live Party to pummel the Dark Prince back into the dirt.
Castlevania Harmony of Despair offers some of the best 2D visuals in recent memory, and they are in HD too. Konami is only one of few companies remaining today that still embraces this stylish form of artistic expression, and they should be commended for continuing with tradition.
CHoD is one of those rare experiences in gaming. It melds classic Castlevania gameplay with new, innovative features that only online gaming can offer. Available on August 4th, 2010 for 1200 MSPoints, you shouldn’t miss out on this game; you would be doing yourself an injustice.
Mike ‘STGuy1040’ Pittaro
Platform: Xbox 360 (XLBA)
Publisher / Developer: Konami
Developer’s– website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| The graphics are in beautiful HD; The 2d visuals are some of the best seen in recent memory. | |
| Sound | |
| The music is classic Castlevania. | |
| Gameplay | |
| The gameplay is rock-solid and also benefits from 6-player co-op. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| CHoD is a sight for sore eyes; it's been a long time since we've had a Castlevania, and this one delivers without a doubt. | |
