In Retro: "Castlevania: Curse of Darkness" Review (PS2)

My then-review from my extensive backlog of written reviews for the second installment of the "Castlevania" series on the Playstation 2...

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"Castlevania: Curse of Darkness" is a game that fails in two very important areas. First of all, it does very little to improve upon the formula of its predecessor, "Lament of Innocence" -- and there was already a lot of room for improvement. Second, and of equal importance, is the fact that it fails to evoke the "Castlevania" brand nine times out of ten. With little in the way of nostalgia going for it to longtime vets of the Konami series, and very little to offer that's new in any way, it's very nearly a bust.

Fortunately, there is something to be said for mindless hacking and slashing. This "Curse of Darkness" has in great supply. Combat is frequent, fast, furious, and smoothly animated. The controls are highly responsive, making for some excellent arcade-like battle sequences. Enemies are many and varied, and far more memorable than their "Lament" counterparts, and this is true of boss encounters as well. Here, at least, the developers decided to take the initiative and move forward a few steps.

Level designs remain unchanged since "Lament," however. The flat, narrow and generally unadorned corridors were one of that game's greatest flaws -- and the same is true of "Nanobreaker," another Konami effort from the same producers. You might rightfully expect something to have been done about this after two games were fashioned of the same broken mold, but you would be mistaken if you were to assume as much. Although the environments are diverse and strive to have their own gothic personality, each one is basically the same as the last once you move beyond the aesthetics. Even though "Curse" offers more outdoor areas, they are merely a novelty, as they are designed in the exact same fashion as all those halls and corridors. The word "linear" doesn't even begin to cover it.

One unique gameplay element unique to "Curse" are summoned creatures called Innocent Devils. The game makes much ado about them, and they do prove useful during the course of the campaign, but they certainly don't revolutionize the gameplay inherent in the series. In fact, their presence gives "Curse" more of a generic fantasy vibe than one of "Castlevania" origins.

This just doesn't feel like "Castlevania." For all its faults, at least "Lament" managed a few real nostalgic moments. Not so here, apart from some returning enemies and a soundtrack that pays homage to the Nintendo originals. A good storyline might have gone a long way to make this game better than the sum of all its parts, but no such luck here either. The new hero character, the Forgemaster Hector, is brash and unlikable, the actor portraying him always screaming his lines. To make matters worse, it's the usual anime fluff about slain girlfriends, rival peers, and a desire for vengeance... which makes it virtually identical the plot of its predecessor.

Unless you loved "Lament," there's very little reason to go out of your way to play "Curse." Even longtime "Castlevania" enthusiasts aren't guaranteed a good time here. That said, if you have a space in your schedule between "Devil May Cry" games and don't mind some mindless hacking and slashing, you could do a lot worse. It just so happens, however, that you could do much better. Konami really needs to dig deeper than this if they want the franchise to survive for another decade or more.

FINAL SCORE: 6.3 (Fair)