Review: Castlevania – Harmony of Despair (XBLA)
Let me start my first review for Gamers With Casts by apologizing for its delay. I spent the first few days playing Castlevania: Harmony of Despair in single player mode, with the silly assumption that you had to get past a certain level before the multiplayer option became available. After numerous hours of playing the same level over and over and over, and after much cursing and throwing the controls down in a fit of semi-cute rage (says my boyfriend, who probably feared for his life while this was going on, hence the slight compliment), the editor extraordinaire of this site filled me in as to why I couldn’t use the co-op mode.
Had this not been my first time using Xbox Live Arcade, I would have already known that you need a Gold membership in order to actually play online with others. (This of course is an old debate of ‘which is better for online game play: Xbox or PS3?’ but that’s a whole other article.) Not the best way to start writing for a new site, but, what else I can say? I like to make an entrance.
It’s been several days since all this occurred and I’ve since clocked a ridiculous amount of hours playing Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. And, let me tell you, they were hours well spent. Does that mean it’s the best game ever? No. Not even close. In fact, I’m still not sure why I had such a good time playing. After all, most of my time was spent figuring out how the hell to actually play the game, since it doesn’t come with any clear instructions. There is an instruction map of sorts that explains the controls, but other than that, you’re really on your own.
There’s also no storyline, which in theory should make the game very dull and boring. But again, for reasons I can’t explain, it didn’t. Perhaps it’s because you only get 30 minutes in each of the six levels to either beat the boss of that level or die trying. Or maybe it’s the oh so catchy music that hardcore Castlevania fans might recognize (though it’s been changed a bit). Being able to change from one character to another might have something to do with it. In fact, if you’re like me, you’ll spend a lot of time playing as your favorite classic Castlevania characters – first as Alucard, then as Soma Cruz, then as Shenoa, and then once you get through all of those characters (there are 6 in all) you can spend even more time picking which outfit you want your player to wear. Each character does have around six outfits to choose from and if you do the math, well, that’s over 30 options. Unfortunately, unless you are a hardcore Castlevania fan, or spend some time reading up on the franchise online, you will have no idea who they characters really are, which defeats the whole purpose of the character switching.
The highlight of this game is clearly the six person co-op mode. Like its single mode counterpart, however, there are no instructions. In fact, if you, um… never played co-op mode on Xbox Live, then you will no idea how to even join a team. Once you find your way in though, you will finally see what all the fuss is about. Unlike in single player mode where you die all the time and have to start at the beginning of the level since there’s no save marker in any of the levels, the multiplayer mode lets you play after you die as ghostly bones. Your fellow teammates can help bring you back to life and aid in defeating the bosses, both of which will definitely cut down on your semi-cute rage outbursts.
Lovers of old school games should adore the 2D platforming style and will be transported back to their youth, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you did back then. For me, it was great to relive the days of playing a scrolling game for hours on end, swinging over spikes and attacking slightly funny looking zombies with my weapon of choice, which happens to be the short sword in case you were wondering.
Overall, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is a game worth checking out, assuming that you like old school platformers and you enjoy playing with others. If you’re just looking for a single player experience, this might not be the game for you. Hopefully another single player Castlevania games comes out in the near future – one you can actually play without constantly dying.
