Castlevania Harmony of Despair Review

The graphics of Castlevania Harmony of Despair are a throwback to previous Castlevania games in the truest sense of the word. Almost too much of a throwback though if you're expecting anything new.

While it's fun to relive old boss fights with a horde of your friends almost the entire set of art assets are ripped straight from previous titles. That makes the game a Frankenstein of cobbled together sprites and artwork. It's not necessarily a bad thing if you're looking for a trip down memory lane, but if you're expecting at least something to take advantage of the 360s power or are looking for some new never before seen items or enemies you're in for a disappointment.

If you're a newcomer to the series or a veteran who's happy reliving his glory days of slicing Death to pieces with a favorite sword from the past then put down the torch and let this monster run free.

I don't know what it is but I just cannot get enough of this soundtrack. It's cheesy in parts, almost always over the top and yet strangely awesome. Most of the music is a guitar filled, goth inspired, rock fest that almost sounds like it belongs in a Dynasty Warriors game or the climax in some horrible 80's anime. Somehow though it all fits perfectly and a few of the game's songs will almost certainly get stuck in your head for a while.

The sound effects themselves however are average at best with the usual grunts and sword clangs you'd expect. It is a fun touch though that each character has their own set of voice emotes, unfortunately they're mostly pretty dull with riveting clips like "thank you" or "all yours".

If you've played a previous Castlevania title you'll feel right at home with Harmony of Despair. The game is old school through and through and there are a few sections that are just a tad clunky. For the most part though everything (aside from the horrible Charlotte leveling system mentioned later) feels just right.

Be warned though this is a game that demands some time grinding out skills and new equipment. If you're expecting to jump into single player and count on your mad Castlevania skills that you earned on the mean streets of the 3rd grade Super Nintendo circuit, you're in for a rough awakening. For the most part you can count on needing to pick up at least a few new items from each level before you can finally crush the boss although the rewards for doing so definitely make it worth the effort.

Speaking of items, there is a massive buffet of deadly implements to choose from and by the end of each level you'll likely be spending some time checking out all the new gear you got. Plenty of it's not particularly useful but lots of the weaker items are still worth busting out on occasion. In what other game could you kill Dracula with a teddy bear stuffed with lead ball bearings?

The developers have done a great job of tailoring the game for multiplayer coop. Matchmaking, while fairly basic, usually finds a game quickly and for the most part there is very little noticeable lag even when playing with players from another country. Also in one of the most convenient additions to a multiplayer dungeon crawler like this that I've seen in a long while, every time a player opens a chest everyone else in the game gains a new item as well.

The only real problem comes from the match making system not knowing what levels you've already unlocked. So if you're coming fresh to the game it'll likely take a while to find a match that won't boot you out after the host changes levels. If you've got a few friends to help you through or can host your own game though you won't find any problems.

Once you find yourself a good team though Castlevania Harmony of Despair really comes into it's own. There are plenty of short cuts and extra chests that require teamwork to get and with enemies scaling depending on how many players are in a match the game remains challenging and fun. It's a great way to spend a few hours with some friends and the pick up and play style makes it perfect for a quick game with some random folks if you need to kill a half an hour.

All in all Castlevania Harmony of Despair manages to bring a normally single player only experience into the multiplayer realm and still retain what makes the series a classic. For the price tag it's one of the best multiplayer games to grace Xbox Live in a while.