Reviewed by: Belshy
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami

Another 3rd person hack 'n' slash under my belt, this time from Konami instead of Capcom. Castlevania (known in other territories as Castlevania 'Lament of Innocence') is another entry into the rapidly growing section of the PS2 library, featuring frantic 3rd person action combined with RPG elements, with Devil May Cry, Rygar The Legendary Adventure, and Onimusha 2 being the current benchmarks.

My only other Konami game has been Silent Hill 2. I've never played the 2D side scrolling Castlevania series of yore, being a 3D gamer through and through. While Silent Hill 2 never turned me onto the series, it showed Konami as a crafter of quality atmospheric games with great narrative and pacing. Castlevania inherits these traits, but is as far from the Survival Horror genre as Pac Man is from Quake. Devil May Cry used Castlevania as a template, approaching it with the ethos: 'what would Castlevania look like in 3D?' Konami have made a similar nod to DMC, and reworked Castlevania's gameplay staples into the 3D world, with a control system and interface which is very similar.

So, you'd think that Devil May Cry and Castlevania are the same game, just different titles, yes? Not at all. Where Capcom's gothic masterpiece still wears its Survival Horror pedigree proudly on its sleeve, with some truly horrific underling and boss creatures to trounce, and a genuine sense of unease pervading the atmosphere, Konami's game is a far more noble and majestic affair, despite the strong horror theme. DMC is Castlevania setting plus Resident Evil sickness. Castlevania is....Castlevania, but with DMC's controls.

The storyline is your classic 'lone Knight rescues damsel from castle-based Vampire' type affair, with a few twists and turns revealed in the cut scenes throughout. But we're not here for the story really....nice to have the violence linked with narrative interludes though. :)

Leon, the Knight, is a pure, straight forward kinda guy, whereas DMC's Dante is a cool wise-cracking demi-devil. Where this could possibly turn Castlevania into a twee affair, instead Leon's purity comes across as ultimate nobility, and the setting is kept austere throughout, both in the architecture and the monsters you whup. There's an almost 'classical' sense of design to the bestiary, with Medusas, skeletal knights, shambling fly-blown zombies, wraiths, colossal cylopical titans....you get the picture. There's stained glass, plinths, arches, giant candle holders everywhere. But no Gigeresque twisted outcrops of warped bone-matter fused to the stone. DMC inspires 'weird' where as Castlevania inspires 'wonder'.

Castlevania's castle is a truly huge affair, broken into 5 main zones. You access these via a hub room which has 5 levitating lifts that warp you to each zone in turn.You can access any zone in any order, though you may come unstuck if that area's enemies are a little too tough for an ill-equipped Leon character. The game is far from linear, and a whole multitude of secret items, handy keys/ artefacts/ relics/ powerups and items can either be gained or even forever lost, depending on the route you take. The game has a 3D rotatable/ zoomable map for each section, starting as a blue representation of the visited areas, and then, once the whole map is found in a certain room, the unvisited areas show in grey. This works nicely, because, depending on your current state of health, a 'danger room' or a save room (an oasis where your health is fully recharged and your progress saved) can be revealed, inspiring either panic if you're illin' before a battle, or relief if you can heal.

The combat is as good as any other game of its type, due to the impressive arsenal of moves available to Leon and the excellent control. His weapons consist of his default whip, which can be upgraded, and sub weapons that are powered up in the 'magic points' gauge. Sub weapons are many and varied, including holy water and crosses (good for killing the undead) and daggers/ axes/ crystals....each with their own spectacular magical attack. Knowing which sub weapon to use, and learning the many moves available to Leon in the combo list is essential to your survival. As you complete each area, and defeat each boss, an orb is collected. With each orb comes a different permutation of magical moves for your secondary weapon.

Each boss battle is something to relish, and occasionally a sub-boss will be thrown in, totally out of the blue, in true sphincter-loosening fashion. :) Some of the underlings are a little bit bland, and with 80 to choose from (some being modified versions of others) it would be hard to expect otherwise. Sometimes you can breeze through a room you've already visited if you're all healthed up and don't need to slay any critters to recharge certain items. And you'll do this without feeling you've missed out on a good scrap. Thankfully though, most of the bestiary is excellent, with some of them possessing a startling variety of punishing moves that present genuine challenge.

Control is absolutely spiffing. Left analogue controls movement, the shoulder buttons bring up orb and relic menus for when swapping abilities in the heat of battle. The right anaolgue isn't needed for camera, seeing as Castlevania uses a refined version of the DMC Cool-o-Cam (TM) and instead is put to good use as a quick toggle thru for items. All the action buttons are laid out 'logically' in the default set up. Control is all good. :)

Combine the great play-mechanics this with the amount of items/ relics/ pick ups at your disposal, PLUS the vast amount of enemy types (80 in all!) and you can probably guess that combat remains fresh throughout.

Graphically this game is no slouch, but is certainly no better than Devil May Cry, which came out way back in 2001. Similar games like Rygar set the bench for the genre on PS2. With the Xbox's Ninja Gaiden totally changing the goal posts for 3rd person graphics on ALL systems, and even Onimusha 3 promising some more stunning visuals on PS2 in 2004, Castlevania's graphics are 'hardy' rather than inspired. Certain reflective and particle effects occasionally inspire a 'wow' but if you've played DMC you've seen this standard of graphics already. 60 hz is available, to speed things up a bit.

It is in the sound department where Castlevania excels however. The music score is one of the most evocative to grace a video game. It can inspire awe, enchantment, mystery, panic....and the themes for each zone compliment them perfectly. The zones all have grandiose names like 'Pagoda of the Misty Moon' and 'Garden that Time Forgot' and the soundtrack is the perfect aural backdrop for a game where such pomp and circumstance imbues the visceral hack 'n' slashing. Sound effects are meaty, and the sonics all pump from the speakers in glorious Dolby Pro 2. Nice.

I was thoroughly absorbed in the 14 odd hours it took me to complete Castlevania. The puzzles, platforming (whip-jumps are COOL) and exploration were all extremely engaging diversions to the superlative combat. The game is, as you'd expect from a 3D remake of a 2D scroller, taken straight from the source BY the source (Konami) slightly old school in feel. Capcom, sick puppies that they are, infected the formula to create a version of Castlevania that could unsettle as well as make you gasp 'Cooooolllll!!!'. Konami have been respectful to the Castlevania fans, and created a fast paced adventure with none of the Survival Horror trappings of DMC. A game that drips with grandeur and nobility, and that still manages to whiten my knuckles on the game pad.

Those last 2 bastard bosses? Sheeeeshh!!