The game still offers a depth and challenge that series fans will love

For those of you are too cool to follow hyper-links, here’s a brief summary of Harmony of Dissonance. It’s a multiplayer equivalent of the boss rush mode that features in many of the classic 2D Castlevania titles. You and up to four of your friends have to make your way through the stage and vanquish the boss within a deceptively tricky thirty minute time limit. Whilst it doesn’t feature the same exploration focus as its single player brethren, you constantly find new weapons, armour and spells as you play, a factor that provides more than enough incentive to keep ploughing through stage after stage.

The six stages and five characters of the vanilla XBLA release have been bolstered out of the box on PS3 with the new DLC stages and characters that were released after C:HD’s initial release. You can now also play as Yoko Belnades and Julius Belmont as a result, and the new stages also help to pad out the package and provide more bang for your buck. The stages and characters who originally starred in the XBLA version of the game are nothing to smirk at either, with some clever level designs being traversable with some of your favourite characters from Castlevania’s illustrious history. It’s a fun greatest hits of Castlevania if you will, and it becomes a deep and challenging romp when you throw in a few of your buddies as well.

Getting the DLC stages and characters right away is a nice touch

The multiplayer was the big element that was meant to get a boost in the PS3 version. I was rather critical in my review of the XBLA version of Harmony of Despair about the lack of local co-op or LAN gameplay, so I was mightypleased when Konami then announced that the PS3 version would support local multiplayer. It isn’t quite as sweet as I thought it would be though, leaving a rather bitter taste in my mouth after my reviewing was done. When playing solo you can zoom in and out to rather extreme levels in order to get a better view of the whole map, and to see where your team mates are. The problem is that, rather than using a traditional split-screen paradigm to facilitate local multiplayer, Konami have kind of cheaped out and just used the game’s zoom mechanics to keep both players on the screen at once. It sounds harmless in theory, but anyone who’s played Harmony of Despair will be able to back me up on just how far the screen can zoom out if you let it go. Moving more than a few metres away from any of your buddies is enough to start giving you some serious disadvantages. Before you know it your character sprite is the size of an ant and after focusing on that for so long, it really starts to mess with your eyes. Whilst it’s great that the option was included for four players to play locally, I can’t imagine it ever being enjoyed the way it deserves to be. Hell, I could barely put up with how zoomed out it was with just two people, let alone any more! I would have happily taken a split-screen instead, and the fact that Konami haven’t provided such an option cripples Harmony of Despair’s local playability in a huge way.

I would have much rather taken a split-screen over this eye straining level of zoom

Having finished my rant, it must be said that the game is still a blast if you have a screen to yourself. If you only plan to play online, then Harmony of Despair is a must for fans of the classic 2D Castlevanias. The chances for loot and special attacks that are unique to each character grant the game a massive depth, and the hearty challenge will please all fans of the series new and old. It’s still a great purchase so many months on, though Konami have missed a real opportunity on account of the camera issues that plague local co-op. Had Konami sorted it out, we would have had one of the greatest co-op games ever made, but for now we’ll just have to stick with a very competent attempt at a multiplayer Castlevania.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

Konami have announced Castlevania Harmony of Despair is now available for download for PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network.

Designed by the legendary producer of the Castlevania series, Koji Igarashi, Castlevania Harmony of Despair introduces an all-new 6 player online multi-player mode, in addition to an offline multi-player mode for up to 4 players. Also added into this version is the ‘Beauty, Desire, Situation Dire’ Map pack, which includes the Pyramid of Ruin level, as well as additional characters Julius Belmont and Yoko Belnades.

Castlevania Harmony of Despair features the classic renowned fast paced, 2D side-scrolling action the series is known for, as vampire hunters from throughout the series come together to return Dracula to his eternal slumber. Joining forces with friends, up to 6 players can explore massive levels inspired by the worlds of Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia via online co-op play.

Castlevania Harmony of Despair will cost you $14.99.

The awesome multiplayer Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is confirmed for release on PSN.

Having originally been XBLA exclusive, the game will now grace Sony’s home console with local multiplayer as well as the “Beauty, Desire, Situation Dire” Map pack, which is known as the Pyramid of Ruin level as well as downloadable characters Julius Belmont and Yoko Belnades.

You can check out our rather glowing review here.

Since our major criticism of the game was the lack of local multiplayer, this new version will be well worth a look in.

We’ll let you know when a price and release date are confirmed.

Thanks to CVG for the info.

The character roster only covers the more recent games in the seaedries, meaning Belmont fans will be disappointed

The game takes the Smash Bros. premise of throwing a bunch of characters from the series together to make up the character roster. You get Soma from Aria and Dawn of sorrow, Shanoa from Order of Ecclesia, Charlotte and Jonathan from Portrait of Ruin and, of course, the mighty Alucard from Symphony of the Night. The main game revolves around, what is effectively the boss rush mode from previous games in the series. You can see the whole castle from the get go, and are shown the boss you must eliminate and are told to go get ’em within the allotted time. There is no real plot behind the whole affair as such, but to be honest it really isn’t necessary. The game is designed to be an action packed fangasm and, in this respect, it delivers.

It’s certainly a shame that the character roster doesn’t stretch as far back as to include the older Castlevania protagonists (Richter Belmont FTW), but personal preferences aside, the list is well balanced and each character requires a different play-style. Alucard and Soma wield the largest arsenal of weaponry, with Alucard retaining his attack evading mist form from SoTN. Charlotte and Shanoa are the magic wielders, absorbing projectile and glyph based spells respectively, and Jonathan works as the standard Belmont character with the whip and sub-weapons. Each character doesn’t level up as such, but has a large variety of equipment, spells and weapons that can be found. It certainly keeps a sense of progression going throughout and it gives the game an added depth.

One of the more difficult bosses, merging a keen challenge with some frustratingly cheap attacks

The design aspect of C:HD is probably one of the strongest around, with the enemy design being solid as always. The level design is also excellent, effortlessly incorporating the new co-op aesthetics, whilst also providing multiple paths. The camera controls can take a while to get used to, but being able to zoom out and see the entire level allows you to plan your route and tactics and shows just how intricate some of the level design is. It does help keep the inevitable multiple play-throughs fresh, but with only six levels, the stages do become somewhat tiresome after a while. It’s also nice to see the challenge ramping up quite quickly over the levels, to the point where this may be the hardest Castlevania yet! It’s just a shame that the difficulty only feels balanced when you join in with a full team of six. Playing solo becomes a near impossible challenge sadly, and will no doubt lead to frustration.

As painful as it is trying to get through the game on your own, getting together with others can also be a problem. It can take a while to search for a game, and when you finally get the list of games it doesn’t say whether there are any private slots or not. It becomes frustrating when private slots prevent you joining a game, and you are immediately booted back to the main menu as a result, and must start the search process from scratch. It isn’t game breaking as such, but it does somewhat mar the enjoyment of the otherwise excellent co-op mode. If you feel like flexing your competitive muscles at any time you can always try the survival versus mode. It offers a decent distraction, but the lack of skill based matchmaking and the small arenas prevent it from being a particularly balanced or addictive competitive field. For all the complaints I’ve levelled at C:HD, when it all comes down to it the game retains everything about the old Castlevania games that we know and love. The main aspect that cripples the game in comparison to its predecessors is the lack of split-screen and system link options. It really does just feel like a missed opportunity. Ever since my review for Transformers: WFC I’ve found myself ranting about the lack of split-screen focus in gaming, but it is an ideology I will continue to champion as long as multiplayer games are still being foolishly made as online only.

While we’re on the topic of where C:HD sits within the Castlevania franchise, it must be said that it’s on a graphical par with previous titles. This is largely because the exact same sprites have been in use in the Castlevania games for the past thirteen years. It’s a double edged sword as, whilst the sprites retain the same charm they always have, the visuals are starting to show their age and are nowhere near the HD level that the game’s title so proudly displays. The music and SFX are similar to how they’ve always been, but the returning themes seemed to sit well with the returning cast of characters in the game. All the characters have had some new voice clips made for them, and whilst they won’t be to everyone’s taste, they aren’t repeated enough to become too annoying.

The graphics aren’t all bad, but they aren’t quite as sharp as I’d have liked

So now we come to the big question. Is it worth your hard earned cash? It depends how dedicated a follower of the series you are, as I’m sure the hardcore fans will buy this anyway regardless of what I say. I would certainly recommend the game, especially if you have some buddies playing it, but with only six levels and a hefty 1200 MS point cost it might not be as good value as it seems. You can always try the demo if you are unsure, but I personally felt an 800 point price tag may have been more reasonable.

Konami have decided with C:HD not to fix what isn’t broken, so anyone who has loved previous games in the series will fit right in. The game isn’t pushing the limits of the franchise as such, but the new multiplayer focus is satisfying and good fun. This is where the advanced warning comes as, this is a game that should only be purchased if you know that you’re friends will be doing the same. For all the things I love about C:HD it is very little fun on your own.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

In Castlevania Harmony of Despair, fan-favorite vampire hunters from throughout the series come together in order to return Dracula to his eternal slumber. Joining forces with friends on Xbox LIVE, up to six players can explore massive levels inspired by the worlds of Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia via online co-op play. As players employ their cooperative skills to unleash devastating attacks and fight the forces of darkness, they can discover hidden locations, special items and equipment to help in their quest. Fearless players can even choose to engage in competitive Survival Mode with friends to determine the best slayer of evil. Featuring detailed 2D art and follow-up downloadable content for new characters and levels, Castlevania Harmony of Despair will provide players with a thrilling, next generation gaming experience coupled with the classic Castlevania aesthetic.

Castlevania Harmony of Despair is now available exclusively for Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 for 1200 Microsoft Points. Make sure to look out for downloadable content available immediately as well as new characters and maps coming soon following the release.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair will give you and upto five other players control of past Castlevania protagonists. Players will be able to explore sprawling environments and castles as freely as possible, and the game will support a 2D visual theme, similar to that of the DS Castlevania titles.

Catlevania:HoD, Xbox’s Summer Arcade lineup’s central title, will be releasing with other games which have been listed below:

• Limbo out July 21
• Hydro Thunder Hurricane out July 28
• Monday Night Combat out August 11
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light out August 18.

All of these titles will share the price of 1200 Microsoft Points.

The rumours say that the game is set to be a co-op of the heavy platformer title.

Source