Konami has an impressive lineup this year, including a long line of legacy title revamps and sequels. Among these is a much anticipated classic that's finally being ported to the Playstation 2. Castlevania, due to hit shelves in November, has long held a place in many gamers' hearts. Despite the success of the franchise, Konami seems to have made the same mistakes with Lament of Innocence as they did with Castlevania 64. Regardless of the much-needed presence of the classic whip, properly brooding backgrounds and well designed creatures, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence seems to lose itself in mindless repetitiveness and combat that's far too slow.
According to Konami's release, "Castlevania?: Lament of Innocence&153; thrusts players ten centuries into the past and casts them in the role of Leon Belmont, the forefather of the legendary Belmont Clan and the first in the family's long line of vampire hunters." I'm not one to generally worry about names in gaming, but Leon doesn't really strike me as a proper name for a medieval ass-whipping hunter of the undead.
They've also revealed that, "Players will face five doors - each one leading into a dark area of the castle - the Cathedral, the Theatre, the Garden, the Alchemist Laboratory and the Dungeon. Trekking through hundreds of rooms, players will battle over 35 different kinds of enemies before facing the final boss."
The game mechanics seem simple enough, with the commonplace third person combo hit system. Simple jumping provides a little more interest to the combat, but it really doesn't differ much from its 2D counterparts. Alternate whip attacks give a little variety, but even they become boring very quickly. Players will be given the ability to use holy water, daggers, crosses, axes, and crystals. While some of these weapons look kind of neat, they just feel like more of the same in this title. The lightning whip may look really cool in 3D, but it really doesn't go very far to fix the game. In addition, the standard superjumps don't seem to be nearly as impressive in a non-side scrolling environment. The only somewhat unique mechanic being used is the ability to use your whip to pull yourself up on ledges.
The environments resemble the kind of dark brooding you might find in games like Eternal Darkness, but the static nature of the backdrop seems to mirror the stagnant game play. Very little goes on in a background that desperately needs movement. The amount of interactivity with that backdrop shown in the demo was limited entirely to smashing statues. Doing so is the key to a "puzzle" to unlock the door to exit the room. Such simplicity seems unbecoming of a title that should strive to be more than just a straight port.
While Belmont has successfully found his way to the PS2, the fact that this game follows the Devil May Cry series will leave most people wondering why the title was necessary to begin with. The complex movements and (sometimes) entertaining play of Devil May Cry 2 should have been the groundwork for this title, but Konami has sadly left this legacy with another failed attempt at translation.
