C:LoI is fundamentally a good game, with one single drastic drawback: it's a very short game. Fans of Konami's recent titles shouldn't be too alarmed by this, however. Konami seems to have developed a certain level of expertise in creating brief but powerful games. For instance, the original Metal Gear Solid took less than ten hours the first time around, but that never shook the strength of its gameplay or its powerful cinematic nature. This most recent adventure of the Castlevania universe is not much different. The gameplay is solid, modeled after Capcom's Devil May Cry, but has not perfected the formula in the same way that Symphony of the Night mastered the 2D platformer genre. Leon Belmont is given the ability to string together combination attacks, but ultimately the collection of attacks available lacks sufficent depth. Many times, I found myself repeating the same five-hit and two-hit power combos several times in a single room. But despite that lack of ultimate depth, there's still plenty of variety to keep a player entertained. The story fits nicely into the Castlevania universe, though that fact is not apparent until the end of the game. Since this installment of the story covers the very beginning of the Belmont vampire hunting legacy, the name Dracula actually never comes up in the entire script of the game. Thus, it lacks some of the engaging familiarity that makes many other installments of the series so instantly charming. This is not to suggest that the game is devoid of that familiarity - the action areas and enemies will ring more than a few bells for anyone who has played at least a couple titles in the Castlevania universe. Also like its predecessors in the franchise, C:LoI features expectedly excellent music and notoriously horrible voice acting. Watching a terribly scripted Leon in the cut scenes, I was always half-expecting Richter Belmont to pop in from the side of the screen and shout, "Die monster!" The character's body language is, unfortunately, equally unintelligible. Odd arm gestures would frequently accompany spoken phrases such as, "I see." I'll also point out that the phrase, "I see," appears in the script more frequently than any other. Sadly, the fundamental plot of the game follows all too basic a formula: a seal, held by five monsters blocks entry to the final areas of the game. After being spoiled with the twists and turns of Symphony, this formula falls flat, and is perhaps the second greatest disappointment about C:LoI next to its length. The graphics, however, are particularly wonderful. I was especially impressed with the two outdoor scenes that are seen several times throughout the game. The environmental modeling is simply marvelous. Indoors, where four walls keep the ambient depth the outdoors revels in, the graphics are still up to snuff. The C:LoI team managed to maintain the exquisite ambience of Castlevania (though it is not yet referred to directly by that name) in this installment. Even after clearing the original quest, I've been entertained by the game still with its extras. One of the two extra characters - Joachim Armster (one of the five bosses mentioned above) - changes the gameplay entirely in a refreshing way. I found his character makes room-to-room combat rather simple, but bosses (particularly Death and the Forgotten One) much more challenging, as he cannot heal through inventory items like Leon can. The other extra - Pumpkin - plays identically to Leon, and doesn't really change anything else about gameplay besides adding a unique (but unimpressive) special weapon to his arsenal. Crazy mode, unlocked after finishing the original quest, is very interesting and aptly named. The increased difficulty makes the game feel more like a survival horror at points - running rather than fighting becomes commonplace. On the whole, C:LoI is a great game for those who have a vested loyalty to the Castlevania franchise. For anyone else, however, I'd recommend waiting until the price tag gets a bit slimmer before you decide to pick it up for yourself. Hell, you could just rent it for a week and that would allow most hardcore gamers to get through most of what the title has to offer.
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