Have you ever been so frustrated by finding a game that you liked and seeing that it had one nagging feature that kept you from fully enjoying the fruits of its labor? I have...several times. There's always a game that has all the potential in the world but then hits that road block. It's like riding down a freeway on a nice sunny day and then hitting rush hour, ruining your Sunday drive. Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is the latest game I've experienced with this situation. It introduces so much new stuff that kind of gives a twist to the 3-D formula of the series, and yet can't escape the fact that you know it's 3-D. In fact, it's glaring right from level one.

The game does take a nice approach to storyline, however. Instead of focusing on Belmont versus Dracula for the 855th time, it instead focuses on two new characters, a pair of Devil Forgemasters named Hector and Isaac. See, Hector has worked in the past alongside Dracula, but decided to hang up his skills upon the death of his boss and instead focus on the woman he loves. But Isaac does not exactly consider love as an acceptable termination agreement, and kills the girl before taking refuge in Dracula's house. Hector, out of pure rage, vows to vengeance the death of his love and approaches the castle, but has no idea of what kind of trap lies in store. This story actually follows a logical level for a change, which is a pleasant surprise.

So, as I mentioned, Hector uses Devil Forgemaster skills, which means he's able to utilize power from enemies and combine them for a couple of different purposes, and that introduces the new battle skills that come into play with Curse of Darkness. The first involves "stealing" and creating new weapons. See, when you defeat enemies, you pick up some kind of devil shards from ones spread all across, and, being a Forgemaster, you can put together some impressive weaponry. There's also a system known as Innocent Devils, or I.D. if you want to keep it simple. This allows you to breed your own set of companions who will assist you in your adventures, ranging from a golem with raging powers that will crush enemies flat to a bird that comes in handy for jettisoning you across levels. The system they utilize allows you to either set them up on "auto", letting them do their own thing, or following your commands, but, either way they pack a power-up system that allows them to evolve and keep hit points. The introduction of these two items in themselves put a fresh spin on the series, and I hope to see them return in future chapters.

Curse also happily benefits from a wonderful sound experience. Not all of the voice-acting provided in the game is top-shelf, but it is true to the story and not laughable like previous editions in the series. ("Your words are as empty as your soul!!" ring a bell?) The sound effects are alright, but it's the music that's a standout here. It's done by the same composer that handled Symphony of the Night back on the PlayStation, and once again they deliver here with a terrific score that's truly Castlevania.