Sometimes, albeit not often, the Wii has decent, if not stellar, third party contributions.
and...
Sometimes reviews can be wrong.
Case in point: Castlevania Judgment. A combination slasher/fighter/action title that is unfortunately destined to be headed to a premature death in the bargain bin due to both the tsunami of software releases over the next few weeks and to its less than stellar review scores. A game that really doesn't know what it's supposed to be, but yet got beaten up in the mainstream press far more than it deserved. A game that, surprisingly, manages to look fairly good graphically for a non-Nintendo title - especially to those that dig its anime-inspired over-the-top art style. A game that controls just fine, provided you toss the waggle-stick aside and put your classic controller or GCN Controller/Wavebird to good use.
Perhaps we'll never know why Iga decided to make this game rather than a true-blue 2D Castlevania title for Wii, and those who were expecting something like that are of course going to be extremely disappointed with Judgment. That being said, though, there's a lot to like here. Far more than the reviews would have you believe. So I suppose the best way to handle a review of this game into the genres which it represents, and then dealing with the typical criteria of graphics, sound, and control.
As a fighter, Castlevania Judgment is: 2.5/5
Unbalanced and toned down for the Wii audience. There are some technical moves to pull off here, but it's a very mash-friendly fighting game with a few exceptionally overpowered characters. The subweapons aren't all that useful, and "super attacks" (that are activated with a push of the X button on the GCN controller when the super meter is full) can drain an opponent of 75%+ of a life bar. There aren't that many characters to choose from, and the hazards in the environments feel like an afterthought (remember Mace: The Dark Age on N64? Yeah, kinda like that). I can't help but feel that this game wasn't meant to be a balanced fighter. All that said, it's still leaps and bounds ahead of Namco's sophomore Wii effort Soulcalibur Legends... then again, just about ANYTHING would have been better than Soulcalibur Legends.
As a third-person action game, Castlevania Judgment is: 3.5/5
More or less, if you liked the 3D titles in the Castlevania series... Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness, this game plays like a jacked-up version of the boss fights from those games. The controls are a bit different, and due to the emphasis on 1 on 1 fighting, obviously there are differences in how the game "feels", but its action roots are certainly apparent. I can't help but wonder if the game began life as a new 3D Castlevania on the Wii. Thanks, but no thanks. I actually prefer Judgment's current gameplay when compared to to running through empty corridor after empty corridor with little scenery, stopping to fight some guys, and then do the whole thing over again. Though all of these issues could have been avoided if they would have just released a real 2D Castlevania on the Wii... Judgment isn't bad, it just isn't that great either.
As a Wii game, Castlevania Judgment is: 4/5
I'll be the first to admit - I popped this game into my Wii expecting it to suck hard. Really hard. Like, really, really, "SUCK MONKEY BALLS OUT OF A BULL'S ANUS" AVGN hard.
After reading the reviews I wanted to remove it from my Gamefly queue to avoid wasting both my time and theirs. I was completely expecting a Castlevania-flavored Soulcalibur Legends style turd to be squeezed out by Konami to capitalize on the waggle craze. Thus I can't help but give it points for being BETTER than completely horrible. And that's a sad thing, but a true one. As a fighting fan, and a Castlevania fan, I'm having a good time with this game. I know it's shallow, and I know I'll probably be returning it in a few days, but for the moment, it's a lot of fun. The online is smooth and doesn't require friend codes, and the graphics are beautiful (especially with the anti-jaggie filter turned on) for a Wii game. Lots of particle effects, very little slowdown. The development team had love for this game. I don't think they had as much time as they would have liked to work on this title, but what's there is solid. And that alone is worth a rating boost, because this is one of the few third-party efforts not in the "Bratz Babiez Partyz Fashionz Dolphinz Happy Fun Ninjabreadz Manz" line of titles that sadly continue to sell to the idiot masses.
Note to the Hardcore:
As I said above, and I can't emphasize this enough: DO NOT PLAY WITH WAGGLE TURNED ON. It's just as broken as Soulcalibur Legends or Bleach, probably moreso. There's nothing I hate more than a Wii fighting game that forces waggle for every attack - it's just stupid, and I know most of you agree.
Treat this as a fanservice game, a "popcorn game" that won't have much longevity but will be fun in short bursts or to pull out at parties. It's very simplistic.
As far as how it plays (with existing games for reference)... it's two parts Destrega and one part Power Stone, coated with a thin Castlevania shell sprinkled with bits of Mace: The Dark Age. I know Destrega and Mace are pretty obscure games nowadays, but they contained several elements that made their way into Judgment: simple controls, over-the-top moves, half-baked environmental hazards, and 1 on 1 versus gameplay. In fact, Mace and Destrega keep coming up in my mind as I play Judgment. Since I liked both of those games back in the day, I don't have a ton of complaints. It's a light snack of a game in-between rich, calorie-laden first-party Nintendo goodness. That being said, it's also one of the best non-Capcom third-party efforts on the system so far. That's intended as a compliment to Konami... I'm not saying rush out to the store and buy it, but definitely give it a shot. Chances are you'll be pleasantly surprised.
No comments:
Post a Comment