Game Title: Soul Of Darkness
Developer: Gameloft
Publisher: Gameloft
Game Platform: J2ME
Tested Version: 1.0.65
Phone Reviewed: Sony Ericsson K610i
Light Over Darkness
Story:
The legend describes a story against vampires. This is a really everlasting theme in the field of literature, film and of course, games as well. When "Kale" was a child, his family was attacked by vampires and his parents died in the onslaught. Kale devoted himself to tracking down vampires and eliminating them. In order to get his revenge, Kale trained very hard to learn fighting and survival skills to be a monster hunter. Three years ago, Kale saved a girl while pursuing a vampire. However, in her horrifying ordeal, she lost all her memories and could only remember her name. Then they lived a happy life for a while. But recently "Lydia" had nightmares, which also disturbed her daily life. They went to the city, which appeared in Lydia's nightmares, to try to find a way to cure her, but when they reached their destination, what they found was death...You must fight against your own evil and find the light!
Design:
After
"Might & Magic 2",
Gameloft brings us another fantastic action/adventure game -
"Soul Of Darkness". It breaks the frame of
"Castlevania", by
Konami Mobile, and adds more elements. I should point out the features in the game vary by handset. The S60v3 versions and some Sony Ericsson versions perform best.
The game has a total of 11 chapters for players to explore; from "huge castles" and "cathedrals" to "dark woods" and "caves". You will also encounter some bosses during certain stages.
Also, the game is replayable; after you finish the entire game, you can find some secrets in each level that might have been missed before. If you have played
"Castlevania", you must know that there are many exits. You can find many mysterious things in different cases.
After killing monsters, you can get "Soul Shards" to improve yourself and your weapons. There are also some "Green Orbs" that can be found. They can cure your wounds, and you can see the change of the green life bar on the top of the screen. During the game, Kale will learn many special abilities. He can metamorphose himself to many forms: "maggot", "red piranha" and "water spirit". The transformations will help you to finish some tasks in the game.
The graphics are so good that you can see the unique attributes of our protagonist's weapon. Fire or ice will surround him. Especially when you perform critical attacks, it is so cool!
But critical attacks occur randomly. You can increase the probability by upgrading your weapons.
Gameplay:
The attributes are not only for killing monsters, you must apply them in other ways, as well. For example, the "ice arrow" can be steps for further adventure. In some "treasure boxes", you can find "life crystals" and "magic crystals". When you collect 4 crystals of each, you can increase your maximum health or magic. Your weapons can be upgraded in 4 aspects: "Power", "Combo", "Critical" and "Magic". The upgrades consume your supply of "Purple Soul Shards". The statues in the game can be also destroyed to gain extra purple soul shards. Don't forget to have a try.
In the latter stages, you can transform into other forms, which can go through special situations. For example, in water you must transform into fish while in caves you must be a maggot. But boss stages are too simple. You can easily find the laws to defeat them. And you cannot change difficulties in the game.
Conclusion:
The game supplies a fascinating Gothic adventure that makes the most of its hero's supernatural powers to provide an innovative platformer experience. Don't compare it with
"Castlevania" and
"Devil May Cry", lightly. They are of different genres in some ways. Take your sward, and save your love!
Score:
Story: 91
Design: 95
Gameplay: 96
Total: 95
Gold Award
Coming Soon...
Read More About this Game in "Mobile Game Previews"
