Castlevania?: Curse of Darkness(tm) Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames)
by BradyGames
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Book Summary Information
Author: BradyGamesEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-28
ISBN: 0744006457
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: BRADY GAMES
Book Reviews of Castlevania?: Curse of Darkness(tm) Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames)
Book Review: A $12 art book with the 'steal' guide ripped out
Summary: 2 Stars
Lord, I hope these authors were fired.
When I purchased Brady Games' official "Castlevania: Curse of Darkness" strategy guide a couple of years back, I mistakenly thought I was buying a guide. To help me...strategize. I didn't realize I'd be getting an abridged art collection with big sections missing.
I'll be the first to admit this was probably my fault. I didn't take the time to read through the whole thing before setting money down on the counter, and it had words like "guide," "strategy" and "official" right there on the cover. Positive experiences with similar-looking pamphlets in the past must have lulled me into a false sense of security.
So, yeah, it served me right. But maybe I can keep it from happening to you.
No joke: This guide devotes more time to reproducing non-player character profiles straight from the game's instruction manual than it does to boss-fighting tips. The Innocent Devil evolution charts are ridiculously primitive-looking and tricky to navigate, and the type is so small that you may need seeing-eye insects to read it for you. (You are familiar with seeing-eye insects, don't you? I understand they're a fad in Japan.)
Here's the biggie: There's no stealing guide. None. At all. You'll get the occasional blurry screenshot of a purple bulls-eye in some of the one-page boss fight sections. But as for advice on when to block, when to jump and when to mash the circle button? I'm sorry, you must be thinking of GameFAQs.
You people who've played this game, you know what a crushing failure this is. Ten straight minutes of trying to find a boss's opening, then another thirty trying to pull off the actual grab, is enough to make you want to headbutt Mr. Rogers' corpse. And if I hadn't seen someone steal from Death on YouTube, I'd have sworn it couldn't be done.
I suspect they cheated somehow. They went back in time and worked some Game Shark wizardry before the codes had come out yet, and that's how they were able to print what monsters give you which items. It's the only reason I can think of why they wouldn't tell you how to do it all yourself.
It would've been a much better deal if Brady had stapled together some cocktail napkins and sold them for $2.50. They could've rendered the official Konami artwork with crayons and sparkle glitter, and the strategy section would just say "avoid taking damage." After you beat the game, you could go out to Tony Roma's for ribs and use the napkins to clean up, which is way more useful than anything the $12 version does.
This guide gets two stars from me simply because it points out some breakable walls on the area maps. Also, as bad as it is, it didn't infect me with smallpox.
You, of course, may not be so lucky.
Summary of Castlevania?: Curse of Darkness(tm) Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames)
BradyGames? Castlevania: Curse of Darkness Official Strategy Guide includes the following:
- A complete walkthrough of the entire game.
- Detailed maps of every area.
- In-depth listing of unlockables, items and weapons.
- Expert strategies to defeat every boss.
- Extensive bestiary.
- Game secrets revealed!
Platform: PlayStation 2
Genre: Action/Adventure
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