Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Castlevania: Judgment is the first fighting game set in the Castlevania series. There isn't a specific timeline the game follows, as the story has to do with meeting a mysterious figure named Aeon, who seems to have crossed space and time to link different generations of Belmonts.

What's Hot
This interesting take on the series, which is usually all about adventure and platform-hopping, gives fans a new way to experience Konami's beloved series. The action is quick and there isn't a lot of exploration. If you like boss fights, think of Judgment as a game full of consecutive boss fights. The combat gives you options of either going with the Wii-mote and nunchuck or the classic controller.

The gothic nature of the game paves the way for some really interesting visuals. The characters keep in step with the gothic look of the franchise, and you'll see some unique looks for characters you might have envisioned looking differently in this setting. There is also a piece to the game where you can customize the look of your favorite fighters.



What's Not
Judgment isn't a very good game. The problem lies at the very core of what the game is about: the fighting. The controls are oversimplified and make the combat incredibly shallow. You'll find a few good moves and abuse them until the enemy is dead. If you don't have a classic controller for your Wii, you'll be frustrated with the waggling involved.

The difficulty seems to be dialed in just right at the beginning, but as you make your way towards your character's final fight, you'll be lucky to eek out a victory. The AI will know your moves as soon as you do them and respond with a counter. Restarting matches doesn't take long but losing as much as you do at the later levels grows into big frustrations.

The inclusion of Castlevania-based weapons, tacked onto the combat was halfway conceived. The mechanic is good, but the implementation suffers because the combat itself just isn't that good. The camera gets in the way all the time and the view of the stage will be obscured because the computer will block your view.

Final Word
It is hard to tell what the purpose of Judgment was, and how it would further increase the franchise's legacy. Yes, there is one interesting thing, but it is buried underneath a subpar game. It is hard to recommend this one.