Untitled Document Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer my "Castlevania" games in 2-D, thank you. Not to say that this classic series could never successfully make the leap to 3-D. But "Curse of Darkness" doesn’t do much to convince.

This installment introduces Hector, a former minion of Dracula, who betrayed the dark lord. With Dracula defeated, Hector enjoyed a normal life until his beloved was executed for being a witch in a trial manipulated by a former ally, Isaac. Isaac lures Hector to a dilapidated castle and baits the enraged Hector into re-embracing his dark powers.

Of course, getting to Isaac in the enormous castle isn’t as simple as just finding him. As Hector, you must hack and slash through legions of the undead and beasts. You summon Innocent Devils to lend a hand.

The controls are nice and responsive, and the camera isn’t a pain. Good thing, especially when enemies gang up on you or when you’re fighting one of the big bosses. The downside is that the enemies aren’t that bright. The game quickly degenerates into mind-numbing button mashing.

While the visuals are detailed, they’re dark and bland. The generic backgrounds make it hard to distinguish rooms, making navigating the game’s enormous world aggravating.

"Curse of Darkness" isn’t an awful game, but it has a generic feel. It’s worth a rental, but that’s about it.

© 2005, Detroit Free Press.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.