Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King is a 2003 platform game developed by Natsume and published by THQ. Based on the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the game features Buffy Summers who fights vampires, demons, and other supernatural entities as the Slayer. Set in the show's fourth season, the storyline is about Buffy investigating a demonic warlord and attempting to prevent his return to Earth. Season four villains – Adam and the Gentlemen – appear as bosses. Buffy's friends – Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, and Anya Jenkins – are included in cutscenes, and her boyfriend Riley Finn provides support in some levels. The player controls Buffy through 16 side-scrolling levels that focus on solving puzzles and defeating enemies by using customizable weapons.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Wrath of the Darkhul King
Cover art
Developer(s)Natsume
Publisher(s)THQ
Director(s)Sosuke Yamazaki
Producer(s)Iku Mizutani
Artist(s)
  • Tomoki Hamuro
  • Masashi Kudo
  • Chie Yoshida
Writer(s)John Butler
Composer(s)Kinuyo Yamashita
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance
Release
  • NA: June 24, 2003
  • EU: June 27, 2003
Genre(s)
Mode(s)Single player

THQ produced Wrath of the Darkhul King along with a Game Boy Advance (GBA) port of The Simpsons: Road Rage (2001) in a publishing agreement with Fox Interactive. Wrath of the Darkhul King was released for the GBA on June 24, 2003 for North American audiences, and in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2003. The game received primarily negative feedback. The gameplay was criticized, while the graphics and sound received a more mixed response. Critics compared the game to the Castlevania series and described it as too far removed from the television series.

Plot

Adapted from the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Wrath of the Darkhul King follows Buffy Summers, a Slayer destined to fight vampires, demons, and other supernatural entities. Taking place in the show's fourth season, the game features the Darkhul King – a demonic warlord who ruled the Earth for over 500 years before a witch trapped him in his own dimension – as the main antagonist. Buffy starts an extra credit assignment on the museum's Amelia Earhart exhibit, but she is interrupted when a demon steals a talisman. Her allies — Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenberg, and Xander Harris — do research while Buffy conducts patrols for further information. Xander's girlfriend Anya Jenkins provides insight on the demons, informing Buffy that they typically work for a master.

Buffy confronts the leader of a vampire nest, Adam (a supersoldier created by the Initiative), and demons known as the Gentlemen and their minions. During her patrols, she finds demons excavating for the Scepter of Thelios and later conducting a ritual. Giles informs her that they are attempting to free the Darkhul King, and he advises her to locate the demon's prison, the Temple of Shadows. When the Darkhul King is freed, Buffy recovers the Glove of Myhnegon to defeat him. She beats the Darkhul King, who swears revenge against her. Since she was busy fighting demons, Buffy was too distracted to complete her extra credit assignment.

Gameplay
A gameplay screenshot of Buffy climbing across metal bars (top) and a cutscene still of Buffy (bottom)

Wrath of the Darkhul King is a side-scrolling platform game with beat 'em up elements.[1][2] It is broken up into 16 linear levels in environments that include a cemetery, an abandoned hospital, and a college campus.[2][3] Buffy is the only playable character, but the show's other characters are featured in cutscenes between levels.[4][5] These scenes are digitized stills from the series, and dialogue is conveyed through subtitles.[3][6] Buffy's boyfriend Riley Finn appears in certain areas to provide weapons and health in the form of presents.[7]

Gameplay is divided into three activities: fighting enemies, solving puzzles by pushing crates and activating numbered switches, and jumping on platforms.[2][4][8] Levels are completed by locating the correct switch to open a gate or turn off hazards, such as a steam pipe.[2] The player must dodge obstacles, including pendulums, spikes, falling rocks, and quickly navigate over unstable platforms.[1][2] Buffy can use ladders, ropes, and metal bars, and swim to progress through levels.[1][2][9] In some areas, the player can rescue people who are all portrayed as men in red shirts.[10] When the game's difficulty levels are adjusted to a more challenging setting, the entrances and puzzle solutions are changed.[1]

The player encounters five enemy types: a male and a female vampire, the Gentlemen's minions, and two species of demons;[2] bosses include Adam and the Gentlemen.[3] Vampires are primarily killed with stakes, which can be found throughout each level.[2][4] The player can also eliminate them by exposing them to sunlight by destroying rooftops or kicking them off ledges.[2][5] Buffy's primary moves are punches, blocks, a high kick, and a crouching kick;[2][3] she can also use the environment to hurt enemies.[11] Throughout the levels, the player can find and use 16 types of weapons;[1] these include an axe, a crossbow, a dagger, a flamethrower, holy water, a laser rifle, a torch, and the Glove of Myhnegon.[1][3][4] They can be customized to become more powerful, like combining a dagger with a torch to make a flaming dagger. Weapons are accessed via an inventory screen, and can only be used a limited number of times.[1][4] Ranged weapons can only be used to stun enemies, who must be defeated by physical attacks or melee weapons.[8] The game has cheat codes for invincibility, infinite lives, starting a level with nine objects refilled with each death, and showing enemies' health meters.[12][13]

Development and release

Japanese video game company Natsume developed Wrath of the Darkhul King which was directed by Sosuke Yamazaki and produced by Iku Mitzutani.[2][14] It was the third of six Buffy the Vampire Slayer video games;[15][16] like the other games based on the series, Wrath of the Darkhul King does not explain the characters' backstories or relationships, instead marketing itself to the show's established fanbase.[17] Chie Yoshida created the artwork, and Kinuyo Yamashita composed the music.[14][18]

In July 2002, THQ announced Wrath of the Darkhul King as part of a publishing agreement with Fox Interactive, alongside the Game Boy Advance (GBA) port of The Simpsons: Road Rage (2001).[19] A "first look" at the game was promoted through GameSpot in June 2003.[20] Wrath of the Darkhul King was released for the GBA in North America on June 24, 2003, followed by a United Kingdom release on June 27, 2003.[21][22] On June 22, 2003, it was the fifth most-ordered game on the online marketplace Amazon;[23] the following week, it was seventh most-ordered game on the site.[24]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic44/100[25]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CVG6/10[8]
Game Informer4.25/10[26]
GameSpot3.8/10[1]
GameSpy[27]
GameZone5.9/10[3]
IGN4/10[4]
NGC Magazine21%[28]
Nintendo Power2.7/5[29]
X-Play[10]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]

Metacritic gives Wrath of the Darkhul King a score of 44/100, which indicates a "generally unfavorable" response, based on 16 reviews. As part of its summary, the website criticized the game as too disconnected from the television show and "a bad game to boot".[25] In their overviews of the game, The Village Voice summed it up as "teenhood merely as drab and awkward survival",[30] and GameSpy called it "quite possibly the worst platformer for the GBA".[27] In a 2014 list, Hobby Consolas cited Wrath of the Darkhul King as one of the worst video games based on a television series.[16]

The gameplay was criticized. GameZone wrote the game was hampered by unresponsive controls and recycled level designs.[3] GameSpy felt it was too difficult to distinguish which areas were platforms or caused damage,[27] and GameSpot disliked the placement of obstacles and platforms outside the player's field of vision.[1] While criticizing the game's length, the site wrote it could be completed in under an hour.[1] IGN questioned the designer's familiarity with the GBA due to collision detection issues, writing the "wonky" controls often resulted in combat moves being off by a pixel and not working.[4] Although Computer and Video Games praised the variety of weapon types, the magazine panned the puzzles as unoriginal, and described the overall game as "fairly bog-standard stuff".[8] In a more positive review, Entertainment Weekly praised how "the virtual Slayer actually looks, moves, and grunts like the real Ms. Summers", and enjoyed how the player could interact with the environment to kill enemies.[5]

The graphics received mixed reviews. Citing them as the game's highlight, AllGame said the backgrounds were detailed and the character sprites well-animated.[2] Along with praising the art for the environments, GameZone felt the special effects were "quite beautiful to watch, especially when lighting up a demon or dusting a vampire".[3] In a retrospective list of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer video games, Syfy Wire identified Wrath of the Darkhul King as having "an expressive Buffy and believable character models".[31] GameZone and GameSpy both praised the portraits used in cutscenes.[3][27] On the other hand, X-Play and AllGame complained the cutscene stills were too repetitive.[2][10] Despite their positive response to the game's animation, GameSpot criticized the repetition of certain locations and the small size of Buffy's sprite.[1] IGN panned the art style as "full of awkward angles and poorly-drawn sprites".[4]

There were mixed responses to the sound. GameSpot referred to the music as the high point of the game.[1] GameSpy and GameZone likened the soundtrack to a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game.[3][27] While GameSpy said it was "cool in a retro sort of way",[27] GameZone questioned how it fit with a Buffy the Vampire Slayer adaptation.[3] GameZone wrote that the game would have benefited from the addition of sound effects for pushing crates and pulling switches.[3] Criticizing the soundtrack asAllGame criticized as "grating and repetitive", AllGame wondered why the show's theme song was absent from the game. The website wished the player had the choice to turn it off in the options menu.[2]

Critics likened Wrath of the Darkhul King to the Castlevania series.[1][3][5][10] GameSpot positively compared the soundtrack to that of a Castlevania game,[1] and Entertainment Weekly suggested Wrath of the Darkhul King to Castlevania fans.[5] However, X-Play recommended people purchase a Castlevania game instead;[10] GameZone suggested Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2003) as a superior alternative.[3] Wrath of the Darkhul King was also compared to its source material.[1][2][3][31] AllGame wrote that aside from the characters, cutscenes, and some enemies, nothing in the game was directly tied to the series.[2] GameZone believed the show's fans would be disappointed with the plot,[3] and GameSpot said: "There's nothing uniquely Buffy about the game, and that makes playing it that much more painful".[1] SyFy Wire panned Wrath of the Darkhul King as lacking "deep characterization or uniquely Buffy content".[31] On the other, The Guardian wrote that it "really captures the atmosphere of its TV influence".[32]

gollark: The prime factorization is not designed to be very challenging and was indeed reduced in difficulty some months ago.
gollark: No.
gollark: It runs on a box ingame which is turned off.
gollark: This is heresy and wrong?
gollark: PotatOS doesn't create or read that.

References

Citations
  1. Provo, Frank (July 18, 2003). "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019.
  2. Marriott, Scott Alan. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014.
  3. jkdmedia (May 4, 2012). "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Wrath of the Darkhul King – GBA – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019.
  4. Harris, Craig (August 5, 2003). "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Return Of The Darkhul King". IGN. Archived from the original on February 24, 2019.
  5. Reyes, Kimberly (July 18, 2003). "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Wrath Of The Darkhul King". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 3, 2018.
  6. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019.
  7. Natsume (June 24, 2003). Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King (Game Boy Advance). THQ. Level/area: Patrol. Riley will help out by throwing extra weapons and health. Acquire the presents by breaking them like crates.
  8. "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Return Of The Darkhul King". Computer and Video Games. August 13, 2003. Archived from the original on June 6, 2007.
  9. Natsume (June 24, 2003). Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King (Game Boy Advance). THQ. Level/area: Patrol. Stand under the metal bars and the press the R button to jump and hold onto them.
  10. Speer, Justin (August 13, 2003). "'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King' (GBA) Review". X-Play. Archived from the original on August 9, 2003.
  11. Reynolds, Erik (July 3, 2003). "THQ Ships 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King' for Game Boy Advance; Hit Television Series is Now Available on the Game Boy Advance". Business Wire. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019.
  12. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King". Game Revolution. April 28, 2005. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  13. "Cheats". GameRankings. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016.
  14. "Credits". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014.
  15. Macnaughtan (2015)
  16. Ruiz, Javier Parrilla (January 2, 2014). "Los 10 peores juegos de series de tv". Hobby Consolas (in Spanish). Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  17. King & Krzywinska (2006): pp. 52-53
  18. "Credits". KinuyoYamashita.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017.
  19. "Buffy does the Bartman". IGN. July 16, 2002. Archived from the original on March 31, 2013.
  20. Calvert, Justin (June 4, 2003). "First look: Buffy: Wrath of the Darkhul King". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019.
  21. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King (Game Boy Advance)". CNET. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019.
  22. "Releases". Giant Bomb. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  23. "New This Week". Detroit Free Press. June 22, 2003. p. 111. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
  24. "New This Week". Detroit Free Press. June 29, 2003. p. 102. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
  25. "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Wrath Of The Darkhul King". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018.
  26. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King". Game Informer (125): 126. September 2003.
  27. Meston, Zach (July 9, 2003). "GameSpy: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King". GameSpy. Archived from the original on November 20, 2005.
  28. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King". NGC Magazine. August 2003.
  29. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King". Nintendo Power. 171: 137. September 2003.
  30. Catucci, Nick (August 5, 2003). "Good Game Boy". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019.
  31. Vincent, Brittany (March 10, 2017). "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Video Games, Ranked from Best to Worst". Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018.
  32. Howson, Greg (July 10, 2003). "GBA hits homer". The Guardian. p. 75. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)

Book sources
  • King, Geoff; Krzywinska, Geoff (2006). Tomb Raiders and Space Invaders: Videogame Forms and Contexts. London: I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1-85043-814-5.
  • Macnaughtan, Don (2015). The Buffyverse Catalog: A Complete Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel in Print, Film, Television, Comics, Games and Other Media, 1992–2010. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 9780786446032.
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