Konami has just announced a release date for Castlevania Harmony of Despair on Xbox Live Arcade. The six player co-op game will launch on August 4th and feature online co-op play through a brand new Castlevania story utilizing assets and enemies from all previous games. The levels themselves are inspired by Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia.
Harmony of Despair features five playable characters; Alucard from Symphony of the Night, Soma Cruz from Aria and Dawn of Sorrow, Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin from Portrait of Ruin, and Shanoa from Order of Ecclesia. Players can choose any character they want and will be able to utilize numerous palette swaps to tell the difference between characters. Konami has also revealed that new characters will be available as DLC in the future.
One interesting feature to the game is that unlike traditional 8-bit co-op beat em ups and action games of the past, Harmony of Despair won't tie players together on the same screen. Players are able to go out on their own and explore the castle, but the game's high focus on boss characters make it imperative to stick and work together. Each character will have their own unique set of special moves as well.
We actually missed this one yesterday when announcing our co-op Summer of Arcade releases - looks like just about every game in the summer promotion will feature co-op.
Which boss character are you most looking forward to taking on with your friends?