As the downloadable game market slowly increases its presence, the investment that publishers and developers are willing to put into such a market is widening. Developers of downloadable games are free to take chances in ways that the publishers of boxed games would never allow.
Early August saw the release of Konami's "Castlevania: Harmony of Despair" (Xbox 360; $15; rated T), a take on the recent direction of "Castlevania" games that is both instantly familiar and wildly inventive.
While "Harmony of Despair" retains the exploration-based focus of the past decade's "Castlevania" games, it does so in a novel way: It uses the HD capabilities of modern television sets to show an entire level's map as you play through it. To see it, you must zoom out so far that your avatar turns into little more than a speck, but it's a neat way to look at a level layout.
This becomes especially obvious when you're playing Xbox Live-enabled six-player co-op, as you work together to land treasure and coordinate yourselves to arrive at bosses simultaneously.
"Castlevania: Harmony of Despair" feels like a work in progress - its uneven difficulty (it's nearly impossible for a single player but almost trivial for six at once) is a bit of a problem, but it is at the very least an interesting way to approach a franchise in danger of getting stale.
Namco Bandai's "Shank" (Xbox 360; $15; rated M) goes a different route, using downloadable media as a means of putting out a game in a style that simply doesn't have a lot of recent commercial viability. 2D platforming is not the most popular of genres of late, so "Shank" would have been a risk as a $60 retail product. As a $15 download, however, it makes perfect sense.
A character named Shank is the star of "Shank," and you can probably guess his favorite mode of attack. Coming off as something of a 2D Marcus Fenix, his copious weapon supply ensures variety in the dispatching of grunts while some time-sensitive button-pushes lead to some particularly gruesome boss kills.
It's all very bloody and grim, but the comic book presentation ensures that it's not overwhelmingly so.
Despite its massive two-gigabyte size and its slick presentation, "Shank" is assuredly a downloadable experience - it can easily be finished in under five hours. Still, if you miss 2D platforming and you're itching for some blood, it's a fun (if not exactly subtle) experience.
Double Secret Bonus Tip: Good news for holiday shopping early birds. Effective Sept. 12, the new suggested retail price of the Nintendo DSi system will be $149.99, while the new suggested retail price for the Nintendo DSi XL system will be $169.99 - both down $20.
