all along, cruelly stabs Trevor and leaves him for dead. Hector enters the new Castlevania, where he fights and defeats his nemesis. As he prepares to kill him in a fit of rage, he suddenly remembers Julia, who had warned him not to let the Curse take hold of him. Horrified, Hector realizes that his actions are being controlled by Dracula's Curse. A triumphant Zead appears and confirms this, explaining that the Devil Forgemasters were supposed to fight to the death, with the blood-stained Hector becoming the vessel for the Count's reincarnation. Having secured Isaac's body for this purpose, he reveals himself to be Death and attacks, in vain. Hector proceeds to fight Dracula, who is unable to take full control of Isaac's body and returns to the afterlife. Hector then uses his powers as a Devil Forgemaster to lift the Curse. Julia comes to his rescue, and they start a new life together. Meanwhile, St. Germain departs for the distant future, wondering how the struggle between mankind and Dracula will end. Development It was produced by Koji "IGA" Igarashi, who has worked on several other games in the Castlevania series, including Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. Also returning are series artist Ayami Kojima and composer Michiru Yamane. Audio Michiru Yamane once again composed the music, and worked together with British singer Russell Watson to create the end credits theme "True To Your Words". Guitars, which were omitted from Lament of Innocences score, returned in Curse of Darkness. There was a sampler given away as a bonus to anyone who pre-ordered a copy of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness from supporting retailers. Animaze has done the English language voicework for the characters. Reception Review aggregator Metacritic shows an averaged score of 74 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews"." The game generated mid to high review scores. Common praises often go to the game's battle system – which as stated by IGN "...can offer up a fairly wide variety of skirmishes and strategies..." -, the Innocent Devil system and musical score. Common criticisms of the game go to the game's environments, which have generally been considered dull and repetitive. X-Play gave Curse of Darkness a 3 out of 5 while IGN gave it a 7.8, or "Good" rating. GamePro Magazine gave the game a 4.0 out of a 5.0 fun factor, stating