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. The player controls Buffy through 16 side-scrolling levels that focus on solving puzzles and defeating enemies by using customizable weapons. Set in the show's fourth season, the story is about Buffy attempting to prevent a demonic warlord from returning to Earth.
THQ produced Wrath of the Darkhul King in a publishing agreement with Fox Interactive, and chose Natsume as the developers because they had been working together since 1999. Influenced by their family-friendly image, Natsume presented Buffy as an inspirational character to their young audience. The developer struggled with adapting Buffy the Vampire Slayer into 2D computer graphics, citing issues with character sprites.
Wrath of the Darkhul King was released for the Game Boy Advance. It was the third of six Buffy the Vampire Slayer video games. Critical reception of the game was poor; reviewers disliked the gameplay and lack of connection to the television series, but had a mixed response to the graphics and audio.
Gameplay[]
Wrath of the Darkhul King is a side-scrolling platform game with beat 'em up elements. The game is divided into 16 linear levels in environments that include a cemetery, an abandoned hospital, and a college campus. The levels include obstacles, such as pendulums, spikes, falling rocks, and unstable platforms. The player, as Buffy Summers, completes levels by locating the correct switch to open a gate or turn off hazards, such as a steam pipe. Buffy can progress through levels by swimming and by using ladders, ropes, and metal bars. In some areas, she can rescue people who are all portrayed as men in red shirts. When the game's difficulty levels are adjusted to a more challenging setting, the entrances and puzzle solutions are changed.
Buffy encounters bosses including the supersoldier Adam and the demonic Gentlemen; there are five enemy types: a male and a female vampire, the Gentlemen's minions, and two species of demons. Vampires are primarily killed with stakes, which can be found throughout each level. Buffy can also eliminate them by destroying rooftops to expose the vampires to sunlight or by kicking them off ledges. Buffy's primary moves are punches, blocks, a high kick, and a crouching kick; she can also interact with objects in the environment to hurt bosses.
Throughout the levels, Buffy can find and use 16 types of weapons including an axe, a crossbow, a dagger, a flamethrower, holy water, a laser rifle, a torch, and the Glove of Myhnegon. Each weapon can only be used a limited number of times. Ranged weapons stun enemies, but only melee weapons and physical attacks can defeat them. Each weapon becomes more powerful with upgrades, such as combining a torch and a dagger to make a flaming dagger. Buffy accesses weapons via an inventory screen.
Although Buffy is the only playable character, other characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer appear in cutscenes between levels. These scenes are digitized stills from the series, and dialogue is conveyed through subtitles. Buffy's boyfriend Riley Finn appears in certain areas to provide weapons and health in the form of presents.
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. Xander's girlfriend and former vengeance demon 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, 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. After beating him, Buffy realizes that her mission distracted her from completing her extra credit assignment.