I must now say that even though this is my most favourite XBLA game, nonthing in this review will be biased (much). My choice for today is Castle Crashers, a game made by The Behemoth Studios, from which Tom Fulp, the founder of the glorious website, Newgrounds, is a part of. The game is centered around a medievil theme with dungeons and dragons (who would have thouhght it) and has you travelling around the world to save not one but four princesses, and also to stop the evil wizard who has stolen the magic crystal.
First of is the gameplay, there are two modes, Single Player and Online Multiplayer, they both contain the same activities which include, the main story (where you can play through the game either alone or with your friends), Arena mode, where you can play fun games with your friends, whether its killing one another or... wait, most of them involve killing each other. The last mode, and the most funny, is the "All you can Quaff" mode, where you and some friends if need be, can take part in an all you can eat contest which involves you tirelessly tapping away at the controller like a madman.
Story Mode (or Castle Crashers mode) has you strolling through forests and deserts inn search for the kidnapped princesses, as you go along you will fight many bosses, some big, some small, some weird. One battle has you against a giant mutant corn cob. The game is based on a levelling up system where you gain experience from killing enemies and then once you level up you can pour these points into your stats, whether it be Strength, Magic, Defence or Agility. As you level up you also gain new combos to smite your enemies with. I find that one of the most enjoyable things about this game is finding hidden weapons and animal orbs. Animal orbs are small creatures that follow you round and give you extra boosts in certain ways, such as a boost in strenght or jumping height, or even experience gain. Those are the staus orbs, there are certain orbs that attack foes at random times, these aren't asuseful as you would think, so i would stick with the status orbs. The main story is more fun when you have friends playing with you in the room, its more enjoyable as you work together, healing each other and screaming "WATCH OUT" as a ginat bat goes to the toilet on their head.
Next is the Arena Mode, now apart from the regular kicking the crap out of everyone you can see (which is still loads of fun), there are 4 other modes, there is bow and aroow mode where playesrs must fight to the death with bow and arrows, this isn't as exciting as it sounds, hitting people in this game with a bow and arrow is quite hard and can get frustrating at times. The next mode is Treasure Hunter, where evryone is in a rush to try and dig up as much treasure as they can find before getting the crap beaten out of them with a shovel, as many a people like to do. The next mode is Chickan Chaser mode, where everyone has to chase a chicken round the screen, and until then they cannot do damage to their opponents, this mode is brilliant, as you chase a chick round the screen, trying to dodge the attacks of your foe as they swing at you wildly, sword in one hand, chicken in the other. The last mode is Beefy Fight, which is sort of like a normal battle but everyone is huge (if you buy the game you will find out why).
On to the technical stuff, the graphics are amazing, taken from the Alien Hominid theme, with artist Dan Paladin, every level looks amazing, the large forests, the booming volcano's, the head flying of a barbarians body and hitting a bear in the face. There are some parts of the game where you want to sit back a just look at the scenery, WOW!!! The audio is brilliant, using a mix between a full on Orchestra as you charge through enemy camps, right through to modern music, each song fittin the level perfectly. Finally, the lasting appeal of this game is well deserved, once you complete the game, you unlock new characters and a harder difficulty for the hardcore gamers out there, this game will last you a lifetime as it never gets boring.
All in all, this game is one of the best XBLA games out there, it has lasting appeal, great online multiplayer and a fantastic story, and in the end, thats all that matters. For a mere 1200 MP this game is well worth it.
10/10
First of is the gameplay, there are two modes, Single Player and Online Multiplayer, they both contain the same activities which include, the main story (where you can play through the game either alone or with your friends), Arena mode, where you can play fun games with your friends, whether its killing one another or... wait, most of them involve killing each other. The last mode, and the most funny, is the "All you can Quaff" mode, where you and some friends if need be, can take part in an all you can eat contest which involves you tirelessly tapping away at the controller like a madman.
Story Mode (or Castle Crashers mode) has you strolling through forests and deserts inn search for the kidnapped princesses, as you go along you will fight many bosses, some big, some small, some weird. One battle has you against a giant mutant corn cob. The game is based on a levelling up system where you gain experience from killing enemies and then once you level up you can pour these points into your stats, whether it be Strength, Magic, Defence or Agility. As you level up you also gain new combos to smite your enemies with. I find that one of the most enjoyable things about this game is finding hidden weapons and animal orbs. Animal orbs are small creatures that follow you round and give you extra boosts in certain ways, such as a boost in strenght or jumping height, or even experience gain. Those are the staus orbs, there are certain orbs that attack foes at random times, these aren't asuseful as you would think, so i would stick with the status orbs. The main story is more fun when you have friends playing with you in the room, its more enjoyable as you work together, healing each other and screaming "WATCH OUT" as a ginat bat goes to the toilet on their head.
Next is the Arena Mode, now apart from the regular kicking the crap out of everyone you can see (which is still loads of fun), there are 4 other modes, there is bow and aroow mode where playesrs must fight to the death with bow and arrows, this isn't as exciting as it sounds, hitting people in this game with a bow and arrow is quite hard and can get frustrating at times. The next mode is Treasure Hunter, where evryone is in a rush to try and dig up as much treasure as they can find before getting the crap beaten out of them with a shovel, as many a people like to do. The next mode is Chickan Chaser mode, where everyone has to chase a chicken round the screen, and until then they cannot do damage to their opponents, this mode is brilliant, as you chase a chick round the screen, trying to dodge the attacks of your foe as they swing at you wildly, sword in one hand, chicken in the other. The last mode is Beefy Fight, which is sort of like a normal battle but everyone is huge (if you buy the game you will find out why).
On to the technical stuff, the graphics are amazing, taken from the Alien Hominid theme, with artist Dan Paladin, every level looks amazing, the large forests, the booming volcano's, the head flying of a barbarians body and hitting a bear in the face. There are some parts of the game where you want to sit back a just look at the scenery, WOW!!! The audio is brilliant, using a mix between a full on Orchestra as you charge through enemy camps, right through to modern music, each song fittin the level perfectly. Finally, the lasting appeal of this game is well deserved, once you complete the game, you unlock new characters and a harder difficulty for the hardcore gamers out there, this game will last you a lifetime as it never gets boring.
All in all, this game is one of the best XBLA games out there, it has lasting appeal, great online multiplayer and a fantastic story, and in the end, thats all that matters. For a mere 1200 MP this game is well worth it.
10/10
