Gone Gonzo Posts: 1063 Joined: 26 Apr 2008 | Notes: My last review sunk like a depleted lead balloon so I thought, "Hey, no matter, just write another. Maybe on something people actually care about." The end result is this. Please leave any comments and advice you have, as I'm always looking to write better.
Castle Crashers is the second title by indie developer The Behemoth. Their first title was Alien Hominid, a tongue-in-cheek side-scroller with a reputation for being incredibly difficult. Thankfully for their latest release the developers have kept and improved Alien Hominid's stylish art direction and music, put difficulty down a notch, and cranked the fun factor up to 11.
The story's nothing to write home about and really just there to set up the gameplay that follows. You, a Knight of the realm, are rocking out in your castle when all of a sudden barbarians invade, an evil wizard steals the King's giant red crystal... thing, and four princesses are taken hostage. It's up to you to repel the invaders and save the princesses by killing hundreds of enemies, each as cunning as they are big.
Gameplay is the real draw of Castle Crashers because it's executes the beat-'em-up formula so well. X is a light attack, Y is a heavier one, or a magic attack when the right trigger is pulled, A is jump and that's all you'll need for most of the game. Mixing them up creates cool little combos, and there's a fair amount of depth in overcoming your foe's various strategies by using these.
You have health potions, bombs, sandwiches, a bow, a spade, and a boomerang at your disposal but they aren't required most of the time. There are also Animal Orbs; cute little animals that follow your character around providing bonuses, and you can interchange your weapon to fit your play style. The game is fun, frantic and quite addictive once you get the hang of it, which should only take you a minute or so.
There's a diverse population of enemies to fight. I'm only halfway through the game and have encountered thieves, barbarians, trolls, teddies, trolls, bats, bees, Saracens, ninjas, lava-tikis, saw blade throwing Frenchmen, and even a spaceship full of Alien Hominids; each with a different fighting style and attack pattern, keeping you on your toes throughout the game. All the bosses are unique in both appearance and fighting style and once your understand their pattern you'll not have too much of a problem beating them, however they're noticeably harder if you aren't properly prepared.
Dan Paladin, lead artist at The Behemoth, has done a wonderful job with the game's art, making it a great example of what can be done with Adobe Flash. Environments are colourful and imaginative with plenty of eye candy, as are all the characters and menus. My only real gripe it's slightly overdone. Oftentimes pillars, bushes, scenery or even just the sheer number of enemies on screen will block view of your character. It's never really enough to make the game unplayable, but definitely will annoy you.
Just about every stage and boss battle has it's own techno/dance track on loop, though a few are carried over between levels and bosses, and they never feel stale or annoying. There's no dialogue to speak of (probably to the game's credit; the characters have enough personality without a voice actor), and the sound effects clangs and smashes of battle are done well enough.
The game has four-player co-op, which I was lucky enough to spend a few hours in with my one of my friends, and our general impression was that it's just as fun as single player, if not a little easier. One major difference is that healing potions are consumed upon death (making them more akin to a Phoenix Down). If you don't have any potions when you kick the bucket your co-op partner has to run over to your corpse and restart your heart by mashing Y. We didn't catch on to this at first. I thought that I (the person who died) was supposed to mash Y, but all that ended up doing was warping us both back to the map screen.
I have a couple other nitpicks about the game. The game is a 2D beat-'em-up with a 3rd dimension added. While this does add a little more strategy to gameplay, if your character doesn't quite line up with what you're trying to hit then you won't register any damage. There's an RPG element to the game in which you can increase your strength, endurance, magic and agility skills with each level you gain, however only the first two are really useful and required for most of the game, and strength is actually counter-productive to levelling (as experience is calculated upon the number of hits your register, not the number of kills).
None of these reasons really warrants not buying the Castle Crashers, especially at the price of 1200 Microsoft points (~$20 AUD). There are a ton of unlockable characters, weapons and animal orbs to collect once you've played through the game once, and you'll likely play some stages over and over just because they're so much fun. Buy It.
And my favourite character is the Blue Knight. |
Vault Legend Posts: 2017 Joined: 30 Jul 2008 | Despite being a relatively short review, I really like this piece. It briefly summarizes a fun beat-'em-up, and does so well given the space. I like that.
What I don't like is the space. There was no word-limit on this piece, but it still feels somewhat clipped, as if you were in a hurry to finish and kept everything brief. While I appreciate the writing where it is, I feel a yearning for where it isn't.
Don't be afraid to do more with your space, go into further detail, and really plant your feet with the game's content.
Just a personal aside here, the spoiler system can be somewhat difficult to look at the piece as a whole once all the images are open. I'd suggest using the image inline tags, or at least shrinking them down so they don't take up as much space.
Short, sweet, but needs a little more oomph. |
Infamous Scribbler Posts: 608 Joined: 12 Jul 2008 | NewClassic:
Despite being a relatively short review, I really like this piece. It briefly summarizes a fun beat-'em-up, and does so well given the space. I like that.
What I don't like is the space. There was no word-limit on this piece, but it still feels somewhat clipped, as if you were in a hurry to finish and kept everything brief. While I appreciate the writing where it is, I feel a yearning for where it isn't.
Don't be afraid to do more with your space, go into further detail, and really plant your feet with the game's content.
Just a personal aside here, the spoiler system can be somewhat difficult to look at the piece as a whole once all the images are open. I'd suggest using the image inline tags, or at least shrinking them down so they don't take up as much space.
Short, sweet, but needs a little more oomph.
Well, that's the trick isn't it? Length.
If you write too little, everything seems rushed and clipped. But if you write too much, you're likely to scare away your intended audience. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1063 Joined: 26 Apr 2008 | NewClassic:
Despite being a relatively short review, I really like this piece. It briefly summarizes a fun beat-'em-up, and does so well given the space. I like that.
What I don't like is the space. There was no word-limit on this piece, but it still feels somewhat clipped, as if you were in a hurry to finish and kept everything brief. While I appreciate the writing where it is, I feel a yearning for where it isn't.
Don't be afraid to do more with your space, go into further detail, and really plant your feet with the game's content.
Just a personal aside here, the spoiler system can be somewhat difficult to look at the piece as a whole once all the images are open. I'd suggest using the image inline tags, or at least shrinking them down so they don't take up as much space.
Short, sweet, but needs a little more oomph.
Thankyou. I'm glad you liked it. I did try to squeeze out a little more out of a few paragraphs but it thought a lot of it was pointless waffle that I'd do well to leave out. I will double my efforts for my next review.
The inline tag is a finicky thing. While it does look good, I don't like it. I've found that the tag has a nasty habit of spreading the pictures all over the place and putting them on top of text. If fact, it happened in your recent Transporter 3 review. Here's a screenshot if you're not sure what I'm on about.
I also prefer the spoiler method because it gives people on slower connections the option of pictures or no pictures.
Beowulf DW:
Well, that's the trick isn't it? Length.
If you write too little, everything seems rushed and clipped. But if you write too much, you're likely to scare away your intended audience.
There's a golden length somewhere, and so far my best estimate is somewhere between 1300 words (my COD4 review word count) and 4000 words (RAKtheUndead's gargantuan Bioshock review word count). |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 2862 Joined: 23 Oct 2007 | Good work with this review. I will note that if I hadn't already known about the game, I would likely have overlooked the bit which explains that it's a side-scroller, although that might be a personal nit-pick, because I usually write an explanatory paragraph at the top with the game's year, genre and as many interesting bits of miscellany that I can reasonably fit into the piece.
Novajam:
Beowulf DW:
Well, that's the trick isn't it? Length.
If you write too little, everything seems rushed and clipped. But if you write too much, you're likely to scare away your intended audience.
There's a golden length somewhere, and so far my best estimate is somewhere between 1300 words (my COD4 review word count) and 4000 words (RAKtheUndead's gargantuan Bioshock review word count).
Since that BioShock review (actually closer to 3,500 words, with my System Shock series double-bill sitting at 4,200 words), I've set myself a provisional word limit of 2,000 words, and I've found that it works pretty well for me. Some people have difficulty in lengthening reviews, while others, including myself on occasion, have difficulty shortening them. I suppose that "golden length" is different for everybody, and it's all a matter of playing around until you find it. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1063 Joined: 26 Apr 2008 | RAKtheUndead:
Good work with this review. I will note that if I hadn't already known about the game, I would likely have overlooked the bit which explains that it's a side-scroller, although that might be a personal nit-pick, because I usually write an explanatory paragraph at the top with the game's year, genre and as many interesting bits of miscellany that I can reasonably fit into the piece.
Thanks. I'll try and incorporate a couple of those sorts of details next time. |
On the Record Posts: 6858 Joined: 23 Dec 2007 | It looks likie a lot of fun, is it only for Xbox 360? |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1063 Joined: 26 Apr 2008 | Anarchemitis:
It looks likie a lot of fun, is it only for Xbox 360?
At the moment, the game is only on XBLA. There are rumours of a PC release, but it seems unlikely. |
Muckraker Posts: 229 Joined: 16 Apr 2009 | Beowulf DW:
NewClassic:
Despite being a relatively short review, I really like this piece. It briefly summarizes a fun beat-'em-up, and does so well given the space. I like that.
What I don't like is the space. There was no word-limit on this piece, but it still feels somewhat clipped, as if you were in a hurry to finish and kept everything brief. While I appreciate the writing where it is, I feel a yearning for where it isn't.
Don't be afraid to do more with your space, go into further detail, and really plant your feet with the game's content.
Just a personal aside here, the spoiler system can be somewhat difficult to look at the piece as a whole once all the images are open. I'd suggest using the image inline tags, or at least shrinking them down so they don't take up as much space.
Short, sweet, but needs a little more oomph.
Well, that's the trick isn't it? Length.
If you write too little, everything seems rushed and clipped. But if you write too much, you're likely to scare away your intended audience.
Words are like toilet paper, you need just enough to get the job done but not so much that it clogs the toilet.
Anyway, great review, even better game! |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3233 Joined: 18 Mar 2009 | I found that playing Castle Crashers with my brothers was about 10x more fun than playing it alone.
Also Wood Knight is the best.
EDIT: I should actually comment on the review. It's pretty good. It gets straight to the point yet is descriptive enough to effectively summarize the game. |
Notes: My last review sunk like a depleted lead balloon so I thought, "Hey, no matter, just write another. Maybe on something people actually care about." The end result is this. Please leave any comments and advice you have, as I'm always looking to write better.
Castle Crashers is the second title by indie developer The Behemoth. Their first title was Alien Hominid, a tongue-in-cheek side-scroller with a reputation for being incredibly difficult. Thankfully for their latest release the developers have kept and improved Alien Hominid's stylish art direction and music, put difficulty down a notch, and cranked the fun factor up to 11.
The story's nothing to write home about and really just there to set up the gameplay that follows. You, a Knight of the realm, are rocking out in your castle when all of a sudden barbarians invade, an evil wizard steals the King's giant red crystal... thing, and four princesses are taken hostage. It's up to you to repel the invaders and save the princesses by killing hundreds of enemies, each as cunning as they are big.
Gameplay is the real draw of Castle Crashers because it's executes the beat-'em-up formula so well. X is a light attack, Y is a heavier one, or a magic attack when the right trigger is pulled, A is jump and that's all you'll need for most of the game. Mixing them up creates cool little combos, and there's a fair amount of depth in overcoming your foe's various strategies by using these.
You have health potions, bombs, sandwiches, a bow, a spade, and a boomerang at your disposal but they aren't required most of the time. There are also Animal Orbs; cute little animals that follow your character around providing bonuses, and you can interchange your weapon to fit your play style. The game is fun, frantic and quite addictive once you get the hang of it, which should only take you a minute or so.
There's a diverse population of enemies to fight. I'm only halfway through the game and have encountered thieves, barbarians, trolls, teddies, trolls, bats, bees, Saracens, ninjas, lava-tikis, saw blade throwing Frenchmen, and even a spaceship full of Alien Hominids; each with a different fighting style and attack pattern, keeping you on your toes throughout the game. All the bosses are unique in both appearance and fighting style and once your understand their pattern you'll not have too much of a problem beating them, however they're noticeably harder if you aren't properly prepared.
Hide and Seek
Dan Paladin, lead artist at The Behemoth, has done a wonderful job with the game's art, making it a great example of what can be done with Adobe Flash. Environments are colourful and imaginative with plenty of eye candy, as are all the characters and menus. My only real gripe it's slightly overdone. Oftentimes pillars, bushes, scenery or even just the sheer number of enemies on screen will block view of your character. It's never really enough to make the game unplayable, but definitely will annoy you.
Just about every stage and boss battle has it's own techno/dance track on loop, though a few are carried over between levels and bosses, and they never feel stale or annoying. There's no dialogue to speak of (probably to the game's credit; the characters have enough personality without a voice actor), and the sound effects clangs and smashes of battle are done well enough.
The game has four-player co-op, which I was lucky enough to spend a few hours in with my one of my friends, and our general impression was that it's just as fun as single player, if not a little easier. One major difference is that healing potions are consumed upon death (making them more akin to a Phoenix Down). If you don't have any potions when you kick the bucket your co-op partner has to run over to your corpse and restart your heart by mashing Y. We didn't catch on to this at first. I thought that I (the person who died) was supposed to mash Y, but all that ended up doing was warping us both back to the map screen.
I have a couple other nitpicks about the game. The game is a 2D beat-'em-up with a 3rd dimension added. While this does add a little more strategy to gameplay, if your character doesn't quite line up with what you're trying to hit then you won't register any damage. There's an RPG element to the game in which you can increase your strength, endurance, magic and agility skills with each level you gain, however only the first two are really useful and required for most of the game, and strength is actually counter-productive to levelling (as experience is calculated upon the number of hits your register, not the number of kills).
Dino
None of these reasons really warrants not buying the Castle Crashers, especially at the price of 1200 Microsoft points (~$20 AUD). There are a ton of unlockable characters, weapons and animal orbs to collect once you've played through the game once, and you'll likely play some stages over and over just because they're so much fun. Buy It.
And my favourite character is the Blue Knight.