P.Review - Castle Crashers
Castle Crashers
Developer: The Behemoth
Publisher: The Behemoth
System: Xbox 360 EXCLUSIVE!
Only Available on Xbox Live Arcade and Xbox Live Marketplace
Price: 1200 MSP (or $15 US)
Rated T for Teen (Blood and Gore, Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor)
"...here we are, talking about a co-op brawling epic."
- Gordon Allen, PonzaReport.com
Listen here, sonny. Back in the old days of video games, we never had these fangled "Em Em Oh Arr Pee Gees". We had games where we all had to be in the same room, play the same game, and like it. If we didn't like it, there wasn't any point of playing it. Contra, Battletoads, Double Dragon, Golden Axe, N.A.R.C., the list seems pretty endless, boy. They were some fun. "Co-op" we called them. The arcades had 'em too: back before you were BORN, there were ARCADES. Imagine that....
Alright, jump in, 2008, Xbox 360 has a massive online structure called Xbox Live, where friends can play anywhere, whether in the same room or across the world, and still enjoy the same game. However, not many of the co-op brawlers came back. In fact, the only one I remember that did come back was the old-school Double Dragon from the arcades, and that wasn't really the best offering, the NES version was. Live needed an original IP that brought back the fun that was Co-op games, while still having the single-player option there, but really show that playing together is really what gaming is all about. Social Interaction. Saving the Princess with friends, then kicking their butts to kiss her.
*Ahem*
Oh, sorry, did I say kicking their butts? I meant handing their asses to them on a gold platter, then kissing the girl, because that's what the game is all about. Castle Crashers was made by two of the Flash Animation industry's finest men: Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin. They helped create the massive collection site Newgrounds.com. Back in 2005, Tom and Dan made a game for their site, in association with a new game announcement. The game for their site was called "Dad 'N Me", and the new game announcement was in relation to the great feedback they got from the fighting action. Slick combos, brawlin' through the level, avoiding attacks from enemies when possible, it all made sense to make a game out of it. Three years later, and cries from fanboys to call the game "vaporware", and here we are, talking about a co-op brawling epic.
Castle Crashers is a multiplayer offering for both single system and online play. There is a single-player option, but you're only getting the feeling that completing everything is important, and it really isn't unless you are an elitist. The real game is meant to be enjoyed as a group, and actually moves the pace of unlocking things a whole lot quicker. In fact, the single-player mode only differs slightly, in that the Arena's in the game offer ten waves of enemies that must be defeated to unlock that character, while in multiplayer, it instead offers a place for gamers to practice their Knightly crashing skills on other people.
The story goes like this: Four knights are rocking out really hard with their friends and allies, when the King's Castle gets totally crashed by a Mage with an attitude. The King sends the Knights off to rescue the kingdom's 4 Princesses and save the castle's Crystal, which was stolen by the Mage himself to add to his evil power. There's plenty of enemies to beat the hell out of, and they'll all soon become allies as well, by means of beating story mode with other characters. The boss battles are memorable, and will probably have you laughing your butt off before, during or after every fight. In the boss battles where you're saving a Princess, when the boss is taken care of, the players will then fight over the treasure, and then battle to the death for the loving embrace of the Princess. The Four Knights, mainly, are: Green Knight, whose attribute is Poison; Red Knight, Lightning; Orange Knight, Fire; and Blue Knight, Ice. There are roughly 16 other characters to choose from, with one unique character, if you purchased Alien Hominid HD and got an achievement.
The game consistently references Newgrounds or other flash jokes. Dan Paladin's art style is very iconic, creepy, gory, and sometimes hilariously vulgar. Decapitation of enemies is cosmetic, but fairly pleasing to the eye. The background visuals seems to either show the depth of the battle, or just some funny quirks of the level. Even the music, which was made by the fans of Newgrounds.com, has some bearing of how the battle is flowing, right up to the stunning conclusion.
As mentioned, the style of the game is co-op brawler. Four players choose amungst a cast of Knights or other characters. Characters progress through the game by "leveling up", which allows for upgrades in one of four skills: Strength, which improves weapon damage; Magic, which improves the damage of a character's unique magic abilities, and unlocks new magic abilities; Defense, which makes points of damage taken less, and improves hitpoints; and Agility, which improves speed, as well as arrow damage and arrow distance. Experience is gained by damage dealt, not including lethal damage (meaning you can't earn experience on an enemy if they already have no hitpoints left). During the course of the game, the Knights can collect new weapons, which modify their skills slightly, or add features like critical hits, freezing, electrifying, or burning. There are also things called "Animal Orbs". These are animals that float next to your character and supply some sort of bonus. Personal favorites are Giraffy (boost to experience gained), Pazzo (a dog that points out places to dig up valuables), and Cardinal (who retrieves hidden items for you).
I can not say that everything about Castle Crashers is positive. When you stop and realize things, the game does have crucial flaws. Although admitted by The Behemoth, online play is struggling to keep up with the demand of this game. Even in testing, they hadn't prepared for how popular the online component would be, so there's some random latency issues or something plaguing the game. Admittedly, I have only played 5 hours total of online play, and have had my share of random drop-outs or lag. It affects the game somewhat, but once those issues are fixed, Castle Crashers may have its share of becoming a new cult classic.
I give Castle Crashers a BUY rating. With endless replay value, plenty of multiplayer fun can be had by all with this very simple combat system. While the mini-games of "All You Can Quaff" and the aforementioned Arena mode are enticing, sticking with the story mode is probably preferred. Have fun finding all of the animal orbs, and good luck collecting all of the hidden weapons, because like RPGs, some weapons only drop at rare chances.
(must... beat... with... every character... what, there's an Insane Mode option? Oh no...)
Developer: The Behemoth
Publisher: The Behemoth
System: Xbox 360 EXCLUSIVE!
Only Available on Xbox Live Arcade and Xbox Live Marketplace
Price: 1200 MSP (or $15 US)
Rated T for Teen (Blood and Gore, Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor)
"...here we are, talking about a co-op brawling epic."
- Gordon Allen, PonzaReport.com
Listen here, sonny. Back in the old days of video games, we never had these fangled "Em Em Oh Arr Pee Gees". We had games where we all had to be in the same room, play the same game, and like it. If we didn't like it, there wasn't any point of playing it. Contra, Battletoads, Double Dragon, Golden Axe, N.A.R.C., the list seems pretty endless, boy. They were some fun. "Co-op" we called them. The arcades had 'em too: back before you were BORN, there were ARCADES. Imagine that....
Alright, jump in, 2008, Xbox 360 has a massive online structure called Xbox Live, where friends can play anywhere, whether in the same room or across the world, and still enjoy the same game. However, not many of the co-op brawlers came back. In fact, the only one I remember that did come back was the old-school Double Dragon from the arcades, and that wasn't really the best offering, the NES version was. Live needed an original IP that brought back the fun that was Co-op games, while still having the single-player option there, but really show that playing together is really what gaming is all about. Social Interaction. Saving the Princess with friends, then kicking their butts to kiss her.
*Ahem*
Oh, sorry, did I say kicking their butts? I meant handing their asses to them on a gold platter, then kissing the girl, because that's what the game is all about. Castle Crashers was made by two of the Flash Animation industry's finest men: Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin. They helped create the massive collection site Newgrounds.com. Back in 2005, Tom and Dan made a game for their site, in association with a new game announcement. The game for their site was called "Dad 'N Me", and the new game announcement was in relation to the great feedback they got from the fighting action. Slick combos, brawlin' through the level, avoiding attacks from enemies when possible, it all made sense to make a game out of it. Three years later, and cries from fanboys to call the game "vaporware", and here we are, talking about a co-op brawling epic.
Castle Crashers is a multiplayer offering for both single system and online play. There is a single-player option, but you're only getting the feeling that completing everything is important, and it really isn't unless you are an elitist. The real game is meant to be enjoyed as a group, and actually moves the pace of unlocking things a whole lot quicker. In fact, the single-player mode only differs slightly, in that the Arena's in the game offer ten waves of enemies that must be defeated to unlock that character, while in multiplayer, it instead offers a place for gamers to practice their Knightly crashing skills on other people.
The story goes like this: Four knights are rocking out really hard with their friends and allies, when the King's Castle gets totally crashed by a Mage with an attitude. The King sends the Knights off to rescue the kingdom's 4 Princesses and save the castle's Crystal, which was stolen by the Mage himself to add to his evil power. There's plenty of enemies to beat the hell out of, and they'll all soon become allies as well, by means of beating story mode with other characters. The boss battles are memorable, and will probably have you laughing your butt off before, during or after every fight. In the boss battles where you're saving a Princess, when the boss is taken care of, the players will then fight over the treasure, and then battle to the death for the loving embrace of the Princess. The Four Knights, mainly, are: Green Knight, whose attribute is Poison; Red Knight, Lightning; Orange Knight, Fire; and Blue Knight, Ice. There are roughly 16 other characters to choose from, with one unique character, if you purchased Alien Hominid HD and got an achievement.
The game consistently references Newgrounds or other flash jokes. Dan Paladin's art style is very iconic, creepy, gory, and sometimes hilariously vulgar. Decapitation of enemies is cosmetic, but fairly pleasing to the eye. The background visuals seems to either show the depth of the battle, or just some funny quirks of the level. Even the music, which was made by the fans of Newgrounds.com, has some bearing of how the battle is flowing, right up to the stunning conclusion.
As mentioned, the style of the game is co-op brawler. Four players choose amungst a cast of Knights or other characters. Characters progress through the game by "leveling up", which allows for upgrades in one of four skills: Strength, which improves weapon damage; Magic, which improves the damage of a character's unique magic abilities, and unlocks new magic abilities; Defense, which makes points of damage taken less, and improves hitpoints; and Agility, which improves speed, as well as arrow damage and arrow distance. Experience is gained by damage dealt, not including lethal damage (meaning you can't earn experience on an enemy if they already have no hitpoints left). During the course of the game, the Knights can collect new weapons, which modify their skills slightly, or add features like critical hits, freezing, electrifying, or burning. There are also things called "Animal Orbs". These are animals that float next to your character and supply some sort of bonus. Personal favorites are Giraffy (boost to experience gained), Pazzo (a dog that points out places to dig up valuables), and Cardinal (who retrieves hidden items for you).
I can not say that everything about Castle Crashers is positive. When you stop and realize things, the game does have crucial flaws. Although admitted by The Behemoth, online play is struggling to keep up with the demand of this game. Even in testing, they hadn't prepared for how popular the online component would be, so there's some random latency issues or something plaguing the game. Admittedly, I have only played 5 hours total of online play, and have had my share of random drop-outs or lag. It affects the game somewhat, but once those issues are fixed, Castle Crashers may have its share of becoming a new cult classic.
I give Castle Crashers a BUY rating. With endless replay value, plenty of multiplayer fun can be had by all with this very simple combat system. While the mini-games of "All You Can Quaff" and the aforementioned Arena mode are enticing, sticking with the story mode is probably preferred. Have fun finding all of the animal orbs, and good luck collecting all of the hidden weapons, because like RPGs, some weapons only drop at rare chances.
(must... beat... with... every character... what, there's an Insane Mode option? Oh no...)
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