Crimson Alliance is a top down dungeon crawler from developer Certain Affinity. It’s not just your run of the mill crawler though, it’s a crawler that is gameplay is based solely on the multiplayer experience. But does it work?
When I think of great dungeon crawlers I think of games like Diablo, Torchlight and Baulders Gate. Crimson Alliance will put you in mind of all of those games, but features the very unique experice of letting you pay with your friends over Xbox LIVE. When I think of my favorite dungeon crawler I think of Dark Alliance. I loved that game and one of the primary reasons why is because it allowed me to play with multiplayer. The top down RPG/crawler genre is the perfect fit for this type of gaming experience, but unfortunately until Certain Affinity tried to do something about this generation has not seen its fair share of this. Well, Crimson Alliance is in a position to make this problem disappear.
With wonderfully crafted levels and a story that will make you pay attention enough to care what you’re doing and throw in the idea of doing all this over Xbox LIVE and you have a winning combination. The game features three classes. A Mercenary, an Assassin and a Mage. Each class is pretty self explanatory and also each class will serve as a vital point in playing the game. While playing rather in single player or multi, there are points on each level that vary from being Merc, Mage or Assassin exclusive. Maybe a wall to get through to receive an item for just that class or maybe a chest for the Assassin to pick and get a special reward. On top of this unique choice to add class exclusive objective you also will find area that have puzzles that may require you to work as a team to get to the prize for figuring out the puzzle. And if that;s not enough incentive, when you play with different characters the game seems to play differently when playing off of each others special abilities.
The game features unlocks and upgrades as you play. It requires you to pick up a certain amount of something to either upgrade your ultimate power or even your health meter. The unique thing about these upgrades is that it a team effort if one person gets it the other will as well. This is virtually the only thing shared though the game. Currency, pick ups and even shops are separate and a lot of times unique to the class. Even in weapon shops the shop will be sectioned off into three section, one for each class. There is also an option in each shop to cleverly let you purchase 40,000 gold from LIVE for 80 MS points. The only catch is that if you want to do this is must be done for every character. If you buy it for one character you play it will not be there for the other. Kind of a drag, but understandable. As you play through each level, there are secret areas to unlock and you will also unlock challenge maps. Challenge maps are set up by a wave aspect.
The combat in the game is fluid and easy to grasp on to. A simple set up makes for easy play and due to the weapon and armor system being simplified enough to let everyone take advantage of it, but not enough to make fans of the genre feel that it’s dumbed down. As you’re playing the characters truly feel different in the way they move. While the Merc may move slower and fight slower, the damage being done will make up the difference. At the same time the Assassin will duel wield and be very fast, but may not due as much damage as the Merc, but you will make up for it in speed and agility. The game looks beautiful and has a crisp look to the characters and environments. As with any dungeon crawler game the environments could use some freshening up, but it’s not enough to drag any aspect of this game down.
All in all, Crimson Alliance is a game that brings features to the genre that fans have wanted for years. Certain Affinity has really stepped up and made a game that is worth the money and gives fans what they want out of this type of game. You can buy the All Class pack on Xbox LIVE for 1200 MS points and I can assure you that you will not regret the purchase rather you will be playing single player or multi. This is a dungeon crawler that should not be missed and falls into the category of game to make my friends buy. People may think that because this game was a free gift from the SoA promotion that this game maybe lacking. It’s not lacking ans anyone who received it free should feel lucky that Microsoft gave such a worth while game to them for free and anyone, and those of us who did not receive it free will not be let down by the $15 purchase.
