Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Certain Affinity
Genre: Hack and slash
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Certain Affinity has made their name through map creation for a variety of other games. Crimson Alliance sees their bid to take to the gaming stage proper. It is a hack and slash dungeon crawler in the same vein as Bastion and Torchlight, in that it offers player input in terms of item and weapon choices. However, if you prefer a game where you have to decide whether to wear your “Tights of Valhalla” or your “Ankle Socks of Death,” then you should move along quickly using your “Stockings of Swiftness.” Micro management isn’t part of the game’s ethos – simplicity is. For example, you only get three characters to choose from. The game offers both single player campaign action and a four player co-op mode (available both locally and online). So is Crimson Alliance worth a trip through the dungeon?

Hardcore dungeon-crawler fans might not like this XBLA-only game. There probably isn’t enough micro-management and character development to hold their attention. There is no dialogue engagement, no moral dilemma decisions (unless you love goblins), and no in-depth character development. Yet, the move away from these in-game management systems is, I must admit, a breath of fresh air. Not laden by all these complexities, you are free to just hone your dungeon eradication skills. You become a one man, dungeon pest control system.

As I’ve established, there are three different characters to choose: The Wizard, the Mercenary, and the Assassin. Each character plays differently and each has just three unique skills. This decision keeps the game focused, and it works well. Each power has specific tactical advantages during a fight, and while your character doesn’t level up as such, better equipment does becomes available, and it improves these skills substantially. While your characters do earn experience points, it’s the gold and unique artifacts that you’ll be after. Gold buys better weapons and gadgets, while artifacts earn you greater health or special skills. For example, when you buy a new weapon or piece of armor, it simply increases or decreases one or more of your character’s attack abilities, possibly adding a knock-on magic effect. One instance of this is adding poison to the Assassin’s blades.

The game itself revolves around combat. Your task is to hack and slash your way through each level and stay alive. Due to this emphasis, the combat system is actually is one of game’s biggest strengths. Each of the characters has a standard attack, a stun ability, and an evasive maneuver. Fighting is actually quite fun, and perhaps more engaging than you might expect. Knowing how to work the block and evade are critical, and making the most of special attacks like the Wizard’s freeze spell is vital. The game comes with some added fun, such as exploding barrels and poison gas canisters that the characters can pick up and lob into enemy crowds. There are more challenges than merely completing the single player campaign. If you’re planning to master the online leaderboards, you’ll need lightning fast reactions. Score multipliers are tough to build up, and knocked down a notch each time you get hit. You have to successfully alternate attacks with dodging. The game also has a multiplayer mode with up to four players, locally or online, working cooperatively to beat each level.

The game has weak areas, however, that could be improved. Opponents are not all that interesting once you have encountered them a few times, and generally the boss fights are unremarkable. The dungeon environments do look nice, but more variation would make it more interesting to the player. Given all the fighting you have to engage in, there is actually very little loot in the game aside from just a few treasure chests containing rare equipment or consumable items, such as a deployable turret and an area-effect healing totem. More thought could have gone into a better range of equipment rewards. Pricing of the game is also a bit odd. 1200 MSP gets you the full game with all three characters, whereas an 800 MSP purchase gets you the game with just one of the three. If you can’t wait to get your hands on new equipment, you can also fork out 80MSP for 40,000 gold.

Overall, Crimson Alliance may not be a deep or complex game, but that wasn’t Certain Affinity’s intention. Despite its gameplay familiarity, it is fun, frantic, and refreshingly honest. It is not pretending to be anything it isn’t. In my opinion, these things make it a great game to introduce newcomers to the genre, while dungeon veterans will have fun in the co-op mode with friends.

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