The Cursed Crusade

 PC
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 42 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 42
  3. Negative: 13 out of 42

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  1. Kotofon
    Oct 22, 2021
    5
    1198 год. Третий крестовый поход завершился сокрушительным поражением христиан, однако уж вновь брошен клич, провозгласивший очередную священную войну. На призыв откликнулись самые разные люди — как истинно верующие идеалисты, так и проходимцы, жаждущие легкой наживы. Два воина и товарища поневоле отправляются в путешествие по охваченной пламенем Четвертого крестового похода Западной1198 год. Третий крестовый поход завершился сокрушительным поражением христиан, однако уж вновь брошен клич, провозгласивший очередную священную войну. На призыв откликнулись самые разные люди — как истинно верующие идеалисты, так и проходимцы, жаждущие легкой наживы. Два воина и товарища поневоле отправляются в путешествие по охваченной пламенем Четвертого крестового похода Западной Европе. Верного рыцарским обетам тамплиера Денца де Бейля и плутоватого наемника Эстебана свела вместе единая цель. В круговерти крестового похода они должны выжить и избавиться от ужасного проклятия, угрожающего их бессмертным душам.… Expand
  2. Matseb2611
    Mar 9, 2016
    9
    Cursed Crusade is a 3rd person hack and slash taking place during the Fourth Crusade in history and follows a story of Denz, a templar who set out to find his father who hasn't returned from a previous crusade, and Esteban, a mercenary who is always after gold but gets mixed up in the crusades and becomes Denz' best friend.

    The game spans a few dozen of missions in various locations of    Cursed Crusade is a 3rd person hack and slash taking place during the Fourth Crusade in history and follows a story of Denz, a templar who set out to find his father who hasn't returned from a previous crusade, and Esteban, a mercenary who is always after gold but gets mixed up in the crusades and becomes Denz' best friend.

    The game spans a few dozen of missions in various locations of the world. The missions for the most part just require you to participate in sieges and battles, and are mostly combat-oriented. Some of the battle scenes are executed really well and feel epic in my opinion. A few of the missions here and there do something different, like have a boss fight or find yourself in a nightmare where you learn new powers.

    To me the best part of the game is the combat. It's fun, rich, and visceral. You can choose to use any weapon combination ranging from maces, to axes, swords, and even spears. You can use a weapon as stand alone, or you can dual wield, or wield it with a shield. There are some two-handed weapons too. Each weapon stance has its own unique moves and unique executions. In addition, weapons can break during combat, so you often have to change what you use as you pick up new stuff from fallen enemies. Sometimes this mechanic can be a tad annoying, but it makes sense in the context of the game and at least encourages you to try out new weapon combinations.

    You learn new moves and improve your attributes after completing missions. At the end of each mission you earn Victory Points. There's a default amount for each mission, but many also can grant you bonus points if you've done secondary objectives such as found all the coffers or purified a crucifix.

    The combat also features a curse mode. When the player enters curse mode, the environment around them turns all fiery akin to hell, they become stronger and fight more effectively, they can use fire spells, and they also find weakspots in walls and other structures, which they can smash to make a new doorway.

    Admittedly the game is heavily combat-focused. So if you're expecting platforming or other types of gameplay, you won't find them here, aside from occasional first person shooting with a crossbow. I don't personally mind this too much, as platforming wouldn't make sense in this game. Another thing worth mentioning is that the game is very heavy on cutscenes, some of which can be lengthy.

    The story felt so-so. It starts off on a promising note with some good chemistry between the two main protagonists who quickly become best friends, and the antagonist seeming very charismatic and perhaps even noble to a degree, but in the second half the story starts going vastly downhill. The plot feels very unfocused, with no build up to climax. Just very random events happening. The antagonist becomes a 2-dimensional cartoon villain who wants evil for the sake of evil. And the ending does not resolve anything at all and feels very abrupt, as though the story was cut at a midpoint.

    Overall the game is definitely worth trying out. I think most of the critic reviews are way too harsh on it and the game is not as bad as most of them make it out to be. Sure, it has some strange hiccups here and there, like the annoying quick-time event in the very first mission where you have to escape Death (honestly, don't give up on the game at this point; this part is the hardest part of the game if I am honest). But in general I can't deny that I've had fun playing it and I think anyone who is up for a nice story-driven hack and slash should enjoy it.

    A couple of last notes:

    1) The game can also be played co-op with a friend. I've not tried it myself, but since the two main protagonists are always together, I believe the game was made with co-op aspect in mind from the very start.

    2) I would highly advise to play with a gamepad, as the controls for it seem much better and more intuitive than with M&K.    … Expand
  3. M6Kill
    Sep 30, 2013
    8
    This is a very underrated game, it doesn't have the budget of a AAA, but it can be a fun game to play, the game has co-op you can play it with a friend, you'll get your money worth
  4. MrWESS
    Oct 10, 2012
    10
    Good story, nice and fast gameplay, and I ennjoyed it thoroughly....I honestly think this game is underrated as it has been very fun. I do hope they make a sequel, and that they improve on already solid base. I would wish that they add more content, more missions, possible sidequests etc...
  5. godslayer
    Nov 10, 2011
    10
    Obviously this is a console port and an gamepad (xbox controller is perfect on PC) is really helpful (not say mandatory) to play correctly. That said, the game is really enjoyable after the first levels, with better ennemies and lots of combos and finish moves. The cursed mode must be invoked and special actions used extensively during the fights at a certain level to survive and achieveObviously this is a console port and an gamepad (xbox controller is perfect on PC) is really helpful (not say mandatory) to play correctly. That said, the game is really enjoyable after the first levels, with better ennemies and lots of combos and finish moves. The cursed mode must be invoked and special actions used extensively during the fights at a certain level to survive and achieve the missions. For sure there's imperfections and some repetitive gameplay sequences but the historical part of the story is interesting (and you can skip videos if you find it boring) and fighting engine is great.… Expand
  6. Blackhamer
    Nov 1, 2011
    3
    I regret wasting time for this game. Not reading reviews before getting it was a stupid idea...
    I will begin with saying that this is a console rip, a bad one. If you think Darksiders is a bad console rip, then this is like 10x worse than DS. The graphics are pretty good and animation is fluid. I ran the game on full details. The problem is with the combat system and with improving your    I regret wasting time for this game. Not reading reviews before getting it was a stupid idea...
    I will begin with saying that this is a console rip, a bad one. If you think Darksiders is a bad console rip, then this is like 10x worse than DS. The graphics are pretty good and animation is fluid. I ran the game on full details. The problem is with the combat system and with improving your character. The combat is really dumb, why there is a block button when your character blocks 80 % of attack anyway, why there is a combo system when slashing LPM works just fine? And finally, Why Your Character Kills Every Enemy With A Stab? Lol seriously, that thing bothers me because it looks just so unrealistic, every last hit is a stab! The character improvment system is even dumber. Skills and combination are not even descripted so you have to pick skills with a name that appeals to you...it is so much dumb like it sounds.
    The game's story is...well average. Nothing to be porud of, but it justifies the killling so it's enough. Another retarted thing are cinematics. They are bad or average and are ridiculously long!!!!!!! Like 15 min cinematic at the game's beggining Lol. Every idea int he game has been copied from other similiar games. The game is a terribile console rip. Waste of time, I give it 3 because I liked the graphics and animations (the combat animations are often out of sync though)    … Expand
  7. MrWESS
    Oct 10, 2012
    10
    Good story, nice and fast gameplay, and I ennjoyed it thoroughly....I honestly think this game is underrated as it has been very fun. I do hope they make a sequel, and that they improve on already solid base. I would wish that they add more content, more missions, possible sidequests etc...

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
55

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 7
  3. Negative: 2 out of 7
  1. CD-Action
    Nov 29, 2011
    55
    The game is absorbing but lacks in many aspects – it seems that Kylotonn focused on the combat system and forgot about everything else. [December 2011, p.50]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Nov 15, 2011
    60
    Easy and smooth combat system with a cooperative campaign and RPG elements cannot hide the flat and boring level design and overall emptiness of the game. [Nov 2011]
  3. Absolute Games
    Nov 15, 2011
    45
    Despite the promising premise, an original character development system and spectacular finishing moves, The Cursed Crusade will scare away many people in just 20 minutes. The problem lies in poorly-placed checkpoints, stiff controls and overly annoying attempts at realism. Rapidly degrading weaponry is a definite buzz-kill.
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