Crimson Alliance

Despite a bit of glitching, I think Crimson Alliance is a welcome addition in my household. Sure, it's not the prettiest girl in town, but she's charming, easy to get along with and still violent enough that your mother would not approve. What more could you want from a Sunday morning date? The game is available for purchase on September 7 via XBLA for 1200 Microsoft points (all three character classes) or just 800 Microsoft points (just one).

Crimson Alliance is a fun, and well-built game. I have to question if it would have been nearly as fun if I didn't invest extra money on gold to upgrade my character. Due to this, Crimson Alliance is a major set back due to ridiculous micro transactions. If someone pays $15 for a game, they shouldn't have to invest $5 more into each character in order to fully upgrade their gear.

Crimson Alliance is a decent hack and slash game with a few questionable marketing tactics.

Crimson Alliance is like Gauntlet mixed with some elements taken from all the Diablo-style titles out there. Limited loot and customization move its gameplay some levels under games like Torchlight and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.

Solid, and even better when enjoyed with company. [Issue#76, p.102]

If you are only flying solo or plan on running with strangers online, it is simply not as a good a game when played this way. So like my mother always said, stay close to your friends and be wary of strangers.

During my time with Crimson Alliance, I was left with a hollow feeling - the game never did anything to capture me.

A great scoring system for each level and an online leaderboard makes this game incredibly replayable.

There is a fair bit of content to hack your way through, if you don't mind the repetitive and unfriendly-ness that this game hits you with if you decide to undertake your spelunking alone.

It is essentially the spiritual successor to Gauntlet Legends. Yet those weaned on games like Diablo will find the content too shallow to merit consideration. The limited loot, lack of randomized dungeons, and loss of leveling ultimately undermines this Alliance before it has a chance to shine.

Overall, if Certain Affinity had pushed their ideas further, Crimson Alliance could have been a truly fantastic title. Nevertheless, despite its repetitiveness and generic story, the game is great fun, especially in multiplayer.

Certain Affinity took few risks in constructing a bare bones, workman like hack 'n slash and left experimentation to its pricing structure. Whether that was their call or Microsoft's isn't likely to be known, but it's definitely rendered Crimson Alliance an afterthought, or something to play if you've completely exhausted Torchlight and need something else in the console space.

Want some brainless intense action rpg filled by all the classic clichè of this genre? Crimson Alliance may be your perfect game to play, but it's surely far from excellence.

Crimson Alliance, even though it's a well produced game, doesn't meet all the expectations. A lot of simplified elements stare in your face making Crimson Allianc more of a Gauntlet-styled arcade than a real hack'n'slash. And even when looking at it this way, the gameplay is too monotonous (a flawed co-op mode saves it a bit). The game looked good but turned out only pretty well.

While the leveling mechanics are a little too shallow to keep true RPG fans invested, the dark cel-shaded visuals and easy-to-pick up combat system can make for a fun weekend with friends. Just be sure to make the right choice if you're only willing to buy one character.

A decent addition to the "hack 'n slash/ action RPG" genre that you will truly enjoy if you have some company over Xbox Live.

While interesting, Crimson Alliance fails to deliver an engaging and replayable experience. Coupled with the cost, this game doesn't seem to stack up, but future DLC may bring it back from the brink.

A pretty good – if not unexceptional – action-RPG where an arcade-oriented simplicity and an experiment with pricing structures are the orders of the day.

Derivative, shallow and ruthlessly unambitious, but as Diablo clones go this is still one of the best and most addictive on consoles.

Variety and character are treasures left undiscovered in the action RPG Crimson Alliance.

It's initially compelling, but starts to feel shallow as combat becomes a grind, and a nagging wish for more of RPG elements creeps in. [Nov 2011, p.110]