Crimson Alliance

Don't be fooled by the identikit visuals: Crimson Alliance is frantic, fresh, and utterly brilliant.

Where Crimson Alliance could have joined the white noise of dungeon crawlers, Certain Affinity has managed to design a solid and - more impressively - distinctive game, regardless of whether the simple, pick-up-and-play approach turns off a few hardcore fans of the genre.

Every aspect of Crimson Alliance works together to engineer a fun cooperative hack n' slash. From the quick and easy inventory to the excellently designed levels and rewarding combat, this is the downloadable game to play with friends this season.

There are plenty of hidden secrets and scoring/upgrading incentives to replay levels, especially on Xbox Live with a few fellow dungeon crawlers. That combines with satisfying old-school hack & slash RPG action in a dark, dank and deeply buried dungeon realm that's visually appealing along with a not entirely original but certainly captivating story for a completely entertaining XBLA adventure.

Crimson Alliance is a simple but entertaining and deceptively addictive hack-and-slash title. It's very light on the RPG elements but makes up for it with a very satisfying combat system.

Just don't expect a lot more than some slick fantasy-style arcade brawling and it'll be money well spent.

A solid game that keeps the pace moving and balances the three classes very well.

Is it worth 1200 MS Points? When you and your friends join up to discover the treasure and mystery that abounds in these lands, then it is a steal.

That's why it's a little disappointing to feel like one is part of a market analysis experiment. The trial is free, but at every moment it's clear you need to buy one of the characters ($10) or all three ($15) to finish the game.

So let's just end by saying that for what it is and what it costs, Crimson Alliance offers some good-looking, undemanding fun and with its class-specific gameplay and multiplayer modes, a respectable amount of replayability.

At its surface, Crimson Alliance is a bit shallow. But if you take advantage of the tools provided, tweak the difficulty at times, and play with a group of friends, the depth starts to show. It won't deliver in areas that other action RPG games do, but there is no denying this title is an absolute blast to play.

An interesting game in a genre which is becoming crowded recently. Although it doesn't bring anything especially new in terms of gameplay, it is a simple, yet enjoyable game, with very good graphics.

Bite-sized gaming at its best.

A nice dungeon crawler that doesn't any over-complicated character development paths to be successful.

Still, Crimson could stand to be a little more robust and varied. Its comparatively paltry three classes beg for DLC, as does its four hour campaign; similarly, there are only a few enemy types per themed map, and the game doesn't seem to rebalance unit numbers for multiple players. Perhaps next time Certain Affinity should concentrate just a hair less on arcade simplicity; until then this is still a worthy note in a crowded genre.

It's full of RPG cliches, yet it delivers some solid fun, especially in co-op.

The game is not as deep as other games like it, and the levels are fairly straightforward. The combat is smooth and the visuals are actually pretty good.

A very good and solid game, capable of perfectly blending its action and RPG souls and with good visuals and level design. Our major complaint is about it trying to get more of our money than other standard XBLA games, with an insidious pricing model and in-game currency packs: this could create some confusion in the players.

Though Crimson Alliance lacks Torchlight's endless character development and the infinite replayability of its bottomless dungeon, it delivers something that addictive gem didn't: co-op play.

Crimson Alliance could be a delicious piece of peanut butter and s'mores toast with raspberry jam, it's just that the proportions are distracting on this first attempt. Basic genre expectations are fulfilled, delivering an approachable, action-RPG dungeon crawl -- but with a bit more careful measurement, Certain Affinity could have made this good game great.

Crimson Alliance is a great game to pick up. Grab some extra remotes because it's teamwork time.

Looking for something to play while waiting for Diablo III? Crimson Alliance isn't brilliant, but still a fine way to spend the time.

If you are a fan of the genre, there's no reason not to give this one a spin. Just be sure to come in looking for more of the "Action" and less of the "RPG".

It is fun and the combat system is smart, simple, and effective.