The Cursed Crusade

The sluggish fighting feels surprisingly weighty. [Issue#115, p.102]

A real failure on every front. It should be avoided as you would prevent participation in a cursed crusade.

Even with all these problems, however, I found the plot interesting enough that I'm definitely hooked. If by some miracle there is a The Cursed Crusade 2, I'd be interested in seeing the story wrapped up as long as this title's wealth of problems are fixed.

It's too bad, because Cursed Crusade has fleetingly interesting ideas, like forcing you to push a very slow-moving mantlet towards an enemy's defensive line, or the way the timing of tapping out combo strings actually encourages thoughtful player response. Co-op can actually be fun in short bursts with a friend, and even the detailed aesthetic is surprisingly competent.

The Cursed Crusade has too many cutscenes, it's too easy, it's boring, it has many issues and bugs and, overall, it's not a good experience. Also, it gives extreme importance to the story, but it's never interesting and ends up being forgettable and the combat is so bland that it's not even worthy of this gen.

The Cursed Crusade is a perfect example of the sort of game that's being squeezed out nowadays: badly produced, cheaply made and full of tired clichés, both in gameplay and in its story.

Developer Kylotonn has crafted the least appealing fantasy brawler imaginable, its stillborn mechanics drenched in over-compensatory cutscene-driven storytelling, its charms limited to the lure of unlockable combos and abilities.

A lethargic combat experience marred further by grotesque bugs, The Cursed Crusade is a game that truly does feel cursed, like no amount of hard work would put it right.

The Cursed Crusade has the founding for a really fun game but falls short in almost every aspect. Even playing co-op mode, the game doesn't really change much from the solo experience and with so many problems outside the gameplay, it's not very enjoyable. Sadly, I say this is one to miss especially as there are plenty of titles out there to keep you busy until the end of the year.

A game "broken" in so many ways, even its budget price tag is not enough to save it from oblivion.

Its biggest flaw is that it lacks spirit, which is ironic, since the game is actually trying to take your character's soul. Without a spark, though - even a stolen one - The Cursed Crusade has ended up damning itself.

But instead of choosing between a co-op or AI partner, you should just avoid playing this game. The only thing of any value that Cursed Crusade has left me with is a blight that will remain on my Xbox Gamerscore until the end of time.

The Cursed Crusade is a repetitive hack-and-slash that is marred by clumsy combat, poor dialogue, and some serious technical issues.

A real chien of a historical slasher. Its camp appeal is offset against its tendency to crash mid-game. Sheer hell. [Christmas 2011, p.101]

Embarrassingly poor medieval brawler that seems completely oblivious to its own absurdity and incompetence.

A game with few redeeming qualities, a dull, pretentious hack-and-slash that fails in almost every way.