Castle Crashers - Xbox Live Arcade review

Once again The Behemoth prove that the finer details of game design escape them. Before you run off to your favourite forums to talk about this MASSIVE INJUSTICE (all in caps) and tell everyone what jerks we are, just wait one moment: even though Castle Crashers is a good game – it’s just not a game that in any way justifies the production length or the utterly stupefying degree of hype.



Essentially Golden Axe given an Alien Hominid paint job, Castle Crashers is a stat-grinding, loot-finding heaven for up to four players. The magnificent presentation may fool you into thinking The Behemoth has crafted a well-polished gem, but the flashy exterior masks a thoroughly flimsy game making the exorbitant price hard to swallow. It repeats the same tricks over multiple stages, dishes out the same cheap baddies over and over, and feels vague and lightweight throughout. When all’s well the humorous side-scroller’s four-player co-op is a joy, but as a solo adventure the grinding and looting adds little to the wafer-thin gameplay.

Sep 23, 2008