When you play this game with a room of other people, and you find yourself laughing at all the gags and references to old games, you’ll be in love with this XBLA treasure.
A great swan song for the Summer Live releases, don’t be put off by the faulty online modes as it should be fixed soon, and anyway the single player is worth your points alone.
amazing game, great replay-ability, funny bits, a good challenge. Great with friends. Definitely a game that will have you laughing and screaming and joking with your friends!
Castle Crashers is a fantastic addition to XBLA, and a must-have for your collection. There are few games on the service that can match the depth here, and those that come close do not offer Live co-op.
Stretch your fingers and invite three friends if you want to play Castle Crashers, because the game is literally a multiplayer button-bashing frenzy. The gameplay offers not much more than pressing the buttons as quickly as possible, but the humor and the fun of wreaking havoc with three friends makes the game worth the buy.
If you have the capacity to overlook its technical issues and have a group of friends who like the genre, the game could be worth a download. However, until a patch arrives, the game cannot be wholeheartedly recommended.
Castle Crashers is very fun and an incredible achievement for such a small team. The main thing holding it back is that it is quite limited in scope. I don't have much bad to say about the game, its really good for what it is but lets be real, its made by a very small team on a limited budget. It's good but it isn't on the same level as AAA action RPGs or platformers. If you are looking for a fun game to play through with some friends over a weekend this is a great little game. If you like casual action RPGs you will most likely love this game. I liked it a lot, but I can't justify giving it much more than a 7 when it is so limited.
The gameplay is simple but fun and intuitive. The combat is a bit repetitive but each stage offers different enemies and as you progress you unlock new spells and weapons keeping things quite fresh. Menus are all simple and easy to navigate. It plays really smooth and the boss battles are quite creative. The game is not too difficult but there are decent challenges. I rarely got stuck for long but I felt the difficult was high enough to keep me engaged. I didn't get bored of the combat my first play through but I did find it a little repetitive. The multiplayer experience makes this game a lot more fun, especially if you are playing locally with friends.
The story is enjoyable enough to make you want to continue but not much more than that. Evil villains capture princesses and you have to save them fighting through hordes of enemies. I give the creators credit for adding some great humor though while still making the villains seem cool enough to make you want to fight them. The story is nothing special but it is well paced and the progression through each area always felt satisfying. There were a few really creative scenarios as well.
The levels are actually one of the standout parts of the game, each one offers something unique, like being chased through a forest by a giant monster cat that claws through everything in its path while you desperately try to escape. There are quite a few areas and while they are pretty brief I felt they all offered something worthwhile.
The characters are nothing special but at least a lot of them look cool or interesting. There is no depth to them but I far prefer these characters over the ones in Mario games and there is a lot of variety.
The visuals are clean and the designs of some of the characters are iconic. Some of the bosses also have pretty cool designs. The art doesn't stand out but it doesn't detract from the game either it looks good enough.
The sound design is fun and appealing for the most part. The sounds of spells and weapon strikes are satisfying and fortunately don't get too annoying. The music is fine but not particularly memorable.
The game is really short, you can comfortably play through the main story in 7 hours or so but there is some decent replay value since you can unlock new characters and such. I played through it a few times and if you play it with friends that can add to the games longevity. For a ten dollar game it is definitely a good value.
I think this game is a great step forward for indie games and it proves that you don't need a big budget or a lot of people to make a really good game. It isn't exceptional in terms or story, visuals, or sound design but it makes up for its weak areas by offering fast paced intuitive gameplay, unique environments and overall fun factor.
I give Castle Crashers 72%
Gameplay – 8
Story/Progression – 6
World – 7
Characters – 6
Visual Design – 7
Sound Design – 7
Uniqueness/Ideas – 8
Length/Amount of Content – 6
Immersion – 8
X-Factor - 9
Summary[Xbox Live Arcade] Hack, slash, and smash your way to victory in this red-hot arcade adventure from the award-winning development studio, The Behemoth. Featuring hand-drawn characters, Castle Crashers delivers unique hi-res illustrated visuals. Play with up to three friends locally or over Xbox Live and discover the mind-boggling magic ...