Castle Crashers Review by: zanderlex - 8.8/10
Crashing The PartyIt’s been a while since the last time that I played a game that was a unique as Castle Crashers. I recently was able to get my hands on a copy of the game thanks to the developers and I quickly found the game to be really fun. The game doesn’t work too well with my type of laptop so there was a brief time where it didn’t work, but overall, the game was a lot of fun and ran smoothly. To me, it seems like every aspect of the game works well together and compliments the other aspects to bring out the best of the game and in general, it turned out to be a one of a kind and fun game to pass the time.
GRAPHICS 10/10
It’s been a while since I have seen a game that had this much going on in the graphics department, and in most cases that’s a good thing because it usually means that a lot of work had been put into it, and this game has just that going on. In other words, the graphics are just amazing. You don't have these super detailed or realistic graphics that most modern games have, but what the game does have is really unique and insanely fun to look at. Everything about the graphics adds so much to the game, whether it's how the colors work with each other, the amount of detail put into the settings, or the incredible animations. It's not every day where you get a game that pulls this off with their graphics and the team who made this has done a great job going above and beyond making sure that the game looks extreme. Overall, I love the way the game looks and for a grade, the graphics portion is going to get a perfect 10 out of 10.
SOUNDS 10/10
The soundtrack found in this game is one of a kind and features a variety of awesome tunes. By the time you reach the main menu you will be greeted by an amazing song called Four Brave Champions, which is the title sequence for the game as well as found in the credits and if you ask me, it’s the kind of music that you would find in something epic like Lord of the Rings of Game of Thrones. That’s what the entire soundtrack is like pretty much, chock full of some retro tunes, some energetic ones, and a variety of different styles that sound amazing both while you are playing or if you decide to just listen to the music on your own.
The music alone is great, but that isn’t all there is to the sound because on top of that, you have the regular sounds as well, whether it’s the sounds of collecting coins and other objects, of attacking, or of some random voices. Together, those aren’t as great as the songs, but they still do add quite a bit to the game and make the sound aspect even better, though mostly it’s the music and because of how awesome the music is, this aspect gets another perfect 10 out of 10.
ADDICTIVENESS 9/10
Castle Crashers is so much fun, that you will find yourself playing the same levels over and over just for the heck of it. After beating some of the levels, I myself had re played many of them just so I could get more EXP and gold and I still had tons of fun playing those levels the second and third times because it was such a fun environment when you take into account the battle system, the music, and the way the world looks. Everything about the game is fun, even when you are doing the story mode, you could just take all the cut scenes out and watch those over and over for a few laughs and the actual game play in this mode is great. Beyond that, you have a couple other modes such as the Arena which is basically a survival mode and who doesn’t like testing out how long they can last without dying? It seems to work in many other games so why wouldn’t it work here? If you play the game once, there isn’t anything stopping you from playing it again, which is probably something that you would end up doing. Overall, the game is a lot of fun and the grade for addictiveness is going to be a 9 out of 10.
STORY 7/10
There isn’t really too much to talk about for the story because it’s mainly a game play driven game, and a good one at that. When the game begins, you find some sort of an evil wizard breaking into your castle and stealing a powerful gem as well as four princesses. The story pretty much revolves around you playing as a knight and going after the wizard, defeating countless enemies and bosses as you rescue the princesses and make your way towards the final battle. The story isn’t this giant masterpiece, but it’s definitely something that’s fun to watch as it unfolds and for a grade, this portion of the game will get a 7 out of 10.
DEPTH 8/10
When it comes to depth, the game has a good amount of it, especially in the story mode because there’s roughly two to three dozen different levels for you to fight your way through and within those levels you have so many different enemies and bosses to fight as well as a very large assortment of weapons to unlock and choose from. Beyond that, you have the four different knights to choose from, and various stats for you to upgrade so there’s a lot to explore and unlock within just that one mode. The game isn’t just that mode though, you also have the arena as well as a really cool Barbarian mode that is a cool strategy game. Just by having those aspects in the game, means that there’s a lot in the depth department, but there’s one aspect that adds even more, and that’s the fact that the game offers multiplayer meaning that you can do all this over again, but with friends, and on top of that, there’s quite some DLC to get as well. Overall, there’s a ton, whether you are playing alone or with friends, there’s a lot of game to be played, and for a grade, the depth category is going to get an 8 out of 10.
DIFFICULTY 7
The game can be difficult at times, and you will find yourself dying quite a bit once you first start off the game. At one point you might find yourself fighting more enemies than you can at once and the best thing that you can do when this happens is to keep doing the lower levels over and over so you can get more EXP and upgrade your stats when you gain levels. There will be some points where there will be a cascade of enemies that will be too much for you to handle or one super enemy where you find yourself overpowered before you can even do a good amount of damage, so at times the game can be difficult especially when you are trying to play in the arena because it is easy to get overtaken, especially in the later rounds. The game isn’t too hard because all you need to do is train and grind levels, but before you get to the point where you are OP yourself, the game will be difficult. Also, it would be good to mention that the game suggests using a controller instead of a keyboard because it may be a tad harder using just the button schematic. Overall, the grade for difficulty is going to be a 7.
OVERALL 8.8/10
This is definitely the kind of game that I would recommend others to play, not just for Steam but for the other consoles that it’s available for as well such as PS3, XBOX 360, and XBOX One. I haven’t played the other versions of the game but I’m sure they are all just as good, and who knows, maybe even better, so if you can’t get your hands on this version, then you should still try the others because it’s a lot of fun. I have played a lot of Steam games in my day, and this would be near the top of the list for my favorites, easily top 20 without a doubt because of the unique concepts and great graphics and music. Overall, I have to say that the game is easily worth an 8.8 out of 10.
Graphics
10 Sound
10 Addictive
9 Depth
8 Story
7 Difficulty
7
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