Written By: Patrick Orquia
Title: Crimsonland
Developer: 10Tons
Publisher: 10Tons
Genre: arcade, twin stick shooter
Number of Players: up to 4 players
Release Date: 24 Nov 2017
Release Date: 24 Nov 2017
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Price: $13.99
Also Available On: Android, iOS, PS4, Steam, XB1
I remember briefly playing Crimsonland in one of its early iterations in the mid-2000s. I thought it was quite good, with just me controlling the character and shooting enemies in all directions. Very simple, yet quite fun. Fast forward to now, with the game now remade and remastered with more game modes, it’s just rather appropriate to have this game appear on the Nintendo Switch. This game is ideal for playing on the go, and Switch is fast becoming the king of handheld gaming right now (the 3DS is not dead yet, you guys!).
There are two modes in the game: quest and survival. In quest mode, you play a nameless character out to defend Crimsonland from invading aliens: zombies, giant bugs, spiders, whathaveyou. The only goal is to survive the round by shooting absolutely everything that moves towards you, with some even shooting projectiles themselves. There would be many waves of enemies in a given stage, and there is a progress bar on top that indicates how near you are to the end of the stage. You start with a basic gun, but as you progress, you get to unlock many cool ones with different projectiles and killing power, like shot guns, machine guns, flame throwers, etc. You also level up and unlock perks: permanent power-ups (at least permanent within a stage; each new stage resets your character’s gun to the basic one and the level to zero) that can make you faster, stronger, and deadlier, among many others. You also get to pick up power-ups that appear on the field as you kill enemies, such as powerful bombs, projectiles that spread outwards, shields, etc. These things make the game that barely has a working story to tell really enjoyable to play. And the game doesn’t really need a story. You just go out, guns a-blazing, and survive. What else do you want to know? It’s one retro, bloody fun!
There are 60 stages in total in the quest mode, with one being harder than the last. But again, since you get to unlock many different guns and power-ups, and with you getting better and better in dodging enemies, it isn’t much of a challenge. If you don’t want to play alone, you can also invite up to three of your friends in local co-op multiplayer. Once you have beaten all the stages in normal difficulty, you get to unlock hardcore difficulty, and beating the stages in that difficulty unlock an even harder one. All the guns and perks you unlock in the normal difficulty carry over to the next ones, so it’s just up to you to be really good at dodging and killing enemies.
The survival mode is pretty much self-explanatory: you try to survive as much as you can as waves upon waves of enemies try to murder you. All the guns and perks that you have unlocked in the quest mode can appear in the stage, so you better play more of the quest mode before even trying this mode for you to have a better advantage. There are 6 types of survival modes, ranging from the usual “shoot everything that moves to the one where you don’t get to have a gun at all but only rely on power-ups that appear on the field. Whatever you choose, you will surely enjoy it, and if you are the type that aims for scoring big, there is an online leader board where you can find all the players that are much better than you and try to beat their scores. Which you probably can’t, but at least, you can try. That’s where the fun is.
Overall, this game is just perfect for the Nintendo Switch. The console’s inherent pick-up-and-go nature brings out the many strengths of the game. Wherever you are, if you are lusting for some video game blood and just want to shoot aliens to bits, you can be sure that you can with this game on your Switch. I recommend this game to anyone who loves the classic arcade games of the past that don’t need stories to be fun. Crimsonland is the bloody game for you. It’s time to paint the town crimson red with this game. WITH BLOOD!
REPLAY VALUE: high
Price: $13.99
Also Available On: Android, iOS, PS4, Steam, XB1
I remember briefly playing Crimsonland in one of its early iterations in the mid-2000s. I thought it was quite good, with just me controlling the character and shooting enemies in all directions. Very simple, yet quite fun. Fast forward to now, with the game now remade and remastered with more game modes, it’s just rather appropriate to have this game appear on the Nintendo Switch. This game is ideal for playing on the go, and Switch is fast becoming the king of handheld gaming right now (the 3DS is not dead yet, you guys!).
There are two modes in the game: quest and survival. In quest mode, you play a nameless character out to defend Crimsonland from invading aliens: zombies, giant bugs, spiders, whathaveyou. The only goal is to survive the round by shooting absolutely everything that moves towards you, with some even shooting projectiles themselves. There would be many waves of enemies in a given stage, and there is a progress bar on top that indicates how near you are to the end of the stage. You start with a basic gun, but as you progress, you get to unlock many cool ones with different projectiles and killing power, like shot guns, machine guns, flame throwers, etc. You also level up and unlock perks: permanent power-ups (at least permanent within a stage; each new stage resets your character’s gun to the basic one and the level to zero) that can make you faster, stronger, and deadlier, among many others. You also get to pick up power-ups that appear on the field as you kill enemies, such as powerful bombs, projectiles that spread outwards, shields, etc. These things make the game that barely has a working story to tell really enjoyable to play. And the game doesn’t really need a story. You just go out, guns a-blazing, and survive. What else do you want to know? It’s one retro, bloody fun!
There are 60 stages in total in the quest mode, with one being harder than the last. But again, since you get to unlock many different guns and power-ups, and with you getting better and better in dodging enemies, it isn’t much of a challenge. If you don’t want to play alone, you can also invite up to three of your friends in local co-op multiplayer. Once you have beaten all the stages in normal difficulty, you get to unlock hardcore difficulty, and beating the stages in that difficulty unlock an even harder one. All the guns and perks you unlock in the normal difficulty carry over to the next ones, so it’s just up to you to be really good at dodging and killing enemies.
The survival mode is pretty much self-explanatory: you try to survive as much as you can as waves upon waves of enemies try to murder you. All the guns and perks that you have unlocked in the quest mode can appear in the stage, so you better play more of the quest mode before even trying this mode for you to have a better advantage. There are 6 types of survival modes, ranging from the usual “shoot everything that moves to the one where you don’t get to have a gun at all but only rely on power-ups that appear on the field. Whatever you choose, you will surely enjoy it, and if you are the type that aims for scoring big, there is an online leader board where you can find all the players that are much better than you and try to beat their scores. Which you probably can’t, but at least, you can try. That’s where the fun is.
Overall, this game is just perfect for the Nintendo Switch. The console’s inherent pick-up-and-go nature brings out the many strengths of the game. Wherever you are, if you are lusting for some video game blood and just want to shoot aliens to bits, you can be sure that you can with this game on your Switch. I recommend this game to anyone who loves the classic arcade games of the past that don’t need stories to be fun. Crimsonland is the bloody game for you. It’s time to paint the town crimson red with this game. WITH BLOOD!
REPLAY VALUE: high
PROS
- Minimalist, straight-to-the-point gameplay
- Game loads very quickly
- Smooth framerate with very little to no hiccups
- Many unlockable weapons, perks, and game modes that keep the stages varied despite the lack of story or game goal
- Global online leader board for survival mode
- Hard-rocking soundtrack that keeps you pumped up
- Has a good variety of enemies
- Excellent use of HD Rumble
- Excellent for handheld gaming
- Supports up to 4 players in local co-op
CONS
- Gameplay can become too repetitive
- Stages lack veriety
- Audio is too loud even at mid-settings
- Each new stage resets your gun to the basic one and your character level to zero, putting you in serious disadvantage every time, plus the guns and perks and power-ups appear at random, making any stage either a walk in the park or a big nightmare right on the get go. And this is on the normal difficulty. The very first stage in hardcore difficulty is just plain unbeatable if you are only playing solo. I wish there was a mode to make you choose whether to start with your last gun and level obtain from the previous stages.
RATING: 4/5 hard-hitting zombies and acid-spitting spiders
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