Crimsonland Reviews
If you're looking for a top-down action release that offers bite-sized levels for you to dive into for a few minutes at a time with a difficulty that slowly ramps up as you go, then you should give Crimsonland a try. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does offer a solid and entertaining arcade-style release on Nintendo Switch that is worth a shot.
Crimsonland is a fairly forgettable experience hindered further by unattractive audio and visuals. While you have to admire its retro-style arcade feel and gameplay, sadly it’s not enough to keep you engaged for long. Survival mode has the longest legs but even then it’s not something I found myself wanting to return back to long term.
Crimsonland has always been a book that you can judge by its cover: A loud and silly twin-stick shooter that throws buckets of enemies at you as you fend them off. Not the most complex game ever devised, it's still a firm slice of action that's perfect for killing aliens and time.
Sure, it's nothing spectacular to look at and it can get repetitive extremely fast; however, if you had some mindless enjoyment from various 10tons titles like Butcher for instance, then Crimsonland will certainly give you a short burst of entertainment.
It's mindless fun, with enough addictive strategy to keep playing. I loved weaving through the hundreds of enemies (whether they were zombies, spiders, or something in-between) so I could reach a power-up orb at the last second, to suddenly fry everything around me with a flame thrower. It's a great time all around, and if you have the itch, give it a try.
It may not be outstanding to look at, or indeed listen to, but Crimsonland is a pure, easy-to-pick-up gameplay experience that comes dangerously close to becoming pretty addictive stuff.
Crimsonland is plentiful in action, weapons and all sorts of bonuses and additional elements that will keep its players amused, especially if there are four of them. What it does less well is its level design, which feels repetitive and it lacks something innovative that would let it stand out.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
As you progress, more weapons and gameplay perks are unlocked which add a level of variety and unpredictability to Crimsonland that I appreciated
Crimsonland offers some good twin-stick shooter fun that you'll really enjoy blasting your way through. It's great and addictive when trying to polish off the levels, but it is a little simplistic - that's ultimately what separates it from the likes of Doom.
Crimsonland is has a rewarding perk system and fun guns to use on a level-to-level basis. People who care about obtaining the best scores will find more value here than most. Still, its repetitious level design and bland presentation make it a duller experience. Why not add structures to the levels such as walls and maybe some vegetation? Broken down 2-story buildings would be nice. Weapons and Perks are the highlights. If only the rest matched up.
Crimsonland is a top-down arcade shooter which is great fun in short bursts. You will spray bullets and other projectiles through waves of enemies gaining perks and using temporary power ups along the way. The game is a great couch co-op game to play with your friends and you will spend a lot of time playing the survival mode trying to get higher on the leaderboards. It lacks online multiplayer, so don't expect anything of that nature. Quest mode won't take long to complete, but it's three difficulties will keep you occupied. Each quest does not take long to complete, so there is a nice flow to progressing through the mode. Overall, Crimsonland is a fun, stable little game which is a blast to play. It might be a little expensive at $14, but if you enjoy killing hundreds of enemies in twin-stick shooters, then you won't go wrong with it. I will admit that when I first looked at Crimsonland, I didn't expect much. However, the game grew on me as I played it.
Progressing the twin stick shooter genre is no easy task, and Crimsonland makes a mechanically valiant if visually lethargic attempt. There are the foundations of a great game here - the moment to moment gameplay is a basic yet guilty pleasure of relentless, gratuitous violence, and the perk system and weapons within a level are consistently and immensely rewarding to use. While the action is ludicrous, fun, dumb and obnoxiously brash, the game is let down by its bland presentation, repetitive and uninspired quest mode and non-existent level design. It hides what is, at its core, an addictive and sadistically entertaining experience. It will make you realise how awesome it would be to have something like Dead Nation or even DOOM on the system. Oh, wait...
While it won’t win points for its complex and challenging story or trying to push boundaries Crimsonland is a thoroughly satisfying arcade-style twin-stick shooter that I will likely return to periodically for quite some time. While it isn’t graphically very impressive and the sound is relatively limited there’s no denying the power of its gameplay. It is adrenaline-fueled, brutally challenging, over-the-top, and should be considered a must-have for shooter fans!
It's the safest, most generic example of the dual stick shooter in years. There's no denying there's a visceral thrill in the action that it offers, but let's just say it's just as well the game's priced to be a cheap bit of throwaway fun.
Crimsonland is an old game that is dressed up with some new clothes. It's not good looking; it has no story, and it has no gimmick to make it more attractive. Even so, it's still going to get players hocked until they finish all the levels, and that is a sort of quality that is not easy to find nowadays.
Simple and proud, 10tons' retro shooter offers large-scale murderisation for you and some friends - just don't expect much of a looker when the bloodlust wears off.
Crimsonland is now up there with Super Stardust HD as one of my favourite twin-stick shooters. It may not blow you away with the visuals, but looks certainly don't matter when it's packing this much content. Added to the fact that the Xbox One version includes new content, this is a must buy for fans of the genre and for those looking for a fun co-op experience.
When Crimsonland released way back on the PC in 2003, little did it know it was going to be ported to PS3, PS4, PS Vita and now Xbox One. 10tons studios created one of the most addicting top-down shooters ever. Thats a bold statement to make in a opening paragraph in a review, but Crimsonland could back it up. The pure enjoyment when playing this game is like no other, but does the addictive gameplay get too repetitive? How does Crimsonland hold up to other modern top-down shooters? Let's find out.
Crimsonland is a very simple game that is tough to master. Whilst being a lot of fun while it lasts, we can't help but feel that it's missing that undefinable something. There are definitely visual shortcomings that some people won't be able to get past (although that's more on them than the developer) and though there's simple enjoyment to be had, there's also a feeling that a lot more could have been done to mix things up for players who want a deeper experience. It'll definitely be one that you'll pick up every now and again for a quick hour of cathartic Survival mode gunplay though, that's for sure.
Contrary to its looks, Crimsonland still delivers frenetic fights that are impossible to reproduce in web browsers. But bigger and more beautiful twin-stick shooters rose to fame during the game's decade-long slumber, leaving 10tons playing catch-up.