Crimson Dragon Reviews

Crimson Dragon is ranked in the 11th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
35 / 100
Nov 17, 2013

If Crimson Dragon had been released for iOS or Android devices at a cheaper price, it would be one of the year's more interesting releases. Instead, the final product is a rushed, homogenized mess of a game that fails to live up to its loosely associated pedigree.

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Dec 5, 2013

In 'Crimson Dragon' it seems, there aren't dragons, just an incredibly unwieldy turkey. We have a turkey with a fat ass, magically given the power of flight, asked to navigate through a veritable waterfall of chunky gravy without getting wet. If you do make it through, you're asked to do it again, but this time with extra salt and sugar pouring along the gravy. Finally, after retries, augmentations to the turkey – it's ass is ever-so-slightly less fat – acquired by capturing that salt and sugar, you're finally given free reign of a stage. Only the turkey never learned to fly anywhere but straight, so the boss at the center of the stage is literally doing circles around you while you barrel roll into turkey oblivion.

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Nov 27, 2013

Another magnificent Saori Kobayashi soundtrack and some visually arresting scenery can't save Crimson Dragon from the mean-spirited cynical sickness at its core. What could have been a gorgeous and uncomplicated shooter has been hacked into tiny chunks in the name of microtransactions, butchered almost beyond recognition until you push through several miserable hours. Microsoft And Grounding broke their own game. Willingly.

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4 / 10.0
Nov 17, 2013

Crimson Dragon is a total misfire

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4 / 10
Nov 18, 2013

Spiritual or not this is a poor sequel to the Panzer Dragoon games, and its tame and repetitive action will certainly not win the series any new fans.

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5 / 10.0
Dec 6, 2013

Crimson Dragon had the potential to be a AAA digital title for the Xbox One. Instead, it fails to deliver solid gameplay and it's also riddled with technical issues that drag the experience further down.

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50%
Nov 17, 2013

Limited core gameplay, broken systems, poor controls, a terribly told story and underwhelming visuals make Crimson Dragon Xbox One's worst launch game by far.

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5 / 10.0
Dec 5, 2013

Despite some quality visual design, Crimson Dragon is a rough-shod, clumsy experience that yields little gameplay depth or variety and frequently threatens to nickel-and-dime players.

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50 / 100
Dec 14, 2013

Crimson Dragon isn't the worst Xbox One launch game, but it's far from good. The RPG elements have promise but lack the polish, while the gameplay and visuals fail to resonate on any level. It's a title that feels devoid of passion, and not even the great soundtrack can save the game's flying 18 wheelers from utter mediocrity.

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GameSpot
Top Critic
5 / 10
Nov 17, 2013

Crimson Dragon attempts to bring on-rails shooters into the modern era, but fails to recreate the genre's classic straightforward action in the process.

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NZGamer
Top Critic
5.5 / 10.0
Nov 25, 2013

Given how poorly designed some parts of the game are, its hard to recommend it to anyone. And yet, like I said, I had some good fun with it, despite everything else. As long as you go in not expecting a life changing experience, there's an afternoon or two of enjoyment to be had here.

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Nov 18, 2013

Crimson Dragon looks and feels like an Xbox 360 game that's been spit-shined to fatten up the Xbox One's launch lineup of games.

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5.5 / 10.0
Nov 27, 2013

Crimson Dragon doesn't live up to its Panzer Dragon ancestry. If we were to compare it to the rest of the console titles of the series, Crimson would most rank towards the latter end of the franchise. Its final levels are pretty, but everything up until then is repetitive, difficult and annoying to the point where Crimson Dragon feels more like a chore than it is any actual fun.

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IGN
Top Critic
5.9 / 10.0
Nov 17, 2013

Crimson Dragon is a competent arcade shooter, but its heavy grinding and weak presentation drag down the pace.

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6 / 10.0
Dec 11, 2013

I can't say the actual product is too appealing, as repetitive, short levels and a requirement to repeat levels to gather XP and money makes this a tedious game.

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6 / 10.0
Nov 18, 2013

Crimson Dragon might offer fans a few cheap thrills of rail shooters, but the repetitive gameplay grows old quickly

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6 / 10
Nov 20, 2013

Crimson Dragon's got other, bigger problems, though, and like the wave of games it was announced alongside - Diabolical Pitch, Steel Battalion, Haunt and Rise of Nightmares - it's a disappointment, even if it's one that was postponed to the new generation of consoles. It's a thin and troubled tribute to the original Panzer Dragoons, slim on the ambition, vision and art that made its predecessors what they were - and some way short of the invention and execution in the games they inspired.

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62 / 100
Nov 25, 2013

It's nice to have some variety in the Xbox One launch lineup, but Crimson Dragon doesn't offer anything groundbreaking nor takes advantage of the new platform's capabilities.

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6.2 / 10.0
Nov 21, 2013

Leveling up dragons and replaying for ranks and leaderboard score might be enough to garner Crimson Dragon a cult following, but for most people the bungled core mechanic is a deal-breaker. This dragon might fly, but it never truly soars.

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IGN Italy
Top Critic
6.4 / 10.0
Dec 12, 2013

Despite the efforts and the good intentions, Crimson Dragon betrays its origins: you can definitively tell this project was born a generation ago, and the scars of a troubled development are visible. The result, even if it's not that bad, is surely far far away from its spiritual predecessors.

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