Crimsonland isn’t a new game as it was originally released back in 2003 as 10Tons first ever game. Earlier this year it landed on PlayStation platforms and was just released yesterday on Xbox One. Right off the bat I can’t think of a more applicable title for the game as there is so much blood spilled all over the map that it makes the blood rain rave party from the movie Blade look like a child’s cartoon.
It’s a top down, isometric shooter that features arenas that are not totally “open” per se but they are so big that they might as well be. From the start of the game you’re hooked into the addictive nature of Crimsonland and that “Ok, just one more time” mindset. You know, when you die each time and you say that only to die again and you say it again then you die again? Wash, rinse, repeat. If you’re looking for in depth and graphic quality than Crimsonland is not your game and it’s not meant to be. If you are, however, looking for a good game that’s really fun to play then Crimsonland is most definitely your game.
There are a total of 60 levels in Crimsonland and its various stages that don’t take too long to pass through. Most can be passed in less than five minutes as the gameplay is rather basic. Control wise, there is not much to learn but the slightly different aiming system adds a new level of skill to the game. Simply hold RT to shoot as the game possesses unlimited ammo. If you run out in a magazine, you will automatically reload and continue to shoot. Each level sees you start with the weakest weapon, usually a standard semi automatic firearm. As you kill enemies, various other weapons and perks drop at random places in the map. The weapons may or may not be better than the one you currently have equipped and the swarms of enemies that attack you add a high level of skill to the luck element maintained by the random drops.
At first glance, you may just try and stick to the outside of the screen and keep shooting while running in circles. As this may sound perfectly plausible, in reality you will probably die rather quickly this way as many of the perks will then drop in the middle of the horde, forcing you to fight your way through the enemies and most likely die a painful death. I found the most applicable way was a zig zag pattern similar to old school Tecmo Super Bowl while trying to avoid the defender. It keeps you in the middle of the action while in close proximity to the perks. The variety in the perk drops is also rather incredible. Anything from a nuke bomb which decimates enemies in your immediate area to a perk that lets you deplete your own energy or even your teammates life in co-op for an added boost. That’s right, you can kill your teammate to help yourself out. I know, All for One right?
That’s just the campaign level. In multiplayer (local co-op only sadly) there are five game modes total in Surival, Rush, Weapon Picker, Nukefism, and Blitz. Each has their own individual area of focus with weapon picker forcing you to play with the same weapon for the whole level but the best part of the game is Survival. It’s your prototypical horde mode with no end and you just have to survive as long as you can. You can play all of the modes either solo or with up to four players but it’s local co-op only. With such an incredible addiction level in Crimsonland, I really wanted to see how I stacked up against other players via Xbox Live Gold but to my dismay I was denied.
It’s also important to note the perk system is basically a full on RPG leveling system maintained in a top down shooter which I found fascinating. Not only do more perks unlock as you level up in the campaign, but the drops of the independent perks are completely random. You may finally unlock the perk you were waiting for halfway through the campaign but it may not be an available choice to pick due to the game’s random system for anothe few levels. Survival mode also restricts your perks to the progress you have made in the campaign so jumping right in will lead to a much quicker death than should you choose to wait and play it for a few levels. It’s this variety that kept me coming back to Crimsonland as 10Tons does a great job of integrating variety into a game with basic gameplay and yet so much replayability. Think of the old school arcade game Smash TV and it’s a similar set up with just much more open maps and options in both weapons and perks.
Crimsonland is available now for Xbox One for $13.99 and I definitely recommend picking it up just to have a game you can enjoy playing with worrying about framerate, resolution and all those other things people focus on to take their enjoyment away from the actual game. Even though Crimsonland is 12 years old and developer 10tons’ first game, it’s stood the test of time so far and is a game you should definitely play on Xbox One.
Will was a regular ICXM contributor in 2015, publishing 31 articles across opinion pieces, game reviews, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming.