Crimson Alliance Preview

As we are very close to the release date of Crimson Alliance, this hands-on preview from Team Xbox is probably going to be one of the last we read before the reviews start surfacing, and if the writer’s impressions are to be believed, this should be a game hack’n’slash fans will enjoy.

The level played through appeared to be an underground crypt of some kind, with plenty of red objects all around. Something immediately noticed was the controls, which felt very tight and easy to pick up. Every class has their basic attack, a secondary attack, and a special attack in the Assassin’s case, it lunged forward and stunned enemies. There was also the ability to slow time and do tons of damage to characters before time returns to normal. The graphics aren’t anything special, but they do their job in conveying the great art style that the game maintains. Crisp textures and smooth special effects definitely make it one of the better looking XBLA titles, though.

Killing enemies is fun but challenging it’s easy to not pay attention to just how low your health is getting. Thinking ahead for big battles is definitely a good idea, and there are many different ways you can approach foes. In addition to the obvious tactic of charging in using basic attacks, consumable axes can be thrown at enemies, and making use of the many red explosive barrels located around the levels is encouraged. It’s simply as easy as picking up the barrel and tossing it at enemies, and it’ll explode doing tons of area-of-effect damage.

Loot in the game is fairly common, and it’s one of those games that you want to kill every enemy in sight in order to get the best drops possible. Additionally, there are little secret areas all over every level that players can find that contain various chests, filled with tons of great loot that is very useful. Different armors have different skins, allowing players to maintain a certain level of individuality as they adventure through the campaign. There are also class-specific areas that require specific classes in order to enter. One seen through the level we played was a wall that had a crack in it, which signifies that a Mercenary is required to bash through the wall and get what is on the other side (hint: more loot!) Assassins and Wizards will have their own specific cues to look for to access special areas, as well.