It seems to be traditional during the festive season to offer up some sort of list, whether it’s the “Best”, “Worst”, “Overhyped” or whatever adjective fits the agenda – well it’s my turn so I’m going to dish up my top 5 favourite games played this year.
There is, however, a small caveat – and that is to be considered for the list I must have at least played the game to completion this year. You will therefore notice that some high profile games like Fable 2 and Fallout 3 aren’t on the list, as even with the best will in the world there just aren’t enough hours in the day to play EVERY game that’s released in the mad rush towards Christmas. This isn’t a vapour-ware list of games I think should be worthy, but just a plain and honest list of games that I’ve enjoyed above and beyond my expectations this year.
5. Castle Crashers (Xbox 360 - Arcade)
There is something incredibly joyous about returning to the good old simplistic hack ‘n slash genre that is so representative of Castle Crashers. It’s as if the shackles have suddenly been thrown off and your inner child has suddenly been released and you’re free to play a game just for fun again - without worrying about “what it all means”. Castle Crashers wraps this shackle free gameplay up with some beautiful art design, adds a smattering of guttural humour and gives you a game that’s a joy to play time and time again.
Read what I thought of Castle Crashers here.
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Posted in Live Arcade, Miscellaneous, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360
Having played through the sublime Castle Crashers a couple of times now, and in addition to my initial impressions, I thought I’d give you five six reasons why this rapidly became one of my favourite games of the year and is definitely my top pick from Xbox Live Arcade. Oh, and just as a warning: I’ll be referencing a few events that transpire during the game so if you don’t like spoilers now is the time to jump out.
Visual Splendour
There’s no denying that Castle Crashers looks absolutely amazing thanks to the artistic talents of Dan Paladin. The locations, characters, and environmental effects are all lovingly drawn and a joy to behold. While a lot of mainstream developers strive for what seems to be the holy grail of “ultra-realism”, this game shows us that an unconventional art style which is well designed and implemented can still easily hold its own in today’s marketplace and in fact actually elevates it above the masses making it stand out from the crowd. It reminds me of why I play video games in the first place – Escapism.
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Posted in Miscellaneous, Xbox 360
I’ve not had much of a chance to catch up on my backlog of games this week; I did however manage to dedicate some time to the glorious Castle Crashers developed by The Behemoth. Whereas I couldn’t quite get along with Alien Hominid HD, this title is an altogether different prospect and immediately appeals to my sadistic “beat-the-crap-out-of-everything-that-moves” nature.
To succinctly sum up the game, Castle Crashers is a side scrolling beat-em-up for up-to four players (locally or over Xbox Live) and instantly reminded me of one of my old arcade favourites Golden Axe.
Initially playing as one of four knights (Green, Orange, Blue, Red) the game starts as you’re partying hard in the castle hall only to be rudely interrupted when a fatally wounded guard is thrown through the door disrupting the party. Investigating the commotion you discover that the castle has been raided, the king threatened, some sort of magical gem stolen, and four princesses carried off by the contemptible invaders. So it’s up-to you to rescue the fair maidens and put those miscreants to the sword!
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Posted in Impressions, Live Arcade, Xbox 360
