Crimson Alliance chronicles the tale of the spellcaster Zampura, and his misguided loyalty to Queen Asturi. After Zampura was seduced by Queen Asturi, and the secrets of his magic were stolen by her she became corrupt with the power enslaving many of her people. Zampura was confined to a cell and had to watch the horrors that he had unleashed upon the kingdom. When the gameplay starts a visual story is told through artwork, and we find Direwolf a spellcaster that looks a lot like Zampura in the company of Gnox and Moonshade. It becomes obvious from this part of the story that Direwolf doesn't really know who he is, or much of what is going on. He finds himself in the ruins of a kingdom he can barely remember. All he is certain of is that he must find out what's has become of the land. As the player of this game you take on the role of the spellcaster (Direwolf), the mercenary (Gnox), or the assassin (Moonshade) as they journey onward in search for different things ultimately finding themselves entangled in a epic tale of revenge.
Gameplay in Crimson Alliance is unique compared to other RPGs I have played. Usually in RPGs your characters will have attributes (strength, agility, stamina ...) that can be leveled up, but that is not the case in this game. The attributes of your chosen character type are all determined by the equipment, weapons, and armor you yield. You'll find that certain combinations of equipment/weapons/armor produce better attack power, and even health. Each character in Crimson Alliance has their own unique moves (X, Y, A, B) that they can use against Asturi's minions. The Moonshade/assassin, for example can slice (X), stun (Y), dash (A), and throw daggers (B). The types of moves a character can perform depends on the character you choose to play as. Each character class (Direwolf, Gnox, Moonshade) caters to a different style of gameplay. The assasin (Moonshade) is more of an evasive type of character. As an assassin (Moonshade) you can attack quickly, as well as escape from enemies in a quick manner. The mercenary (Gnox) is more of a stand your ground type of character. His moves are more defensive, and slow. His power makes up for the lack of quickness though. The spellcaster (Direwolf) is more of a weak character who relies heavily on the four types of spells he has (Fire Bolt, Freeze, Storm Stun, Teleport). I actually played as the spellcaster and I would say he is better suited for the experienced RPG players.
Unlike most RPGs Crimson Alliance has a score based system that allows for a little friendly competition among fellow players. The score system also plays a huge role at the end of each level you complete. You are given a final rating, and medal according to your combat score, the secret areas you have found, and the time it took for you to make it to the end. Each of the three scores are measured on a bar/bars that lets you know how well you did. The medals are simply determined by your overall score (Bronze - 5000, Silver - 10000, Gold - 20000). I really liked how Certainy Affinity chose to apply score to the game, and make it a little more competative. It definitely gives the game better replay value, and seeing how your score stacks up with your friends' score is pretty cool.
Like any RPG you play there is a monetery system used for getting the best gear/equipment. In Crimson Alliance the monetary system is gold. You will find gold from defeated enemies, crates, and even secret areas hidden throughout the levels. Acquiring gold is the key to equiping your character with the best weapons, armor, and gear. As you play through the many levels of Crimson Alliance new shops will be made available where you can spend your hard earned gold to enhance your character's performance. Aside from purchasing new equipment there's also hidden chests within certain levels that contain rare weapons, armor, and gear. If you decide you want to splurge some microsoft points, Certain Affinity has also included chests in the shops that allow you to buy 40,000 gold coins at a time from. I'm not quite sure how many points (msp) that will set you back, but it's definitely a quick way to get the best equipment available.
Crimson Alliance features a wide array of creatures, and bosses that you will encounter on a frequent basis. Taking out your enemies will require various tactics depending on your character of choice. Using your weapons, or spells wisely against your foes is a must if you hope to make it far in this game. Aside from your normal weapons you can also use power-up items (heart totem, turret, flaming axe, monster bait). As with any RPG there are also health refill items (heart pots, hearts). You can collect soul anchors, and heart pieces that are hidden within the levels as well to increase your ultimate power meter and your health. The arcade style power-ups, health items, heart pieces and soul anchors reminded me a lot of the newer Gauntlet games. If you've ever played games like Guantlet: Legacy, or Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows then this game's style will definitely feel a little familiar to you.
Crimson Alliance can be played as a single player (which I did successfully on NORMAL), but the multiplayer experience is where the game really shines. If you have some friends at home they can join you for some local co-op, or you can even have some online buddies join in on the fun. You can also join online players you don't know in this game if you are lacking in the friend department. If you choose to play the singleplayer mode you will find that there are some secret puzzle areas that require more than one player, so joining an online group definitely has it's advantages. I had a friend ask me recently if we could play as the same character type in the online multiplayer, and I told her yes. The game features 4 player co-op, and there are only 3 available character types so you can definitely choose the same character. The fact that you can customize your character's colors, and names makes them totally unique. This way you won't get confused when playing with a group of friends.
In the end I found Crimson alliance to be a solid RPG all the way through. The story was unique, and gave the game a short history of it's own. I loved the arcade style gameplay, and the fact that you didn't have to spend hours leveling up your character made it even better. The way the weapons/equipment effected your character's strength, and health really made things easier to manage. You didn't have to focus on attributes, and equipment seperately which was a nice touch. The graphics, and and character customization were a plus as well. The details, and special effects that were a part of each level's design were amazingly rendered throughout the game. In fact I haven't seen an RPG of this type as clear as this one was. I could keep going on with how great this game is, but the fact is that I was extremely impressed. Certain Affinity did a great job in bringing a solid online co-op experience to the XBLA game library. It's definitely worth every microsoft point they are asking for. If you enjoy online multiplayer games that have great replay value, then this is one XBLA game that is truly worth it.
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