Crimsonland Review - The Grandaddy of Twin-Stick Shooters

Crimsonland is described as a twin-stick shooter, but it’s very likely to be one of the first in this genre. It has recently been ported to the Linux platform, so we had to take a closer look.

Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of Crimsonland because it’s not the kind of game that is usually promoted on Steam and it’s rarely included in bundles and collections. That doesn’t make it any less interesting, and its not being more widely publicized is, in fact, a shame.

Twin-stick shooters are fun, but they never become big hits. They rarely have a story or anything else besides the gameplay, and Crimsonland fits right in. It might sound like a weird game, and it would be equally weird to recommend it, but it had some sort of appeal that I can’t account for.

Story and Gameplay

I would like to say that Crimsonland has some sort of hidden story line, but there is none. Don’t be fooled by the game that lets you choose between Quest and Survival modes. In the Quests category, players will go through levels that have ever-increasing difficulty while unlocking new weapons and bonuses for the player.

The Survival mode is just what it says it is. Players get thrown in into a level, with all the weapons and bonuses unlocked, and they have to survive for as long as they can. It’s not a terribly complicated idea, but it completes a game that was already kind of addictive.

It’s difficult to pinpoint why Crimsonland is addictive, but I think I can identify at least one reason. Most of the time, the levels are difficult to complete, and players barely finish, with just a smidgen of life left, so this feeling of accomplishment might make the experience worthwhile.

Crimsonland was initially launched all the way back in 2003, and it was published by Reflexive Entertainment. They used to be among the biggest digital publishers in the early 2000s, but they didn’t manage to survive, despite making and distributing some of the best office and light games ever made.

Reflexive Entertainment had titles like Ricochet Infinity or Big Kahuna Reef back in the day, but some of the later choices meant the end for this company. The developers of Crimsonland, 10tons Entertainment, survived over the years, and they adapted their game to all of the platforms, and that includes Linux, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. They somehow succeeded in remaining in bossiness with a 15-year-old game.

In any case, we’re digressing. One of the features that were later added in Crimsonland, with the addition of console support, was local coop for all the game modes. Whether you’re playing this game on Xbox One or Linux, the same features are present. Up to four players can join a level, at any point. The difficulty increases and more monsters will have to be destroyed.

The recipe for the game is pretty simple. You're placed in the middle of an arena with just a gun, and various enemies are spawned across the map. When you kill them, they will leave weapons, power-up, or other items behind, and you will need to get them.

And here comes the twist. Not all the weapons they leave behind are going to be useful. Depending on the enemies you’re facing, some might be better than others. You can still die with an RPG in your hands surrounded by huge spiders. It’s just the right weapon now.

Graphics and sound

Both of these aspects are completely unimpressive, but also unimportant at the same time. The game looks good enough that you won’t even notice that it is really, really old. The forgettable rock music or the normal sound of the weapons won’t win any prize. The good news is that the quality of the gameplay buries all of these shortcomings.

The Good

The Bad

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion