Developer: The Behemoth
Publisher: The Behemoth
Rrp: £9.99 (Steam)
Released: 26th Sept 2012
Available on: Steam
Played using: Xbox 360 control pad
Welcome to the first game in MAY’s INDIE CAVALCADE! This month is completely dedicated to the developers that create the small games. I’m not going to promise that all these games are good, only that they have been made by indie developers. So lets get started!
Castle Crashers is a 2D side scrolling brawlers with some light RPG elements, ideally it should be played with a friend but it’s perfectly playable as a single player game. You get to choose from a variety of characters to play as, each of which play pretty similarly with exception of the magic they can use.
As you play through you’ll unlock more characters to use, but be warned they will start the game anew (for that character).
As I mentioned there is a light RPG element to Castle Crashers, as you defeat enemies you gain XP which in turn will raise your level. Thing is, while raising your level will give you some ability points to use in the stat screen, what it actually does is occasionally grant you a new move to use.
The stats screen consists of four stats, strength, magic, health and speed. All of which are pretty straight forward to understand to anyone with more than a passing knowledge of RPG mechanics. Assuming you are not one of these however… Strength dictates the amount of damage you can do, magic dictates the types of spells that can be performed (I’ll expand on that in a moment), health is the a,out of damage you can take before death and speed is how quickly you perform attacks. The concept is quite simple, the more ability points you pump into a given stat the better it is. With magic it works slightly differently, as every fifth point gives you a new spell to perform and pumping points into that stat not only makes the magic more damaging but also regenerate the mana used faster.
Should you die in a level, don’t worry, you’ll keep all the gold and experience that you attained in the level and just be sent back to the world map.
As I mentioned the game uses a Mario world type map as a level selection screen, of course not everything on the screen is a level per say. Some are combat arenas where you can unlock new characters, shops to buy equipment, as well as a blacksmith for your weapon selection and stable for your animal friends.
Yes, a stable for animals, while you’re on this adventure you’ll find animals that will follow you and give certain attributes to you. You’ll also find weapons, each weapon you find has an effect on your stats while they are equipped, sometimes good sometimes bad. You’ll be able to find out exactly what these weapons and animals can do at the aforementioned blacksmith and stable.
You have a great variety of enemies to fight against in this game, from bears and barbarians to Knights and skeletons, each with its own strengths and abilities. These enemies that you kill will sometimes drop food, or gold. The gold can be used in shops to buy items and weaponry, and food gives you a bit of health back.
The art has been hand drawn, or at least drawn on a tablet… By hand (pretty sure that counts as hand drawn) and has a cartoony aesthetic that lends itself to the somewhat light hearted and juvenile humour of the game.
The music used in this game is… Eclectic, to say the least. It always suits the scene your in but the track types can vary wildly from electro and trance to traditional folk music.
Is it one I recommend though? Well, yes but only if you have others to play with. I played this on my own and for me it felt a little flat. In fact I’d personally choose Foul Play over this simply because I find the combat and story better.
If you liked that then perhaps try;
Foul Play
Battleblock Theatre
Rayman Legends
