Crimsonland is a game most people will be pretty familiar with as it has been available on a number of different platforms since its first release back in 2003. Developer 10Tons Ltd re-released Crimsonland in 2014 with some minor changes and it’s now available on the Nintendo Switch, which is a great addition to the consoles ever growing library of games.
So, what is Crimsonland? For those who don’t have any idea, it is a top down twin stick shooter and is a worthy entry for the genre, providing plenty of hours of gameplay.
The art design is nothing you haven’t seen before on many mobile games and other top down shooters, but this has a very addictive and fun factor. It’s a case of gameplay over graphics, and as with all 10Tons games, they provide gameplay by the truckload.
When you start the game you are placed in the middle of the map while enemies enter in small waves and make their way towards you. The objective is to eliminate the enemies before your health reaches zero. With each enemy you kill you will gain experience points. Every level you gain you can select special perks that range anywhere from faster reload times, faster shooting speed, faster movement, to status effects like radiation creating an area of affect attack around the player that damages all enemies within its range and many others.
When an enemy is killed, they will drop a random bonus that may be extra points, temporary invulnerability, slowing of time, and many others. There are various game modes from quest to survival and four player co-op.
So far I have completed quest mode with more to do and there is a range of difficulty settings for you to choose from.
Survival mode is a real challenge.
Part of the fun factor is to try and survive as long as they can while wave after wave of enemies appear at an increasing rate. All perks, weapons, and bonuses that have been unlocked by playing quest mode are available in survival mode. I found myself taking multiple attempts to advance as far as I could, and the challenge is a hefty one, but it always kept dragging me back for more.
As for playing Crimsonland on the Switch, it performs well very well as it naturally would on such a strong system. The levels are short and don’t take long to complete. So if your on the move or taking public transportation to work and just want something simple to kill the time then this game, then you’ve got yourself a huge hit in that category.
The soundtrack is no where near the best, in fact it becomes slightly annoying after playing the game for awhile. A minor niggle if I’m honest,
All in all crimsonland
Is a good game even if it had been re released several times. Some may find this a boring trend, but with the Nintendo Switch it feels like it’s home.
Developer: 10Tons Ltd
Publisher: 10Tons Ltd
Release Date: 24th November 2017
Price: $13.99 NA Release reviewed
File Size: 88MB
Nintendo Switch copy provided for review purpose.
Also available on Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Android, Windows Phone, OS X & Steam