CRIMSONLAND REMASTERED review

(Reviewed by Matthew Werner)
Crimsonland is a classic 2003 twin-stick shooter from 10tons Entertainment, published by Reflexive Entertainment, and was remastered in 2014 for digital distribution. It was a genre definer, and inspired the creation of Nation Red (you can tell the obvious influence of Crimsonland even by the name), which still gets consistent updates to this day. While I can't speak for Nation Red, Crimsonland is an awesome game with some great old days sensibilities. Since my first impressions post, not much has really changed.

The visuals of the game are a bit grungy, but the effects for stuff like slow motion and weapon fire are pretty solid. The enemy designs are basic, but everything is clean enough that you know what's going on, despite the game's kinetic, chaotic disposition. But not too clean, considering that the screen is prone to be filled entirely by the blood of your enemies, if you're bad good like me. The music in Crimsonland is a nasty, dirty, grunge taste and it's amazing. The weapons and enemies sound great, and the survival mode (the meat of the package imo) is an absolute cacophony of death and dismay. The voice acting is basically just one line, your character's death call, and it's terrible. So bad. Hilariously so. But in a good way, as it heightens the fun, even if just by an inch.

Crimsonland, the exercise in ultra-violence that it is, is made by its frenetic, fan-fucking-tastic combat. It's the type of game that I love to hop into, blast away some alien bastards, and then leave fulfilled. If you need a stress-ball that has tons of guns and hemoglobin then Crimsonland's just the medicine you need.

But let me talk a bit about the specifics of the combat, because I'm not a dick. As I previously mentioned, Crimsonland is loaded with guns, hundreds of them, and they're all a blast to play around with, though you're bound to take some favorites. A decent-sized problem is that the starting pistol is shite, but that's alleviated by the fact that basically the first or second body drop you make drops a random, obviously superior weapon. The pistol doesn't last long before you're running around with an energy cannon or a rocket launcher or a flamethrower, and all of them are satisfying as hell.

Power-ups are great. That's just a fact. And, with its superior knowledge to cretins in the game development industry today, Crimsonland has tons of power-ups. You've got score multipliers, speed boosts, fire bullets, time-slowers, nukes, screen freezers (as in it freezes all of the enemies; the alternative would not be a plus), and more. These are great because they add another way to depose of the disgusting, flea-bitten scum you are facing in onslaughts, and just because they're great to have. Because power-ups are great.

In survival mode, there are perks when you level up, which last throughout the match. And unlike, say, Call of Duty, these perks are actually pretty damn awesome but also pretty damn evil. There are some that have a chance of killing you or giving you like infinite exp. There are some that will knock your entire health down to a mere scrape away from death, but will up your damage. I'm a pussy so I go for the other stuff, which is still pretty cool. There's one that makes power-ups drop randomly without you having to kill to make 'em appear, meaning the entire screen gets flooded with power-ups. There's one that ups how much of the battle you can see, which is useful considering that the levels in the game are absolutely massive.

Health doesn't regenerate, and the only real way to regain health is to get the health power-up, which isn't all that great imo. So it's imperative that you do not get hit, and you must deal out death before your foes consume you. Which is great and adds tons of tension; satisfaction too when you do a merely mediocre job.

The campaign mode is no slouch either, with tons of levels to blast through on multiple difficulty levels. I do find that some of the levels in this are a bit cheap with how they kill you, but the whole unlocking weapons system is tied directly to the campaign, so I do grin and bare it, and it's still fucking Crimsonland so it ain't too bad. There are levels which have a sort of bullethell-lite element to them, which adds another layer of skill.

Other modes outside of survival and campaign are rush, weapon picker, nukefism, and blitz. In rush mode, you're stuck with the assault rifle, and this mode's kinda boring, probably just because the assault rifle is just a boring weapon. In weapon picker mode, you only have a single clip of ammo in each gun you pick up, forcing you to pick up other ones that show up and power-ups. So you're constantly moving around, forced to pick up new weapons. It's pretty fun, but I still prefer survival mode. In nukefism mode, you have no weapons and none of them pop up--you're only allowed to use power-ups. It's not as fun as weapon picker, but it's still fun. Blitz mode is akin to survival mode, but it's set at a much faster pace, since you can move faster, you kill enemies faster, you die faster, power-ups show up more often, and you level up faster. I think it's the best mode, the only extra mode that I prefer to survival mode.

From what I've played of it so far, Crimsonland is a breath-takingly stellar shot in the arm even after all these years, and is one of the best games I've played in a while. With its grand, testosterone-filled nonsense and the grandiose that comes with its gore, Crimsonland simply stuns. If you want some gory, fun sci-fi action, then Crimsonland ought to be your shit. Crimsonland gets a 9/10.

Awesome

Summary:
Crimsonland is excellent ultra-violence. Fine visuals, great music, it's swathed in blood, the gameplay's a ton of fun, the modes have enough variety, it's very satisfying, the weapons are great, and the power-ups are great.