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Crimson Alliance was developed by Certain Affinity and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on September 7, 2011. The game is a free download, but characters must be purchased. One character costs 800 MSP, while all three can be purchased for 1200 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

Isometric cameras come with a whole myriad of expectations and memories for many gamers. Most jump straight to Gauntlet, the quintessential isometric beat stuff up game. Well Crimson Alliance is no Gauntlet. Granted, those enjoying the first minutes of their virgin voyage into this game will call blasphemy, but by the end of the first level the differences will be very clear. Crimson Alliance can, however, play like Gauntlet if allowed to, but it would take a lot of effort to ignore the awesome aspects of Crimson Alliance that make it such a different game.

Crimson Alliance has a slight flair for the retro in that it is very, very much about score. There is a story, and there are characters, but the real meat is in the mechanics; Crimson Alliance thrives on good gameplay. The game has three classes, Direwolf the Wizard, Moonshade the Assassin, and Gnox the Mercenary. Each class has its role, especially when it comes to co-op, but each has its offensive and defensive capabilities, none of them rely on each other necessarily, though they can assist each other. Each class’s ability to deal with the decent variety of enemies in Crimson Alliance varies greatly, so the game will play very differently based on which class is being used, and which skills of the class are being focused on. While it’s an action-RPG, Crimson Alliance isn’t so RPG-heavy, the stats are simple and easy to manage as they’re based off of the equipment and there aren’t too many permutations of skills. It’s easy to jump into, it’s easy to understand, but mastery is a different story. Living through a level of Crimson Alliance is pretty easy for the most part, but the multiplier mechanic used to get awesome scores is what really sends this game above and beyond. Every kill, every combo, every streak adds to the multiplier, but one hit, just one, will send the multiplier down one whole notch (it maxes out at 8). That whole mechanic is what Crimson Alliance hinges on and is why people that love to top leaderboards will be all over this game.

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These tips were submitted Evan Lieske, a tester on Orcs Must Die!

• Brimstone will always hit Kobolds and Knolls (if it is not resetting), and it is the …
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Rock of Ages was developed by ACE Team and published by Atlus. It retails for 800 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

Rock of Ages is quite possibly the oddest game we’ve played on XBLA.  It is an eclectic mixture of tower defense and Marble Blast Ultra.  You travel through different eras of time challenging historical figures to a strange game of protect the castle. You’ll meet daunting characters like Vlad the Impaler that want nothing more than to push your face-of-a-rock off the cliff to weaken its ability to damage his castle gate, all while being treated to a Renaissance style of music that is one of the game’s best features.

Players who are familiar with tower defense games will feel right at home. You place defensive units up and down the narrow path to your castle wall in an attempt to thwart your challenger’s rock from reaching top speed to crash into your castle’s gate.  In almost all instances, three consecutive dashes on you or your challenger’s gate will bring it down revealing a paper-like historical figure ready to be run over–so speed as well as proper defense are equally important.

If this setup sounds quirky that’s because it is.  Not only is your rock anthropomorphic but it occasionally yells in terror when it falls of a cliff, which will happen often because a finite number of elephants, cows, catapults, towers, explosives and other obstacles will obstruct your path to the castle gate.

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In 1997, a unique side-scrolling platformer launched for the Sony PlayStation called Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. Featuring innovative gameplay, impressive graphics, as well as a unique, engaging, and creative universe packed full of humor ,the Oddworld franchise officially made its way into player’s hearts. By 2005, the franchise’s creators, Oddworld Inhabitants were ready to take their love child in a bold new direction; Enter Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath. Deviating from its platforming and puzzle solving roots, Stranger’s Wrath was a first/third-person shooter hybrid that traded the franchise’s traditional industrial setting for an all new adventure set in the wild west.

After releasing Stranger’s Wrath for the original Xbox, Oddworld Inhabitants closed up shop deciding that they were no longer happy with the direction of the gaming industry. Fans of the franchise were left to fret about what could have been, and the reality that the franchise may have come to an end. Luckily for us, that is not the case. Developer Just Add Water Inc, has inherited the Oddworld mantle and is currently working on a high-definition remaster of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath. You know what that means: we want it on Xbox Live Arcade.

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For a limited time only, buy.com is offering 4000 MSP for the low price of $39.99 via ebay, which is a whole $10 off the usual price …
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Aban Hawkins and the 1000 Spikes was developed by 8 Bits Fanatics and retails for 80 MSP.

Aban Hawkins is a classically inspired platformer with a penchant for pain. The games protagonist, Aban, has a strange name and an Indiana Jones identity crisis. He is trekking through dangerous ancient temples searching for treasure. Saying his job is extremely dangerous is an understatement as every step tends to bring impending doom upon him. At its heart this is a simple platformer that ramps up the difficulty very rapidly. It is likely to elicit rage and laughter all at once since it is so sadistic.

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The Pinball FX2 Spiderman tournament is ending today. This is your last chance to up your scores and get a tournament bonus. Unfortunately, it looks like getting the high …
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US Anti-Tank I (M72 LAW)

Description: A portable solution to tanks, the M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon works effectively against individual targets lacking heavy armor.

Attributes: Highly effective against vehicles.

Controls: …
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Orcs. They’re green, they’re smelly, they’re rude, and they cheat at poker, so they must die. But it shouldn’t stop there, their transgressions upon humanity are so notorious that they shouldn’t just die, they should be punished for having lived. No game features as much orc-centric punishment as Orcs Must Die! from Robot Entertainment. Use sadistic traps and powerful weapons to sort, punish and mow down waves of brutish creatures in this real time strategy turned fast paced action game.

At first glance Orcs Must Die! is a game of strategy requiring much thought. It requires players to manage space with different traps dealing different amounts of damage and have various affects on enemies. Tar traps slow and magma tiles burn, spike traps impale and archers perforate, and when conducted properly the trap symphony comes together in a comical crescendo of devilishly delivered death. However the action is just as player focused as it is trap focused. Our hero’s faithful crossbow can dole out headshots or hectic rapid fire and can supplement his repertoire with other weapons like one that shoots ice and one that can lay down a powerful firewall. Orcs Must Die! is a hybrid title like no other.

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Pinball FX2 fans rejoice, there is another tournament going on. This time it will feature everybody’s favorite wall crawler, Spider-Man. From July 29 – August 12 players will be …
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