So this X-mas I got this great little Red Knight as a gift. It’s a perfect representation of the in-game character and a very nice item to own for any fan of the game.

Anyway, so the word has been out for a while that Behemoth has patched the bugs in Castle Crashers and at least that part is a fact. The second part of the rumors going around is that Behemoth will be creating at least one new weapon; the chainsaw and supposedly two new playable characters; the king and the wizard. The catch is that these will be Downloadable Content and will most likely require payment.

List of bug fixes as described by Behemoth Developers:

• Saved data loss issues
• Quick Match/Custom Match multiplayer games not working/displaying error messages
• Xbox LIVE games dropping unexpectedly
• Arena Master achievement will now unlock after any mixed arena matches.
• Overall network performance improvements
• A few crash bugs
• NXE related issues
• Max experience cap lifted
• Boomerang exploit is now resolved
• Alien Hominid can now drop the pitchfork!

Official Website

Last night I got a chance to try out Tom Clancy’s End War. This isn’t your average Real Time Strategy game. The gimmick in End War is that all your commands must be given through the microphone. The first thought that crosses my mind are those terrible voice recognition programs that companies use for customer service. Thankfully, End War’s voice recognition software isn’t all that bad. I think the key to making it work is that each command is broken up into “who, what and where” statements. For example “Unit 1 move to alpha”. Instead of making the user say the actual unit’s name its just a unit number which works for the most part. I wonder how the game handles really heavy accents?

The training session at the beginning of the campaign is enough to get you used to your different commands but its not until the first level that you’ll actually see how to lead your units in combat. The graphics in the actual game didn’t blow me away but with the focus on gameplay I guess something has to get left out.

While the voice recognition software receives most of your commands clearly you can already imagine how restrictive this feels. I couldn’t figure out how to move my units 50ft to the left because there was no way point there. I’m assuming the game is structured in a way that you won’t have to.

Overall this is not a bad demo and worth a look. Nobody said revolutionizing the Real Time Strategy game was going to be easy but this is a step in the right direction. I’m all for innovation when it comes to games. The first go around will always have its hardships. On the other hand do we really need to revolutionize the Real Time Strategy game if Starcraft II is going to sell millions doing the same old thing, point and click.

Playing this game in front of my girlfriend was a little embarrassing at first.

When I first heard the announcement my first thought was disappointment. I actually thought they would do a joint launch with their flagship title Gears of War 2 (release date Nov. 7th). This doesn’t change the fact that the New Xbox Experience won’t be great. I think Microsoft is doing all the right things at this stage of the game trying to keep an aging system fresh. The Xbox 360 is a year older than its direct competitor the PS3 and will need to continue to make improvements if they want to see continued success going forward.

Microsoft knows their internet service is king right now and the added support with this update will keep it there. It’s actually nice to see them do something with the money they get from the Xbox Live subscriptions. Earlier I wondered why they had so many problems during the holidays if we pay money to keep their servers going every month. I guess it’s just a testament to how popular Xbox Live really is. We’ve even surpassed Microsoft’s expectations.

Atleast XBE is due before the holidays. Let’s just hope Xbox Live holds up this year even though their subscription base is still growing. But I doubt those Japan Sales numbers correlate to Xbox Live subscriptions since all they buy are JRPGs.

Other than the lack of an NFL license the recreated Tecmo Bowl Kickoff for the DS looks just as much fun as the original NES title. The graphics received the most significant upgrade but the developers tried to keep the game-play as close to the classic as possible.

In the features department the game received online multiplayer and team customization capabilities. Since there is no NFL license I’m sure there are people who will dedicate a whole lot of time in recreating real teams and players.

The original NES game was such a blessing with simple gameplay and fun light hearted graphics. As apposed to sitting down and playing Madden against an online opponent which is closer to taking an exam. The level of stress due to the strategy of it all is almost too much for me to play after a long day of work. I feel that the release on the DS is perfect but would also be fitting on Xbox Live Arcade.

It would be awesome if some how EA let Tecmo use the NFL license but I’m sure it’d cost them an obscene amount of money. I’m sure its a lot easier if Tecmo just sold the game to EA but anything to detract attention away from the EA giant is probably the right move for the industry.

I’m sure the regular customers were a bit confused though…

Unlockable Characters

Unlockable Animal Orbs

Animal Orb Descriptions

Character special attack descriptions coming soon!

These battles are difficult so don’t expect to unlock any characters before you level up a bit. I was level 20 when I was finally able to beat the Thieves Arena.

These Arena Battles can only be done in Single Player mode. If you are in Multiplayer mode you will only be able to fight each other. The unlocked character is only unlocked for the profile that completed the Arena Battle.

Strategy:

• The first arena should be attempted when you are around level 15 or higher. The enemies tend to try to surround you and pelt you with projectiles from behind so try to keep them all on one side. If you get surrounded use jump attacks to free yourself. Jump and slash away with the X button to air juggle the enemies.
• In the Thieves Arena the downward magic attack helped me out a lot. When you get surrounded jump and press right trigger and the Y button to do a downward magic attack. Depending on how many points you assigned to your Magic stat will determine if you are able to do this move.
• Another good strategy is to try to take out the first guy that comes out of the door before the others come out.
• Lining up the enemy for a splash attack will also be effective at the beginning of each wave.
• Stock up on potions at one of the item stores before attempting an Arena Battle. You can carry up to 5 potions at a time. During the Arena Battle you must manually use the potion when your health is low. This should greatly increase your chances of surviving.

When playing with my roommates we noticed that the best way to share weapon unlocks among the profiles is to let everyone pickup and drop the newly unlocked weapon.

This is how its done. When the first person picks up a new weapon it is unlocked for that person’s profile. The old weapon will be dropped. Before the old weapon disappears swap back for your old weapon and give someone else a chance to pick up the new weapon. You have about 10 secs before a dropped weapon disappears. Once everyone in the party has picked up and dropped the new weapon it will be unlocked under all of the profiles.

Notes:

• If you play as the Alien you should be the last player to touch the weapon since the Alien can’t hold any weapons. The weapon will dissappear but it will still be unlocked for the profile.
• If you are not high enough level for the weapon, the weapon will disappear and you won’t get a chance to share it among the group. Since the weapon won’t say the required level the lowest level person should attempt to pickup the weapon last.
• If you play with selfish online players I doubt you will get this to work.

Games like Castle Crashers is what Xbox Live Arcade was made for. Deep games that are casual enough for anyone is exactly the type of games Microsoft wants on Xbox Live Arcade. You have to credit Behemoth once again for mixing the formulas of all the games we used to love to come up with a monster hit.

We’ve been missing the four player hack and slash for some time now and the fact that Castle Crashers lets you go online and play with others means you probably won’t get lonely. The game gets much deeper than your typical TMNT Arcade game by introducing RPG aspects. Each player will level up their own knight and get to assign stat points like strength, magic, defense and speed. In addition you’ll also be able to spend the gold you gather during your quests to purchase new weapons and accessories.

Even though the game is not extremely long, you’ll continue to play it because of the 20 or more unlockable characters and a plethora of unlockable weapons. There is also a battle arena for those who want to slash it out online.

In addition to these features the graphics and charisma of the game are beautifully inviting. It’s amazing how well 2D sprites can come alive on an HD platform. If you’ve played Alien Homonid, you know exactly what to expect from these guys.

Now to talk about the minor gripes I have with the game. When I play a local game each player needs their own profile. Because of this there is no sharing of unlocked weapons. Even the characters that were leveled up under someone elses profile will not carry over. This kind of defeats the purpose of trying to go through the game in a group to unlock stuff. I guess this ensures that you’ll have to play the game a lot if you want to unlock everything, you’ll probably find it easier to unlock everything by playing single player.

Also I ran into a bug which didn’t allow me to hit START to go to the menu to quit the game. I ended up hitting the Xbox button to quit the game but I lost some unsaved data.

Castle Crashers is the best XBLA to date and thats saying a lot when this years line up also includes Geometry Wars 2, Bionic Commando and Braid.

Keep an eye out for those loveable Castle Crashers Collectibles!

This game is taking over my brain. I started playing this game on Monday and I’ve already racked up a good amount of hours on it. I’m also thinking about it while trying to get to sleep at night. The game is extremely inviting for casual gamers like my girlfriend who has already beat the easy mode twice. On the harder levels you’ll have to use a little more strategy and be cautious and patient when dealing with the other countries.

The game could be a little deeper but its obvious the revolution here was aimed towards the casual audiences and it worked. I haven’t tried the online play but I have a feeling it would move pretty slow considering this game is turn based. This is one of those games that won’t really receive the recognition it deserves.