The Cursed Crusade

games xtreme (7 out of 10)

The curse of games like these is that they're not big-budget AAA titles and there are a lot of those, especially around this time of year. Had this been out at the start of last year or so on, it might have fared well enough - but as it is, it's a little too late for the Cursed Crusade to find much love from my peers, let alone a lot of gamers. Yet, for all its faults, there's a game here that someone may well enjoy and I recommend trying it if you're tired of the same old combat systems. You just have to know that it's a Flawed Crusade rather than a cursed one, but not horribly flawed.

GamingXP (70 out of 100)

„The Cursed Crusade“ hätte wirklich viel Potenzial gehabt und scheint bei oberflächlicher Betrachtung auch gut gelungen. Verbringt man jedoch etwas mehr Zeit mit dem Spiel, beginnen die Mängel in der Produktion richtig zu nerven. Grafische Totalausfälle und schlechte Synchronisation gemischt mit einer faden Story prägen das Bild dieses Tempelritter-Epos. Wirklich gut gelungen ist jedoch das Kampfsystem. Selten habe ich ein Hack’n’Slay-Spiel gespielt, das so komplex, vielseitig und in keinster Weise monoton war wie dieses. Hätte man den Release-Termin des Spiels weiter nach hinten versetzt und mehr Zeit investiert, hätte es richtig gut werden können. So ist es gerade mal schwaches Mittelmaß, macht aber auf unerklärliche Weise dennoch Spaß.

ZTGameDomain (6 out of 10)

The main campaign is long, and will take you well over ten hours to complete, but unfortunately it never really gets its hooks into you. Playing co-op alleviates some of the issues, but there likely aren’t going to be many people picking this up, and even then, the glitches will still frustrate. I really liked the game when it worked. Sure, it is slow and methodical at times and downright boring at others, but a good sword slashing game is just what you need to give you a break from all the guns found in most games. I just wish more care had been applied to the functionality of the game. As it stands, Cursed Crusade is the definition of disappointing.

newbreview.com (3 out of 5)

The Cursed Crusade has a lot of potential, it could have been an excellent game, but it’s a budget title at the end of the day, and you can’t get your hopes up if your going to buy it. You’ll get your money’s worth if you’re looking for a cheap gory adventure, just make sure you mind the cheapest deal available.

@Gamer ( )

If you're looking for a competent beat-em-up but cash is tight, you can't go wrong with The Cursed Crusade.

Official XBox Magazine (5.5 out of 10)

Unfortunately, all the hacking, slashing, and skeleton-burning turns into a rigmarole of repetition. Enemies go through mostly the same motions with little variety, save for some areas where you’ll helm a ballista or defend against airborne arrows. Crusade sports some solid ideas (a “cursed realm” you can switch to on the fly is a neat concept that doesn’t quite work), but sadly, it suffers most from ho-hum pacing and rinse-repeat gameplay.

Worth Playing (5.5 out of 10)

At best, The Cursed Crusade is mediocre. The plot is bland, but the cut scenes try to shove the story down your throat at every opportunity, causing an adverse reaction. The gameplay feels shallow despite its attempts at depth, and the AI on both sides displays no intelligence at all. Though there are a few instances of quality on display, the graphics display far too many bugs, and the sound is just as bad. Coupled with the fact that Atlus chose to release a game when almost every big game is set to come out on a weekly basis, and one has to believe that both the publisher and developer set this out to die instead of trying to spend some time to make this even a little bit better. Unless you have to play every game out on the market, there isn't much of a reason to seek out this game.

4Players.de (47 out of 100)

Fähige Entwickler hätten aus den Fundamenten ein richtig spannendes Abenteuer bauen können! Schließlich hat man mit zahlreichen Angriffen, Ausweichschritt, Parade und brutalen Finishern viele taktische Möglichkeiten - auch das Umschalten zwischen Wirklichkeit und Höllenwelt trägt dazu bei. Partnerspieler freuen sich zudem über das gemeinsame Erleben, egal ob online oder am gleichen Bildschirm. Die Geschichte wird allerdings so lieblos kaputterzählt, dass selbst ich mich als Nie-Wegklicker zum Anhören zwingen musste. Das Abklopfen ständiger Mini-Scharmützel ist an Einfallslosigkeit kaum zu überbieten. Und die Entwicklung neuer Fähigkeiten ist eingleisig, eigentlich sogar überflüssig. Weil Taktik deshalb kaum eine Rolle spielt, weil sich sowohl Solisten als auch kooperative Abenteurer über Programmfehler ärgern und weil der Ablauf so vorhersehbar ist wie das abschließende Wort im Sonntagsgebet, versacken die guten Ansätze schon nach wenigen Minuten in der Bedeutungslosigkeit.

Official Xbox Magazine (UK) (4 out of 10)

Developer Kylotonn has crafted the least appealing fantasy brawler imaginable, its stillborn mechanics drenched in over-compensatory cutscene-driven storytelling, its charms limited to the lure of unlockable combos and abilities.

Games TM (4 out of 10)

The sluggish fighting feels surprisingly weighty, the horrid, cliché-riddled dialogue is delivered with gusto, and the roving AI appears so amusingly dim that there is a good chance its mum sowed its name into its chain mail. It's this admirable quality to the ineptitude that makes, in some bizarre way, The Cursed Crusade a unique adventure. However, in a season of genuine triple-A products, that is in no way a purchase incentive.

Destructoid (3.5 out of 10)

A lethargic combat experience marred further by grotesque bugs, The Cursed Crusade is a game that truly does feel cursed, like no amount of hard work would put it right. It's a shame, because the developers clearly tried hard and the narrative occasionally provides a glimmer of hope, but ultimately this is a game that needed to be scrapped and started again from scratch because there was no saving it. With more money and experience, because The Cursed Crusade could have been good, but this mass of developmental debris cannot stand up to even a forgiving gamer's scrutiny.

GameSpot (3 out of 10)

The Cursed Crusade is a repetitive hack-and-slash that is marred by clumsy combat, poor dialogue, and some serious technical issues.

Console Monster (30 out of 100)

The Cursed Crusade has the founding for a really fun game but falls short in almost every aspect. Even playing co-op mode, the game doesn’t really change much from the solo experience and with so many problems outside the gameplay, it’s not very enjoyable. Sadly, I say this is one to miss especially as there are plenty of titles out there to keep you busy until the end of the year.

GamesRadar ( )

We knew things were bound to get harrowing in The Cursed Crusade; the game's premise is to send you to the depths of Hell... we just didn't expect to actually be tormented. After many hours, we've emerged from this nightmare with blistered fingers from clunky controls, in complete disbelief over its sleep-inducing story, but mostly, we're thankful that we didn't throw our controller over the awful AI and frustrating glitches.The Cursed Crusade, we banish you to the Gaming Hell you sent us to; may you never give another gamer the misery you gave us.

Game Informer Magazine (3 out of 10)

But instead of choosing between a co-op or AI partner, you should just avoid playing this game. The only thing of any value that Cursed Crusade has left me with is a blight that will remain on my Xbox Gamerscore until the end of time.

Metro.co.uk (2 out of 10)

It wouldn’t be so bad if Dark Souls hadn’t come out on the same day and done the whole medieval style melee combat thing a thousand times better. Or there’s The Last Templar from earlier in the year which is even closer in terms of setting and although no classic, and constrained by a similarly low budget, managed to be considerably more entertaining.In the end the only positive we can think of for The Cursed Crusade is that it proves the Christmas rush is good for something – helping us quickly forget we’d ever played such dire rubbish in the first place.

Inside Gaming (1.5 out of 10)

I almost feel bad writing this review, slamming the game so hard. On paper, the ideas that went into its creation must have come from a place of passion and excitement for a rich period in history. But then I remember that I actually played this unlikable, unfair, and unfinished game for many, many miserable hours, and the only person I feel bad for is me. Don’t go near this thing, or else you’ll be cursed with damnation, too.