Sep 24, 2011 The Cursed Crusade All Cutscenes (Game Movie) 1080HD - Duration: 2:54:46. Game Movie Recommended for you. The Cursed Crusade - Mission 3: The Champion - Duration: 14:29.
Seemed, on the surface, to have a lot going for it ahead of its release. Screenshots looked nice, the altered historical setting seemed interesting, and combat appeared to have variety due to the abundance of weapons and customization. Topping it all off, the game featured two player co-op, in both local and online flavors. Indeed, it sounded promising upon first glance, but the game falls far short of these expectations upon even the briefest scrutiny.First, let's consider the graphics.
The main characters, an odd pairing of a noble knight named Denz and a mercenary Spaniard called Esteban, have great models, and since they can carry around a veritable arsenal of weapons with them, they look imposing most of the time. But as soon as the pair begins to move around, you notice poor animations, filled with jerky movements. A noticable level of repetition of the combat animations sticks out like a sore thumb. Finishing moves, which are obviously meant to be visceral and awe-inspiring, fail to impress due to their buggy implementation. Swords might poke in an opponent in one direction, and poke out from another, unleashing a red fog that only loosely resembles blood. From a graphical standpoint, there is a hint of potential but the finished product looks as if it was completed in a hurry and with a low budget, which I am certain was the case.The stiff animations and rough graphics are most noticable in The Cursed Crusade's cut scenes.
It's obvious that the developers intended to feature these lengthy cut scenes, as there are so many of them. Each level has between two and four scenes in between, in which the generally confusing and often ponderous story is presented.
The voice actors do a passable job, though Esteban's accent and mannerisms are woefully stereotypical, but there just isn't much for them to work with in the first place. You will be quite thankful that the cut-scenes are skippable, as after a certain point, the story becomes so loosely strung together that you can safely ignore it.Ahead of the game's release, much attention was given to the dark, hellish parallel world of the protagonists' curse.
At first, it is indeed cool to enter the blazing, ember-filled realm to proceed to beat down your enemies. But you cannot stay in the curse for long, and many of your opponents, including almost every boss, are also cursed, which takes away from your unique nature. There are a few flashes of solid design choices, like walls that can only be broken in the cursed world, but these minor touches are repeated far too much.
I was expecting puzzles like those of the second Metroid Prime game, where your actions in one world impact the other, but sadly, this was not the case. It's a shame, as this could have been a sorely-needed highlight for the game.Considering that The Cursed Crusade is a hack-and-slash brawler, a good clean combat system is of the upmost importance.
Unfortunately, the characters' jerky motions and awkward animations make fighting quite difficult. Controls feel sluggish and muddy, not sharp and responsive like a good melee fighting system should be. Denz and Esteban are able to use a huge range of weapons, from swords and maces to axes and spears, in various combinations. But all weapons play almost exactly the same, differing only visually. Stabbing someone with a spear thrust should not feel the same as bashing them across the helmet with a mace strike, but they play out in much the same way.
Having such a variety of armaments available means very little when the only differences between them are purely cosmetic.
TrophiesSuccessfully complete one of the following tasks to get a trophy:Symphony of Hell (Platinum): Get all the trophies of The Cursed Crusade! We Are the Champions, My Friend (Bronze): Win the Tournament of Ecry. A Templar Rides into a Forest.
(Bronze): Clear 'Forest Roads' in any difficulty setting. Slow and Steady (Silver): Clear 'The Road to the Peninsula' without losing any of the soldiers pushing the ballista. Make the Voices Stop (Bronze): Clear 'The Fall of Zara' in any difficulty setting. A Change of Perspective (Bronze): Clear 'The Capitolium' in any difficulty setting. Innocent Blood (Bronze): Defend Constantinople's civilians! Demon Slayer (Bronze): Clear 'Hagia Sophia Basilica' in any difficulty setting. Unstoppable (Bronze): Perform a 50 hit combo.
End of the Chain (Bronze): Perform a 100 hit combo. Deflection Master (Bronze): Deflect 30 attacks with the Deflection Counter! Evasive Maneuvers (Silver): Dodge 30 Guard Breaks! That Man's On Fire (Bronze): Acquire the power Purifying Fire! Roar of Flames (Bronze): Acquire the power Roaring Flames! Maelstrom of Fire (Bronze): Acquire the power Fire Maelstrom!
Live by the Sword (Bronze): Master the One-Handed Sword! Hatchet Man (Bronze): Master the One-Handed Axe! Mace Effect (Bronze): Master the One-Handed Mace! Knight in Shining Armor (Bronze): Master the Sword and Shield technique!And My Axe! (Bronze): Master the Axe and Shield technique! Classic Cleric (Bronze): the Mace and Shield technique!
Overcompensating (Bronze): Master the Two-Handed Sword! (Bronze): Master the Two-Handed Axe! Saint Longinus (Bronze): Master the Spear!
Greek Poetry in Motion (Bronze): Master the Spear and Shield technique! What's Better Than One Sword? (Bronze): Master the Double Sword technique! Axes of Evil (Bronze): Master the Double Axe technique! Blunt Trauma (Bronze): Master the Double Mace technique! Cutsman (Bronze): Master the Sword and Axe technique!
Offense is the Best Defense (Bronze): Master the Sword and Mace technique! Unconventional Assault (Bronze): Master the Axe and Mace technique! Master of War (Gold): Master all the martial techniques! Strong as a Spanish Cow (Silver): Enhance your character's Strength to its maximum! Cursed and Loving It (Silver): Enhance your character's Templar's Curse to its maximum! Weapons of Mass Purification (Silver): Enhance your character's Weapon Mastery to its maximum! Playing the Tortuga (Silver): Enhance your character's Armor Mastery to its maximum!
Was That Supposed to Hurt? (Silver): Enhance your character's Constitution to its maximum!
One-Man Army (Gold): Enhance all of your character's statistics to their maximum! The Cursed Crusader (Bronze): Clear the game on any difficulty setting.
The Cursed Templar (Gold): Clear the game on the 'Nightmare' difficulty setting. Cross the Crosses (Silver): Find all the Blood Crucifixes! Gold Before Glory (Gold): Find all the coffers!Additionally, there is one secret trophy:Here's Your Trophy! (Bronze): Find the ninth Blood Crucifix!