Crossbow Crusade Review

Crossbow Crusade tells the story of a legendary monster hunter, armed with his trusty crossbow and coat, on a mission to survive the slaughter through the Dead Kingdom. You’ll need to save a dying country riddled with hordes of blood-soaking monsters.

Crossbow Crusade is a 2D action platformer where players will need to go from point A to point B of each level by killing enemies, collecting coins and survive treacherous obstacles. While your crossbow is your only weapon, it does have other benefits.

You’ll sometimes find heads hanging from wires; you’ll be able to shoot arrow into them and use them as a temporary platform to jump larger gaps. In later levels, it’ll also be used to “push” hanging cages that can, also, be used as platforms to reach further platforms.

While coins can be used at the merchant to purchase upgrades to your crossbow, if you collect 200, it’ll rewards players with a ticket… which the game does not explain the purpose of them. While at first, you’d think it acts as lives, I never managed to see a game over screen which means there’s seemingly infinite lives.

When it comes to crossbow upgrades, don’t expect anything too revolutionary. It’ll only increase the speed in which you’ll fire your arrows. You can purchase three additional upgrades; as demonstrated next to your health bar. Speaking of which, you cannot refil your health, so you have to survive on a single bar. Thankfully, there are a few checkpoints in each level.

The game looks great with its 16-bit 2D pixelated visuals. Level design is a bit repetitive however and as you progress further, the color palette changes, but the same style remains. There’s a decent enemy variety for such a short experience. Bosses are nice, but not really imposing; look like taller versions of regular enemies. Some enemies, especially bats, who are dark grey, easily mesh with the background and can be missed. The soundtrack is fine but nothing special; sounds like a forgettable stock score.

The game is peppered with a few nuisances. It did crash a few times, but thankfully, didn’t make me lose progress. Also the jump button doesn’t properly respond at all times. Also while aiming up, if you don’t release the d-pad (or joystick) completely, the protagonist will keep aiming up leaving you open to attacks; this is quite important when it comes to boss fights. Also the merchant wasn’t always open for business, meaning I got locked out from an achievement.

Crossbow Crusade is a fun, fairly challenging 2D action platformer. It offers a perfect balance of combat and platforming. This game is also the perfect experience to your on your speedrunning skills. It’s also a pretty easy to 1000Gs if the merchant wants to cooperate. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but for the price, Crossbow Crusade is a fun and addictive experience.