While the game’s on-rails movement is mostly solid, the game greatly struggles with the free flight sections. These sections make you learn completely different controls, such as a speed up or slow down button, as well as the replacing of the barrel roll on the bumpers with a turn around move. This makes a lot of the free flight battles incredibly difficult, as it is hard to dodge the attacks of enemies without the barrel roll, especially with the abysmal camera angles in these sections.
Grounding Inc. chose to launch Crimson Dragon without a major feature that is supposed to be patched in at a later date, co-op multiplayer. Seemingly to push up the game to launch with the Xbox One, the feature was removed for launch so as not to miss the release date. This will be a very nice feature to have in the game when it is eventually added, as it could bring a little variety to the game with who you are playing with online.
While releasing as a launch title for the Xbox One, Crimson Dragon just doesn’t really stand out as a decidingly next generation game. The graphics seem like something you might have seen on the Xbox 360, which is what the game was originally scheduled to be released on. The graphics aren’t ever bad, they are just a little underwhelming for an Xbox One title. The early stages are pretty plain overall, but the level design does seem a lot more creative in the later areas, including an area that seemed reminiscent of the Death Star trench run.
In what may seem strange for the on-rails shooter genre, Crimson Dragon provides a fairly deep RPG-like level-up system. Perhaps being inspired by the RPG Panzer Dragoon Saga, this one utilizes the level-up system to allow you to raise both your dragon and your player during the game. You can easily gain EXP during each level that will eventually raise the level of both the dragon and player. The player levels allow you to purchase higher level dragons, which you must also raise individually. Raising the level of a dragon increases their stats, including attack, agility, and defense.
Beyond leveling up through stages, you will acquire a lot of EXP boosters throughout the game that you can use on your current dragon or even go level up the ones you aren’t personally using for the completionists. Dragons can also be evolved once you find certain items, which allows for even more growth. I personally just used my original dragon throughout the game that I raised to the max, rather than buy new dragons from the store when I grew in level, so it allows you to really decide how you want to play.
Crimson Dragon, while an Xbox One launch title, almost feels like something you would have found on the Xbox 360 late in its life. The on-rails shooter gameplay style is very fun and efficient most of the time, with a variety of different attacks at your disposal, but the free flight sections really disappoint in their limited use. The game does get pretty repetitive after awhile, except for a few bosses found late in the game that really stood out. With a limited library currently for the Xbox One and a cost of only $19.99, Crimson Dragon isn’t a half bad option for you to pick up and play, especially if you enjoyed the Panzer Dragoon series of games.
[Editor’s Note: Crimson Dragon was reviewed on the Xbox One platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]