Xbox Gamer

Castle Crashers was released back in August 2008 and yet it still remains popular. This game is a great example of both the high demand for online multiplayer games and the success that the Xbox Live Arcade could bring to lesser known developers. Also, the DLC that was released for it not too long ago might have helped as well as it could have caused some old players to come back and persuade their friends who did not own the game yet, to join them.

If you still haven’t at least played the Castle Crashers trial, I strongly suggest you head over to the Xbox Live marketplace right now and get it as it’s well worth playing. The game seems simple but simplicity isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it’s a great thing in this title.  It’s one of the best 2D games out in the Xbox Live Arcade in my opinion. I give props to The Behemoth for coming up such a hit.

Casual puzzle games usually get boring after a few minutes and lose their touch quickly. However, there are some exceptions to this “rule” that I made, such exceptions include games such as Peggle! This game currently cost 800 MS Points and is quite fun. It also has multiplayer which adds some decent replay value to it. Another positive aspect is that while it’s a casual game, it does have some difficulty as well. The basic object of the game is to wipe out all the colored bricks/pegs of the color specified and a really awesome feature is that some epic music starts playing when there’s one peg/brick left. After that, the ball can fall into several holes, each containing a point boost. As for how limited the trial is, it lets you try out about 10 levels if I remember correctly and by the time it’s over you’ll be wanting to play the full version as it’s just that good.

Is it the best puzzle game ever? Probably not as Tetris is still more “classic” but that game becomes rather overwhelming after the first levels unlike Peggle which is more of a relaxed yet challenging game. Overall, I suggest you get the trial and see for yourself, it’s worth giving a try even if you’re not a puzzle game fan.

This is a good month for the Xbox Live arcade as there are some quite interesting titles such as Crystal Defenders which is Square Enix’s version of “Tower Defense” (the popular flash game that anybody who’s ever been bored online has played). Another interesting title to keep an eye on is The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai which hasn’t come out yet but is schedule for release later on this month (18th to be exact if I’m not mistaken). It will feature online co-op and it looks amazing so far based on the media I’ve seen for it. If you like Samurai side scrollers with a splash of red (blood) you’ll probably enjoy this game. I’ll be sure to get the trial once it’s out. As for the price, I’m not sure yet. I couldn’t find any official source stating it but I doubt it will be over 1200..

Uusually I’m not fond of these puzzle type games, but this one was actually quite fun. I was at first expecting the game to let you play as the purple creature, and eat everything in sight, however it’s a bit different than that. From what I saw in the trial, you can only play as the alien creature who controls The Maw via a leash. So technically you’re indirectly controlling The Maw. As for eating everything in sight, that is somewhat true and it’s also where the puzzle aspect of the game is introduced. Some creatures can’t be eaten right away, you might have to do something to them by picking them up with the leash or having The Maw grow to the next stage to be able to eat them. I won’t give away too much as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who has not played the game yet. I highly recommend giving the trial a download as it’s quite an interesting game. Unfortunately I’ve heard that the full version was rather short, but it does seem like an enjoyable experience. Overall, I’d have to play the full version to give it a more fair evaluation but from the trial it did seem like a good game and hopefully if they do make a sequel, it would be nice to see some sort of multiplayer mode. Perhaps a race to see who’s Maw can eat the most in a certain time span or something of that nature.