Corrupted
Developer: OnlyLuck Interactive
Genre: Action & Adventure
Available On: XBLIG
Co-Op Mode: Local (2 – 4 players)
Price: 240
($3)
Demo w/ Co-Op Available: Yes
Last week we reported on a particular indie co-op title that was receiving some interest from other gaming sites, so we figured it would be an excellent candidate for the next issue of Indie-Ana Co-Op. For anyone who enjoys the four-player madness of Behemoth’s Castle Crashers, OnlyLuck Interactive’s Corrupted serves as an excellent companion piece.
The game begins at a lovely wedding between Knight and Princess. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when the evil Hooded Figure shows up, eats the princess, and turns some of the attendees into his minions (that’s you). As a mere minion, your boss tasks you to travel across the land in search of additional princesses, to which you must fight your way, in order to feed them to Hooded Figure so that his powers may grow. Why doesn’t he just do it himself? Well, as he so kindly points out to you, that wouldn’t be much of a game, now would it?
While Corrupted does have an entertaining self-referential sense of humor, it is the gameplay that truly makes Corrupted worth picking up and playing. The game plays a lot like Castle Crashers, with players hacking and slashing or firing arrows into groups of enemies that pour in from the edges of the screen, while having a kind of Ikari Warriors-type retro vibe. Using special “Corruption” powers that can freeze enemies or set them on fire, attacks can be boosted to add that extra little bit of death-dealing that’s needed when surrounded by a bunch of do-gooders. Additionally, each minion has a special power-up bar that fills as you kill foes (and fills faster the more foes you kill without being hit) and allows them to unleash a whirl of blades or a hail of arrows to make quick work of those that stand in your way. In other words, you are given everything you need to rain some ill-intended destruction upon the lands.
Your minion, in all his sketchy glory
The icing on the cake to all of this is that all of these abilities are upgradeable. In between levels, you can visit Smithy, Hooded Figure’s belt buckle, and pay him gold to enhance your melee and ranged attacks, as well as your Corruption powers. The enhancements to those powers actually introduce some of the better co-op aspects of the game. While the mix of ranged and up-close combat already provides some tactical methods for working with your partner(s) to clear out all resistance, the Corruptions powers, after just one level of upgrade, add to this by giving each minion an aura whenever the powers are activated. Thus, if one minion activates his fire Corruption powers, all nearby players also receive the benefits of that power. There’s more mixing of ice and fire in one co-op session than in an entire “song” devoted to that topic!
Without a doubt, like other indie co-op titles we've previously examined, Corrupted stands out as an excellent addition to any gamer’s library and is an absolute steal at the $3 asking price.
Wrap-Up
People Who Liked Corrupted Also Liked: Traditional beat ‘em up/hack-n-slash action games with RPG elements and a sense of humor
The Co-Op Experience: Players control their own minion (whose upgrades are individually saved) and work together to wrong the rights and imperil the fair maiden
Got a favorite indie co-op game? Want to talk about it? Head over to the forums and let us know! Your contributions will be part of an upcoming Indie-Ana Co-Op article!