E3 2013: Hands-On with ‘Crimson Dragon’

Leading up to Microsoft’s highly anticipated press conference, they promised that it would be all about the games. In that sense, they delivered, since plenty of new and old titles alike were announced for the upcoming Xbox console. But while everyone was losing their minds over Killer Instinct and Halo 5, most of my excitement was focused on Crimson Dragon, a spiritual successor to the Sega classic, Panzer Dragoon. Once at the Xbox booth, I made sure to jump on board and see if it could live up to my high expectations.

Not since Panzer Dragoon Orta in 2003 has a game of this type been released. Best described as a rail shooter on the back of a dragon instead of in a plane, the demo took me through the heart of a volcano, chasing a pale white dragon and blasting whatever I could along the way. The final game will have six dragons, each with their own set of abilities, but for now, I had one dragon with one set of moves. The homing lasers locked on to multiple targets that were highlighted by the right stick’s cursor, while an electric blast drained the health of whatever unfortunate soul my cursor was attached to. Dodging with the shoulder buttons initiated a quick barrel roll, which was welcomed since my dragon was too slow to reliably dodge otherwise.

When it came to the two featured boss fights, each one was timed. Doing a certain amount of damage or actually defeating the boss was rewarded with extra food that would be used to upgrade the dragons. Sadly, the time limit in the demo was so short that it was nearly impossible to actually defeat them. I asked to see if these time limits were going to mandatory, and while they will be, the time limits will be about double what they were in the demo once the full game is finally released.

From what I’ve played, Crimson Dragon is looking promising. The punishing difficulty of the previous games seems to have been toned down, but whether or not the demo was just set to be more forgiving has yet to be seen. The cursors and dragon move too slow for my tastes, but considering that this game was designed with Kinect in mind, moving with my hands might be a lot more intuitive. However, I am happy to report that the new Xbox One controller feels comfortable to use.

But aside from these minor complaints, the frantic rail shooting from Panzer Dragoon is alive and well. Keep this one on your list of games to watch as the Xbox One launch draws closer.