Wild West games are in vouge now, and there are many new takes on the genre such as the open world take by certain games. That said, other variations exist as well, such as Ritual Crown of Horns, an arcade style twin stick shooter set in the weird west. It has a simple premise, where you are sent by government forces to stop someone, only to be betrayed and must now fight your way to vengeance. It takes that premise and runs with it, to create an intense shooter that will challenge even the most hardcore of players.
You play in horde style stages, with small areas full of enemies that you must take out in a short time. These enemies start out small but grow overwhelming towards the end while the areas start out as very generic before gradually becoming more diverse. There is something to take into account though, in that you have an ally in the form of a witch that you must keep safe at all costs while she is conducting her ritual. As the time counts down and her ritual is nearly finished, the enemy waves become far more intense until it is complete. It sounds a simple still, but the witch will move around the area and keeping track of everything will be much more difficult.
There are of course a lot of weapons to use in these fights. You start out with a small arsenal, but soon gain new weapons and spells that require some more strategy to use. For instance, spells require you to collect souls to use them. The souls are obtained from killing your enemies and the more souls you get, you can kill more enemies with your spells. You can also get new gear from the Witch in order to give yourself more of an advantage to deal with the sheer brutality of the enemies,
Ritual Crown of Horns is an interesting game overall. There is a strong horror atmosphere, but things feel a bit lacking at times. I like the arcade style gameplay, but the horror aspects are just kind of there. The difficulty of the game doesn’t feel connected to the horror elements, and while the story is okay, it does feel a bit generic in some ways also. I guess the best way to sum this up is to play the game and skip the story as much as you can. The hardcore twin stick action will more than satisfy you and make the game worth your time.
In conclusion. Ritual Crown of Horns is a mixed bag but has enough good that I say give it a shot. Just be aware of what you are getting.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided