A polarizing shooter where the Multiplayer is broken, its single-player campaign is questionable at least and everything feels wrong. And no, it’s not either of the big three of the console market right now, but rather, we’re looking at Smilegate’s first entry onto the console scene, Crossfire X.
It’s frankly a mess, but there are some silver linings within this game, deep within its rigid structure of old-school design within a modern game.
Presentation
The game’s graphics look quite nice, for that’s all said and done. Both Smilegate and Remedy have utilized the Unreal engine to its fullest potential in terms of shooters. It’s particle effects, coupled with the destruction-able environment that Remedy’s Control was famous for, and while it doesn’t really translate well during the many multiplayer gunfights, it’s nice to see your arena crumble during it.
Though the drawbacks of using unreal and this many effects is that the game has terrible frame drops during an intense gunfight, especially on the Series S. There have been patches to stabilize the experience but couple it with its very narrow FOV (around 70ish), these are some issues that Smilegate need to address if they want a healthy fanbase moving forward.
There’s also the feature of its “Bullet Time” mechanic (but not called it due to licensing reasons) that you can use in the story campaign and it’s exactly like the one you have seen in both Max Payne and Quantum Break, which looks just as good as those game’s variants of this.
Audio design is Ok for the most part. But one thing to note is that the addition of a loud “twang” for each kill is an interesting choice that blends with the gameplay after a while but it brings a bit of charm to the schut game.
The Remedy Touch
So the meat of this weird shooter sandwich is the heavily marketed Remedy story campaign that brings upon some backstory towards the two main factions of the Crossfire series, the Black List and Global List. And boy is it BONKERS mad for a perhaps cheap clone of a Call of Duty campaign.
To some this might feel like a cheap cash grab for the likes of the Helsinki studio but for myself, it feels like a sort of spiritual callback of Remedy games of old, complete with outlandish shootouts, a laser filled traps level, and corny, yet somehow campy dialogue that feels comfortable within the realms of a B-movie action romp. And mostly, it is just that.
The main characters you play have little to no depth or motivations but hey, it’s fun to hear them do those inner dialogues that both Max Payne, Alan Wake, and even Jesse Faden like to do.
Speaking of which, most of the elements of Remedy’s past two games also help pad the runtime with some small radio shows highlighting the country both protagonist companies are doing their war in and even tidbits of background story via radio interviews. Small stuff like these makes world-building even more interesting.
In short, if you want to try out Crossfire X, just take in the story campaign. Mad crazy and very fast to complete too, if you are up for some mindless shooting fun.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Crossfire X is your standard first-person shooter affair, with scorestreaks that will be available to use if you have a certain amount of points, which even after the first patch is overpowering as all heck.
The Classic mode is a sort of nostalgic trip for those who had the chance to play the original PC title back in the early 2010s, and for better or worse. It’s exactly how you would play it with no aim down sights, the sniper being one-shot hit even on a body shot and a terrible FOV, it’s as if that cyber-cafe romp of the old days hasn’t left you at all. And the modern is no better either, with the same issues also present, now with aim-down sights as a feature.
It’s disappointing to play both modes that have little change between them, considering that only one mode contributes towards its Battle Pass, and that thing is a grindy mess even without the issues. Smilegate should rethink this system because it’s bad enough the game is bleeding players, but it’s astounding that the developers think that people would grind for this game like they used to.
Content
The Remedy campaign itself (both sides) is around 6 hours altogether, which is acceptable for a small romp like this one but the Multiplayer mode is such a disappointment at this point that, spending more than another 5 hours on it feels like a waste of time considering how tedious it is with only a handful of maps and a too bloated of a battle pass.
Personal Enjoyment
Weird as it might seem, but playing Crossfire X just for the Remedy mode is the only highlight for me as the multiplayer is not only pretty bland after the nostalgic trip wears off but it’s quite hectic when compared to the also hectic but enjoyable COD versions of the same game modes.
Maybe it’s Game Pass plus the Black List campaign (you have to buy that separately lol) is the only part that you would play from this game is my suggestion because its multiplayer isn’t as fun as that.
Conclusion
A game banking on Gamepass and nostalgia goes a bit wrong, Crossfire X could be a cheaper alternative to the big three of the console shooters but besides its bonkers campaign story that goes too fast, nothing really captivates the player-base to stick around after playing it for a few hours. Smilegate should work on it to make it better.
Played on Xbox Series S, Game is available on Xbox Game Pass.
Crossfire X
Banking on Gamepass and nostalgia goes a bit wrong. Nothing really the game has that could captivates the player-base to stick around after playing it for a few hour.
- Presentation 7
- Gameplay 6
- Content 5
- Personal Enjoyment 6