Ritual: Crown of Horns

Ritual: Crown of Horns is a challenging yet hugely rewarding western-horror themed action game which will go down well with veterans of the 'horde' genre. The difficulty bar may be set a tad too high for casual play, and some people will never get used to the mechanics, but everybody else will have a gun-slinging blast with this one.

Ritual: Crown of Horns is a punchy shooter that’s satisfying to play. It’s got a great story for those who want to experience it, and it’s a real looker. As I mentioned at the start of this review, you will emerge from the game as something completely different to when you started it.

Ritual: Crown of Horns is an exciting game, especially as the slaughter of zombies and monsters is accompanied by exciting music. But the game eventually falls victim to various restrictions. Perhaps if the developers could spend more time and budget on their game, the end product would be more acceptable than it is now.

Ritual: Crown of Horns proposes a mix of frantic, demanding action with a loony plot and a decent gameplay mechanic. While the game's visual environment could be more appealing to the eye, there is enough action here to satisfy fans of twin stick shoot'em ups. The game won't make inroads beyond that audience, though - its exaggerated difficulty level and somewhat repetitive nature will put off those who don't tend to gravitate towards such games.

Ritual: Crown of Horns is an enjoyable experience, but one that seems determined to frustrate through its unforgiving difficulty and repetitive nature. Its soul is saved, though, by an grimly pretty art style and satisfying, punchy gunplay.

Ritual Crown of Horns is a title where direct action is your main base, undertake this adventure of revenge in the Wild West, use all your arsenal of weapons and spells to finish off the enemy.

While interesting and certainly unique, Ritual: Crown of Thorns wears down the player with relentlessly punishing difficulty. While the concept and story are a hoot, in the end the gameplay can't sustain interest. Instead of feeling rewarded by advancing to new levels, players must often backtrack and play previous difficulty levels repeatedly. Frankly, there are just too many other ways that I would rather be spending my time.

A twin-stick shooter that calls for metered shots and temperament. A wild west much wilder than in our wildest dreams, an ocean of adrenaline and huge amounts of diazepam to calm the nerves of each countdown. Feardemic have got a game that leaves a mark.

A promising top-down shooter with imaginative features and a western-horror atmosphere was ruined by a truly unbalanced difficulty and stereotype.

There is some fun to be had here but the increasingly brutal difficulty makes this game hard to recommend to anyone other than someone dead set on trying every twin stick shooter out there.