Today I am reviewing Charlie Murder for Microsoft. Charlie Murder is an action role-playing beat 'em up video game developed by Ska Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 and Ska Studios for PC.

You will play as a member of a Punk band competing against a rival act and they've made a pact with a demon in an attempt to destroy Charlie Murder and his band. The game can be played solo or with four players locally or online. Once you've selected one of the five playable characters you're thrown into a whole host of melee carnage ranging from street fights, bar brawls, and even quick-time events as your band plays gigs. You have light and heavy attacks you can jump grab and use a variety of melee or ranged weapons as and when you find them. The game feels like those old beat-em-up games from the arcade days like double Dragon, Final Fight, and Streets of Rage. It's fast-paced, relentless, and full of comedy sound effects.

As you progress you acquire hearts and coins and you can use skill points to level up, your stats your character can equip various pieces of clothing that will boost your abilities in combat and you can also take photos of things in the environment to obtain unique items. The game is broken down into levels that can be accessed via the world map there are boss fights, vehicle based levels, and also musical interludes with the band, and as I said it can be played solo but to be honest the game is really meant to be played with others. Online co-op however was very unreliable and if you're going to play co-op I'd recommend a local session or just playing solo.The game is a bit dull for solo players the levels do get very repetitive and the online co-op is incredibly unreliable and glitchy. while on

Graphically, the game has a hand-drawn style which is very unique. The characters they're quirky and weird they have some resemblance to animation like salad fingers in terms of the style and also the dark undertones. The music is a bit of a mixed bag however, some of the tracks the band plays are horrendous whereas others aren't actually that bad. The sound effects are brilliant and it's genuinely a game that doesn't take itself too seriously and has a lot of comedy in terms of the audio. It's a fun multiplayer beat 'em up with a retro arcade style. The game has a decent progression system the quick time events and level variety are very good and it's a unique and quirky experience.

Final Thoughs

Charlie murder is a throwback to beat-em-ups of years gone by like Streets of Rage and Double Dragon but the game adds more depth with leveling up, gear weapons, and customization partnered with a twisted sense of humor. It's an absolutely bonkers game and it's one that's a whole lot of fun Although it does get repetitive quite quickly. For me, the experience was at its best played with friends and if you've got three mates to join you then charlie murder is a great laugh to play. However, solo I'd say you will lose interest in that fairly quickly but it's a very fun game. Ska Studios who made this are one of the best developers. They developed Salt and Sanctuary which is impeccable and they did Vampire Smile which is also just awesome. This game probably isn't up to the standard of those two but that's not to say this is bad, this is just not as good as them but it's still a very good old-school type beat 'em up.