Cross of the Dutchman (PC) Review

The story of Cross of the Dutchman is a classic case of man rising against tyranny, but with a twist of comedy to compliment the indie cartoony art style. In many instances, Pier will break the fourth wall, or, actually, prevent others from breaking the fourth wall during text tutorials; when a character demonstrates how the stamina bar functions, the hero accuses them for lunacy.

The environments and characters are all coloured beautifully well, and certainly sell the atmosphere of a cartoony 1500s Europe, with treasure chests filled and loaded with pieces of gold for Pier to upgrade and power up in the battle against the Saxons. Unfortunately, the peaceful times begin and end there, as the paths and roads are linear with a lot of walking in between. Enemies don't seem to appear very often unless progressing through the story and doing side missions to further supplement upgrade resources.

The animations of the characters are disappointing; arms sway statically, and, overall, the walk and run cycles look wonky and awkward. Travelling is certainly an issue on multiple planes, as Pier is a very slow runner; patience is strongly recommended during the ordeal of travelling from point A to point B. In addition, his footsteps are pronounced very loudly.

Where Cross of the Dutchman has left a wound in environmental structure, it manages to continue its theme of disappointment into the meat of the game: the combat. Pier is known for his incredible brute strength, which remains true in his prowess in combat. All of his combat options are an exemplary display of pure manly destruction upon man, from flailing his arms around in a whirlwind, to crushing his fists together, sending a shockwave to destroy his aggressors. However, the mechanics are crippled and feel very lazy. There is no good tracking when executing an attack. The player must be very precise when attacking; just being off a little may not connect hits with conventional attacks, but, luckily, this issue is remedied when attaining the sword much later into the game.

Special attacks are very effective against large amounts of enemies, as they always seem to hit in a wide radius or arch; however, in order to execute a special attack, it requires the use of the stamina bar - a classic concept, but in Cross of the Dutchman, the stamina bar is depleted instantly after one special attack use. Combat difficulty can be exploited in some instances due to the fact that health loss can be regenerated if the player "kites" enemies until health is fully restored. "Kiting" enemies looks absolutely embarrassing for the Dutchman, involving large men running around in circles as evasion takes place; the combatants appear as if they are playing tag.