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Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Crusty Demons

Crusty Demons
by Simon Windmill
October 18, 2006

Satan himself designed the controls.

Reviewed for XBOX.

Also available for PS2.

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Scroll down for our Kid Factor.

GamerDad Seal Of Approval - Adult.  Click to learn more about our review seal. The ESRB Says...
Blood: Buckets of it. Getting the biggest blood smear is a gameplay element.
Violence: You're injuring yourself and running over pedestrians in a graphic (if over the top) manner.
Strong Language: All four letter words used frequently.
Sexual Themes: Prostitutes, incest jokes, video of barely-clothed women, rude gestures.

The Crusty Demons of Dirt is the name of a real-world series of videos featuring the death-defying antics of a group of freestyle motorcross riders. It's one part off-road motorcycle riding, several parts crazy tricks, stunts, and tomfoolery. Crusty Demons is a terrible videogame loosely based on these films and their stars.

The idea shows promise. The Crusty Demon boys all made a pact with the Devil, signing over their souls in exchange for the ability to cheat death time and time again in their stunts. They can win their souls back by completing "the Damnation Game", which involves traveling the world and doing damage to themselves via bike tricks. The game borrows elements from three popular franchises: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's tricks for points system, Grand Theft Auto's open levels and missions, and Burnout's turbo rewards for dangerous behavior. The physics system provides oodles of tasteless comedy as your body hurtles off the bike at high speeds and into obstacles, rewarding you according to how gruesome your injuries are. And just like the real Crusty Demon tours, you get to swap out that dirt bike for all manner of goofy-looking mini-vehicles, from ice-cream trucks to "pimp cars".

The real demon in this game is the control scheme. Buttons are arranged in such a manner that you can't easily pull off tricks while maintaining your speed, something that the game requires you to do pretty much all the time. It's ruined by poor controls.

Then there's the difficulty. It's not particularly hard, but incredibly frustrating. Sure, the crashes are fun, except when you're trying to win a race and are flying off the bike every couple of yards. The camera appears to have a mind of its own, and you fail missions because you can't see what's going on. While there's a map, it's not always available and it can be difficult to figure out where you're supposed to be going.

If this were merely a bad game, these problems wouldn't matterï¾—you'd just move on to a better title. But there's just enough fun here (or at least the promise of fun) to keep you playing, hoping that you'll get used to the controls and the camera and everything will be fine. This never happens.


Click to learn more about GamerDad's Kid Factor review section. Just about every form of objectionable content has been included here, so this is very much an adult-only zone. Blood splatters everywhere in impressive smears and sprays, both as a result of your own crashes and from any innocent pedestrians you happen to plow into.

Women are very much objectified, from the street-walking prostitutes in the New York level to the entire Amsterdam red light district. Real-world video footage can be unlocked, showing both dangerous stunts and barely-clothed girls. Racial stereotypes appear in abundance, with black pimps and Italian gangsters, for example. It's all wrapped up in a container of tasteless humor, and while the juvenile nature makes it perfect for teens, it's just too raw for that age group

This review edited by Dave Long

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Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Crusty Demons
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Game Info:
Platform(s):
XBOX, PS2

ESRB rating:
M - Mature

Blood, Violence, Strong Language, Sexual Themes

Score:






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