Background Information
Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary or also known as Halo:CEA, and is actually a re-mastered version of the 2001 top selling game, Halo Combat Evolved. A first person futuristic shooter, allowing the player to take part in a human/alien war for survival.

Visual Style
It is clear that the visual style for this game is realistic, but in addition to this, this game has the unique feature of having the option of two visual styles. The 2001 visual graphics or the 2011 visual graphics. This option was put in place to allow player to reminisce with the halo that they once fell in love with.

Characters
As in most of the halo game, in Halo:CEA you take control of the armoured super soldier that is Spartan 117, Master Chief. As a 7ft biologically enhanced super soldier sporting the most advanced armour money can, you are able to able to really take it to the enemy. By creating a character like this the developers have made it plausable for player to take and recieve heaps upon heaps of damage.
Non-playable characters are aligned to the two sides of the war. On the human side there are marines that you fight alongside. You have no control of the marines however they will progress through the level with untill they die.
On the other side of side the barrel are the alien force called the covenant. The covenant forces are built of two races, elites and grunts. Grunts being small and weak and elites being tall, strong and considered a match for the Spartan Supersoldiers.

Interface
The user interfaces ties in with the game perfectly and could possibly be considered non-digetic. The player sees the game through the visor of Master Chief and it is implied such things as the ammo, the health bar and the radar are all part of the visor. By doing this the user interface doesnt feel like its in the way, it just feels like its part of the experiance of being a super soldier.


SinglePlayer/MultiPlayer
Single player model of this game allows players to control the Master chief as attemtps to save the world against the covenant. Multi-player comes in the form of 2 player co-op. The second player also plays as master chief, and assist the host player in thier campaign. I feel the co-op mode actually deducts from the overall experiance. Firstly it is a key part of the story that MasterChief is the only remaining supersoldier, so by adding in another simply undermimes the concept of the story, another issue with the co-op is the framerate. When playing in co-op mode the host can play as normal but the second player has a much lower framerate, this drastically hinders the quality of gameplay.


Player Actions
the game follows the usual "rules" of a first person shooter however have added their own flair. A key player action that may sound simple but became a key part of the halo gameplay is jumping. Being super soldier has its perks and one of them is jumping ridiculous hights. It was quickly discoverd that this was the best way to avoid dying, so halo players tend to jump....alot.

Castle Crashers

Background Information

Castle Crashers is the side scrolling, flash based xbox live arcade game created by Behemoth. The game uses the perfect combination of a side scroller with a hand drew flash based visual style to create truly unique gaming experience.

Visual Style

The best way to describe this games visual style would be "flash based cartoon". the fact was hand drew and developed in flash gives it a truly unique feeling and allows the player to feel as though they are playing a personal adaptation of the developers themselves.

This style compliments the fun, humorous personality that this game has. 

The use of a style such as this also reduces the overall size of the game. Because the graphics needed for the game are mostly simple bitmaps the can be saved at smaller file size thus reducing the size of the game, his can also lead to reduced loading times and a smoother framerate.

Each level of the games is also hand drew each one offering a new environment as you progress through the game. 

Interface

Following the trend, the user interface of the game is all hand drawn and does nothing to hide that act as it is the games defining style.

The main menu consists of a simple list of option for the user to choose. This is a classic menu style , appropriately used to keep to the simplicity of the game. As you can see on the left the font used in the menus is similar to that of hand written text, maintaining the fun, humorous, cartoony style of the game.

The in-game interface follows that of a traditional side scroller beat-em-up.

This more traditional style of interface is used because i will already feel known to the players having seen similar interfaces in other games, players do not have to glance to long at the GUI to find the information they need, this will improve player immersion and flow of gameplay.

Characters 

the player starts the game with a choice of 4 playable characters, the four knights, red, green, orange and blue each of them having their own magical powers aswell as individual starting weapons, however more playable characters can be unlocked completing several playthroughs of the game, as well as completing challenges and tasks.

the design frame of the characters is consistent throughout the game with playable characters and Non-playable characters the only exception being the "boss" characters. 

After the player has selected a character at start of their play through the player can upgrade their characters skills as they earn XP and rank up the level system.

Alongside the vast number number of unique playable characters, are a arsenal of unique weapons. Each with their own stats and most with a fun design.

Story

The narrative of the game allows the player to play as a hero on a quest to save the four kidnapped princesses and recover a magical stone that was stolen from the kings palace. On this quest you must defeat a vast variety of enemies (some scarier than others) four bosses and one final boss, the wizard that stole the stone.

Single-player/ Multiplayer Modes

The single player mode of Castle Crashers allows the player to take control of their selected character and use them to progress through the story of the game. the mulit-player is very much the same however this mode allows up to 4 players to all use their selected characters to progress through the story together. The players must share the kills,loot, money and XP. 

 Game Setting

The game is set in an unspecified fantasy world in a medieval era. With a world full of knights, castles, monsters, swords and shields. An already popular theme in games and TV, ideal for encapsulating players.

Challenges

The game itself the only set challenges are to complete the game, and collect everything. However more challenges come in the form of xbox achievements. Its these achievements add something extra for the player to aim for and achieve, and more importantly they increase the re-playability of the game. 

Achievements 

Icon	Name	Gamer Score	Trophy Type	Console	How to Unlock
	Kay Eye Ess Ess	15	Silver	Both	Win a kiss from all four princesses in a multiplayer game. (360) Collect all 4 princesses' kisses in a multiplayer game. (PS3)
	Traditional	20	Bronze	Both	Complete the game using any character.
	The Traitor	20	Bronze	Both	Defeat any boss by playing as one of his own minions.
	Deer Trainer	20	Bronze	Both	Navigate the Abandoned Mill without hitting any obstacles.
	Conscientious Objector	20	Silver	Both	Complete the Home Castle through the Barbarian Boss areas without attacking any enemies.
	Maximum Firepower	10	Bronze	Both	Using a catapult, fling a character with maximum power. (Flowery Field area)
	Animal Handler	20	Bronze	Both	Collect all 26 animal orbs. (360) Collect all the animal orbs. (PS3)
	Arena Master	15	Silver	Both	Win 40 Arena Ranked Matches.
	Glork	15	N/A	Xbox 360	Win 20 All You Can Quaff Ranked Matches.
	Social Networker	N/A	Bronze	PS3	Reach 20 hits in a single Volleyball rally.
	Melee Is Best	15	Bronze	Both	Defeat any boss without using any Magic.
	Treasure Hunter	20	Bronze	Both	Find and dig up 10 buried items.
	Medic	10	Bronze	Both	In a four-player game, resuscitate each of your fallen comrades at least once.
	You Are Insane	N/A	Gold	PS3	Complete Insane Mode and become the ultimate Castle Crasher.