The new DLC features a new character, Paint Junior, who can manifest “powerful art” to defeat enemies and new artwork for all playable characters and their weapons. The latter makes the models look more contemporary, though you can turn them off.

However, perhaps the most significant new addition is the integration of Steam Workshop and the ability to create knight skins. One can then share these with other players, expanding the customization to a whole new degree.

Stay tuned for more details and the release date for Painter Boss Paradise in the coming months. Castle Crashers is available for Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. Check out our review of the original version here.

Alien Hominid HD is a remastered release of the original Alien Hominid, which made its debut around 21 years ago as a flash game on Newgrounds. The game, featuring hand-drawn animations and side-scrolling actions went on to form what would become a signature of the studio’s general style, especially when compared to its future releases like Castle Crashers.

Of the two releases, Alien Hominid Invasion is a new title that will feature a variety of options for fans of co-op side-scrolling action games. Alongside its general gameplay, the title also offers a variety of difficulty levels, with the difficulty being set per-player, allowing those playing on Friendly difficulty to play with those playing on Insane.

"Lots of people seem to think that we would never make a sequel for any of our games, but that simply isn’t true. We might make one someday, but it would have to absolutely hit all the right points at the right times."

What motivated the decision to revisit and reimagine Alien Hominid HD?

It’s been 16 years since Alien Hominid HD launched. During that time, a lot has changed for us. We first started noticing that the game wasn’t as accessible anymore due to generations of consoles fading out, and when we thought about how we wanted to make sure the “Alien” carried on, we realized that we now had the experience to make a game that was much improved from our earliest days — to take everything we’ve learned since then and rethink it. When we put together a prototype it ended up being too much fun for us to pass up!

Given that you’re revisiting this property, are you also considering taking it forward in the future with sequels and the like?

Lots of people seem to think that we would never make a sequel for any of our games, but that simply isn’t true. We might make one someday, but it would have to absolutely hit all the right points at the right times. If we ever do, we want it to be something that is greatly improved instead of just more of what we’ve already done, which means we need to keep gaining experience and growing as a team.

What sort of a balance are you looking to strike between older content that’s been redesigned and completely new content?

The original Alien Hominid HD by comparison was quite frankly brutal. It had one-hit-kills, getting locked on the screen with your threats, and very little wiggle room if any. All of those particular aspects are completely different in the new Alien Hominid Invasion — a health system with slow regeneration, complete freedom of movement, and just enough wiggle room to shake a stick at. We’ve also implemented 3 different difficulties to choose from, and up to 4 players online or offline (the original was up to 2 players)!

Making improvements to the game while maintaining the flavor was the key focus. Base abilities were rethought completely but carefully. For instance, the dig used to be a straight-down drill into the ground which then had you sitting in place. The new dig allows you to keep moving quickly underground, with the option to pop up from under enemies and knock them off balance. You can also not only dive through the air, but dive out of the air and smoothly transition right into dig-mode!

"There definitely are a lot of weapons for you to gain clearance to and try out as your invader grows."

Given that each individual player can set their own difficulty level even during co-op play, how does the game deal with balancing in terms of things like enemy health, progression, combat encounters and the like in such cases?

A player’s difficulty level directly ties in with their health system; for example, players on Insane only have 40% of the base health, while players on Friendly have 200%. Players in co-op games will retain their individual difficulty settings while playing together.

How much variety can players expect from Alien Hominid Invasion as far as weapons and their design are concerned?

There definitely are a lot of weapons for you to gain clearance to and try out as your invader grows. Just a sampling of them includes a photon gun, a shotgun, split laser, ice shot, and even a sword. Weapons have different strengths or weaknesses; where this gets extra interesting is that you can build your character around those strengths and weaknesses. The guns are really just the start of it, though!

Boosts, mutations, and heads all have different kinds of stats on them which are randomized on each drop of that item. I might find something that changes the way my gun works — a higher clip size or reload speed, or maybe more range or crit chance. Depending on what weapon I have and what my playstyle is I can build my alien to support a variety of tactics.

Each player experiences a different reward system as they level up; for instance, I might find the photon gun while you find the minigun at the same level. Rewards for levels are shuffled to enhance a multiplayer experience for each player while also making the solo experience exciting!

You’ve said that Alien Hominid Invasion is a non-linear experience- can you elaborate on that particular aspect of the game a little bit? 

Players will find themselves creating their own destructive path through a city. From there, each level they select will be randomly generated from an assortment of handcrafted city-blocks. We want to create a different experience for players every time they play so that they’re always kept on their tiny alien toes!

"While there is a story, the focus is on rampaging around for as long as you’d like. There’s a big emphasis on replayability! "

Roughly how long will an average play through of Alien Hominid Invasion be?

While there is a story, the focus is on rampaging around for as long as you’d like. There’s a big emphasis on replayability!

Do you have any plans to launch on PS4?

We’d always like to bring our games to more platforms! This is going to be our first ever simultaneous launch to three platforms, and we’re excited by that challenge; after that, we’ll have to see where the future of the game takes us.

Given that next-gen consoles are right around the corner, have you given any thought to next-gen ports for the game?

We always like to bring our games to new platforms whenever we can! It’s still a bit too early to say, but we’ll have to see!

It was way back in 2004 when Alien Hominid was originally released. It was the first major title from developer The Behemoth. A new re-imagining of the title was announced earlier in the year called Alien Hominid Invasion, reviving the shooter for a new generation. Now we got our first look at this revival with the frantic gameplay fans will find familiar.

The gameplay got highlighted with two different pieces of footage. One is with a brief trailer that shows a quick highlight from the developers. There was also an extended look at the gameplay that was uploaded via Gematsu. Both of those you can see below.

The game will feature up to four player co-op both locally and online. It seems it also includes non-linear and randomly generated levels. It’ll undoubtedly have the frantic pace and difficulty of the original whenever it does launch on Xbox One, Switch and PC. No time frame was mentioned for when to expect it, so we’ll keep you updated.

Yesterday, we got word that The Behemoth would be unveiling their fifth game soon. It came with a small tease featuring a background that many speculated hinted at some type of follow up to or revisit of the developer’s breakout hit, Castle Crashers. Well, we now know what the game is, and it sees The Behemoth go back even further in their past with Alien Hominid Invasion.

Alien Hominid was The Behemoth’s first major title and saw several re-releases and remasters. This new game is a reimagining that features all new gameplay, progression, and a focus on cooperative play. You can see the announcement teaser below.

There was no time frame or date given for when we can expect Alien Hominid Invasion, only that it will come to PC and as of yet unspecified consoles. More information and game footage will be revealed at PAX East 2020 (February 27th to March 1st) and EGX Rezzed 2020 (March 26th to 28th).

The Behemoth have created some pretty interesting little games. They started gaining traction with Alien Hominid, but their big breakout hit was Castle Crashers all the way back in 2008 for the Xbox 360 (though the game did eventually come to multiple consoles with a remaster from a few years ago). Now it seems the time has come for their next title, and it is going to be unveiled very soon.

As announced via their official Twitter account, The Behemoth have confirmed their next game will be announced this Thursday, January 30, at 5 PM Pacific Time. The tweet in question came with a humorous video that takes the piss out of countdown clocks.

The company released Pit People in 2018 for Xbox One and PC and has since been pretty quiet. The background of the video in the tweet seems to invoke Castle Crashers, but The Behemoth has done a different genre with each new release, so it’s not a sureshot that they will attempt something they’ve already done before. Whatever it’ll end up being, we’ll keep you updated when more information comes out.

New game announcement Thursday, January 30th at 5:00 PM PT
Watch the reveal live on https://t.co/h7sPxsJSmF#Game5 pic.twitter.com/b1N0TuS1uH

— The Behemoth (@thebehemoth) January 29, 2020

It’s hard to believe nowadays, but not that long ago indie games weren’t readily available, and many options that indie developers have to produce their games weren’t readily available. Microsoft helped to open the floodgates, at least in the console space, with their Xbox Live Arcade. One of the games that was a pioneer there was Castle Crashers, and it’s about to make a comeback with a new remaster.

Announced via developer’s The Behemoth’s blog, the remastered version of the game will release early next week. It will include all the DLC for the original game, improved graphics and framerate and a new mulitplayer mode called Back off Barbarion that hasn’t been detailed yet, but that the developer promises will be a weird, fun time in line with the main game.

Castle Crashers Remastered launches for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on September 17th. The game is available now for Xbox One and PC.

The Behemoth has confirmed today that Castle Crashers Remastered, the remaster of the classic game that first hit Xbox One in 2015, will be coming to Nintendo Switch and PS4 later this year. The remaster includes enhanced graphics, 60fps gameplay, all the content in the original release, all the DLC, plus a brand new multiplayer mode called Back off Barbarian, which The Behemoth describes as “frantic and weird”.

Additionally, Castle Crashers Remastered will also support platform-specific features on Switch and PS4. The PS4 version uses the light bar on the DualShock 4 (seriously), colouring it to match the color affinity of your character. Which is… a bit useless as features go? But at least someone remembered to use that light bar I guess.

The Switch version supports HD Rumble, which is only slightly less useless as platform specific gimmicks go. It also supports four player local co-op via Joycons, which is far more useful.

On the whole, though, the original game is a classic, the remaster even more so, and I’m just glad more people will be able to play it now. You can check out a trailer for it for yourself below.

Castle Crashers and Battleblock Theater developer The Behemoth has finally released its newest, weird game Pit People for Xbox One and PC via Steam. Having spent a little over 400 days in Early Access, the turn-based/tactical strategy title caught players’ attention with its combination of solid turn-based combat, exploration and bizarre themes.

Let’s start with the story. A giant space bear is reigning havoc down on a peaceful planet, including tormenting our hero Horatio. When Horatio’s son is presumably killed by the space bear, he undertakes a journey of revenge, meeting allies like Pipistrella and growing in strength. There are also certain aspects like a bizarre giraffe that hands out tool-tips, strange buff warriors in a space shuttle, Death himself and much more to contend with.

The full release of Pit People features over 100 missions and quests, 200 regions to explore, over 1500 items to unlock, 2 player local and online co-op and much more. There are also Insane and Permadeath Modes for players who truly want to feel challenged. Check out some of the changelog notes below.

Update 6 Changelist

For early access players, the full release is also known as Update 6. The changelist below covers all of the improvements and additions since Update 5 and the Update 5a hotfix.

*Spoiler Alert*
Some listed changes may include info from quests that newer players haven’t experienced yet. Read at your own discretion!

Major content:

Final Four Multi-part Story Quests added. Pick up where you left off!
New story cinematics to go along with the newly added story quests.
New Pipistrella introduction cinematic (in tutorial levels)
One new World Map (that holds 15 new Bonus Missions) added.

Quality of life changes:

• Favorites can now be marked in the House and will be listed first if sorted.
• Your wagon now displays your location on the Survival Guide map.
• Gate menu reworked for buying items and selecting Quests on the Questboard.
• The HUD shown while traveling has been compacted and aligned.
• Permadeath icon is now shown while traveling if playing in Permadeath.
• World Maps (WM) now have names in the Survival Guide for easy reference.
• New items added for creatures and humans.
• Colored text now has a dark grey outline for easier reading.
• Advanced and non-advanced cursor information art has changed.
• AI planning hexes are more subtle so they do not visually compete.
• Tweaked a large amount of dialogue in world map missions and story missions.
• Minor adjustments to introduction levels.
• Cinematic replaced in introduction levels.
• New icons added into the How To Play help section.
• More varied Unfair Challenge enemy teams, added 102 new teams.
• Consistency fixes:
  -Made sure “Red” is wearing the Raspberry cake batter skin in all places (she
  was still using the Strawberry skin in Hardboil part 3).
  -Changed appearance of “Kindness” WM entity in quest file to match “Kindness”everywhere else.
  -Added new “DianeHealed” entity to swap out with “Diane” entity once she’s
  Healed.
  -Stage 1 battle of Sid the Necromancer quest (Lt. Splurt) now takes place in
  a random WM terrain appropriate to the region Splurt catches you.
  -Updated Gwennifer Blobbins to use the Blue Crew decoration helmet.
• Non-elite NPCs on the world map now speak in that fighter type’s language rather than a standard alert sound when they spot you. Elite NPCs play original enemy alert sound.
• Quest Dialog Yosef frames should all now flip the hair of the character based on the first player’s Yosef hair selection from the arena tutorial.
• Lots of non-gore art added for players who choose non-gore gameplay setting.
• Scrumptious now awarded in spoils under certain condition.
• Changed some requirements when attacking Scrumptious.
• The ‘elite’ augment will now utilize red tint colors, so if an elite fighter is recruited they should retain their red tint (but not the elite particle effect) when you get back to the house. They do not keep any of their elite stat bonuses either, just their tint color.
• New potential Spoils from missions
  -Red & Nwar are now obtainable in the quest, “Get Smart”.
  -Gave Mushmancer his new Mush Masher mallet in mission, “Portabello Prayers”.
  -Added new ending sequence in Fresh and the Radicals with Hagatha and Nagatha that results in the player being awarded Nagatha in spoils.
  -Sizzle Baron equipped with Excalibeef is now obtainable in quest, “Meat & Greet”.
  -Lumberjim is now obtainable in the mission, “Fort Ruffage”.
  -Primo is now obtainable during the mission, “Brunch with Death”.
  -Clortho now appears in the mission, “Sid the Necromancer” if the quest, “Grey Matters” is completed.
  -Player is now awarded “Much Glamour” troll skin and “Fabulous” troll mom skin in spoils if they defeat Madame Megabat before the creature evolves at All.
  -Hotfix, Fungax and McCaffrey are now obtainable in the quest, “Invalid Loggin’”.
  -Prince Sipitation can now be obtained during the mission, “Champ of the Damp”.
• Improved World Map escort NPC teleport if they get too far behind —
• Previously escort NPCs would check their distance from the wagon and teleport to it. However, if we have multiple followers, then each one needs to check the distance to the one it is following and teleport to that position rather than to the wagon.
• Standardized danger icons that appear on quest giver entities for WM quests — standardized the danger icons that appear on quest entities in world map quests. Quest entities that trigger a battle will show a danger icon underneath them. Quest entities that chase you (with a battle in mind) will show the danger icon underneath, and an alert icon over their heads when they notice you.
• Riders on Spidaurs can now dismount to their current location. This will cost one move, regardless of the type of terrain they are moving onto (because they need an order to mark the location as occupied).

If the Spidaur has moved from the current location, then the rider will see a potential destination showing that they can dismount at the current location, and they will see a destination footprint when they add the order.

If the Spidaur has not moved from the current location, then the rider will will see a potential destination, but when they add the move order they will see a conflict footprint until the spidaur is moved to another location.

Fighters riding Gnomes or powering Battle Cannons must still move from their current location in order to dismount.

• Added more special colored names.
• Gnomes will earn XP for healing friendly robots.
• Random battle terrain updates — Adjusted blue & red starting positions in various random battle terrains to prevent Troll Moms from starting in lava, terrain, etc.
• Fixed missing collisions on world maps and levels.
• New ambience (sound) added to the City and quests.
• Renamed a few fighter names. IE. Renamed “Cankles the Shoe Gnome” to just “Cankles”. “Peter Peter Child Eater” has been renamed to “Peter Child Eater” to prevent issues in menus. “Royal Pain” Gorgon skin is now the “Hisstory Maker”. “Rump Trumpet” was replaced with “Mayor Rumptrumpet”.
• Pandora’s weapon has been changed to the Demon Ball medium mallet.
• Added a knockback to the Speckled Horseman arrival location right when he lands to prevent the text pointing to him from being in the wrong location.
• Some side characters now appear in random world map encounters after completing story quests and are recruitable.
• Reworded some objectives in earlier story missions.
• The tournament reward helmets have been renamed.
• Small updates to battle zones throughout the world map.
• Updated world map names in the Survival Guide.
• A few SFX added to some City quests & World Map missions.
• Updated Mushroom, Hair Troll and Zombie recruit quests with new Whispers spawn Locations.
• New voice lines added for Octoclops fighters and Troll Babies (Troll Minis)

The Behemoth, known for classics like Battleblock Theater and Castle Crashers, has been busy developing its next quirky release Pit People in Steam Early Access. With “only” 409 days in Early Access, the developer has finally announced a release date for this turn-based strategy RPG. It arrives on March 2nd for Xbox One and PC.

In a recent blog post, The Behemoth noted that there will be a big launch update that wraps up the story (complete with cinematics). The revamped World Map will also receive 15 new bonus missions. Considering the game has received a fairly strong amount of content through Early Access in its lifespan, there’s quite a lot to look forward to.

Pit People is the tale of Horatio, a simple farmer who’s son is killed by a giant talking bear and who must battle space vikings, team up with a princess named Pipistrella and confront the various oddities of the world. Check out the release date announcement trailer below.