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310:, which vary from one another mainly by the special magical attacks, called Anar-chi, that they can use. Anar-chi attacks include Tommy Homicide's ability to summon acid-coated buzzsaws and The Rexecutioner's ability to summon and use a debris-spitting drum kit. Players are able to use new abilities by visiting an in-game tattoo parlor. Tattoos, and the special abilities that they unlock, are character-specific. Players can also unlock new abilities, including additional combination attacks, group attacks, and the ability to use two weapons at once, by
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664:'s Jose Otero found the inventory management system, which lacks an easy way to sort items, to be problematic. Chris Carter from Destructoid noted that the game's intricacies are described in messages on the in-game phone, which he considered difficult to navigate and read, and that the messages were often insufficiently clear and detailed.
303:, unique and challenging enemies that have more health and are more difficult to fight than normal enemies. There are also "minibosses", enemies that are less challenging than bosses but more challenging than regular enemies. Minibosses have the ability to block and counter players' attacks, which few other enemies in the game do.
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band of the same name. Charlie kicks one of the founding members, Paul, out of the band, and begins to experience chart-topping success creating music in a new genre with new bandmates. Under the name Lord
Mortimer, Paul forms his own band, Gore Quaffer, and makes a pact with a demon, raising an army
282:
in special areas of the game. The game takes place across several different areas, including a construction site, a graveyard, a pirate ship, and a mall. Players are pitted against a large variety of enemies, including zombies, witches, ninjas, giant rats, yetis, and sharks with dynamite strapped to
273:
elements. Players select one of five band members to play as; the lead vocalist and band namesake
Charlie Murder, guitarist Lester Deth, bassist Tommy Homicide, backup vocalist Kelly "Skelekitten" Skitten, or drummer The Rexecutioner. Players can complete the game alone, or can team together with up
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If the player collects all the pieces of
Smockula and has them equipped during the final battle, then Lord Mortimer is incapacitated instead of killed, and Charlie Murder confronts the demon who granted Mortimer his power, a being known as the Angel of Chaos. After the Angel's death, Mortimer turns
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of demons and undead in order to destroy
Charlie Murder. Charlie and his band are killed at the beginning of the game, fight out of hell, and are reborn on Earth amidst an apocalypse caused by Lord Mortimer and his army. In order to stop the apocalypse, Charlie Murder must defeat Gore Quaffer in a
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The game has two endings that depend on whether or not the player has acquired all of the hidden pieces of
Smockula by the time of the final battle. If the player has not gathered the pieces, then the game immediately ends upon Lord Mortimer's defeat, and a credits montage reveals that, back when
405:
During the game, a series of flashbacks detail the game's backstory. As
Charlie and his new bandmates experience success without Paul, the latter becomes increasingly upset, eventually vowing revenge. The flashbacks neither paint Charlie Murder in a wholly positive light, nor Paul in a wholly
506:. The conferences allowed Silva to expose a large number of people to the game, providing him with the opportunity to solicit feedback and discover issues. The couple also invited friends over for parties in order to test the game while it was in development. Silva proposed to Juett at the
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was an improvement over the previous games, in both presentation and in the amount of personality that the characters had. There was a consensus among reviewers that the game was more enjoyable in multiplayer, with
Hardcore Gamer saying that the game felt designed for cooperative play.
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of light and heavy melee attacks. Players can also use grabs, launch enemies into the air, use character-specific special attacks, and pick up and use weapons. In co-op mode, players can also team up to execute highly damaging group attacks. Scattered throughout the game are
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equivalent). Players earn money by defeating enemies, and outside of combat, they can purchase weapons and armor (all of which is visible on the character), stat-boosting food and alcohol, and the aforementioned tattoos from shops.
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was one of the first games that the two worked on together. Silva did all of the game's programming work, while Juett handled its marketing. Silva and Juett worked together to design the art and compose the soundtrack.
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has an in-game talk radio station, which plays in enemy-free areas. Additional information about the band and about the game's world is presented in the form of people calling into the radio program.
648:. The game's music was highly praised. The game's hand-illustrated visuals were also praised by reviewers. Critics felt that the music and visual style complemented the game's punk rock theme, and
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title set for release in March 2010. The game's plot was a four-member band's journey to save
Skelekitten (Murder's girlfriend) from a rival metal band. A demo of the game was showcased at
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2010. In April, Ska
Studios founder James Silva announced that the game was in development for an unidentified platform and would no longer be released through Xbox Live Indie Games.
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back into Paul and he and
Charlie reconcile. The credits montage shows how each of the surviving band members now live comfortable, happy lives. This is considered the "Good Ending".
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was the third Ska Studios game published by Microsoft Studios. During development, Microsoft Studios provided Ska Studios with usability testing and play testing feedback, handled
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music was produced by Silva and sung by the pair. In an interview with Joystiq, James Silva explained that he used major game conferences, such as PAX East, as
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was eventually released on 14 August 2013 to positive reviews, with critics praising the game's soundtrack and hand-illustrated visuals. Versions for
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band Charlie Murder—who fight a demonic army raised by a former band member in an attempt to save the world from the apocalypse.
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278:(co-op). With each additional player, the number of enemies that appear on screen at once increases. Players can also
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Reviewers were less enthused about the game's user interface, and found that many gameplay details went unexplained.
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to three other people, through either offline (with all of the players using the same Xbox 360) or online
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s Cameron Lewis praised the game for being rich in personality and detail without being over-polished.
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Mortimer was Paul, he was childhood friends with Charlie. This is considered the "Bad Ending".
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Critics compared the game to Ska Studios' previous side-scrolling beat 'em up games,
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game mechanic. Ska Studios had complete creative control over the game itself.
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1163:"Charlie Murder and Super Street Fighter: AE are free on Xbox Games with Gold"
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474:(April 2009), were developed entirely by James Silva. Michelle Juett was a
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890:"Charlie Murder set to take the Xbox Live Indie Games stage this March!"
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that unlock items and give the character money or followers (the game's
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Charlie, Kelly, Lester, and Tommy fighting zombies and ninjas in a bar
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was first announced in January 2010 in a Ska Studios blog post as an
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in 2012. The game was eventually released in August 2013 as part of
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phone to manage their inventory, level up, read emails that explain
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1132:"Charlie Murder: An Indie, Blood Splattered, Punk Rock Love Song"
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received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game
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Ska Studios' first games, including the Xbox Live Arcade game
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The game features five playable characters—all members of the
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486:. They began to date a year later, and Juett eventually left
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Charlie, Tommy, and Rex fighting ninjas in a vehicle sequence
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Tommy Homicide getting a tattoo at the in-game tattoo parlor
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The game's protagonist, Charlie Murder, is a member of a
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and special levels, including driving and flying levels.
946:"Charlie Murder 'sells out' to Xbox Live Arcade in 2012"
1098:
1096:
1041:"Murder Incorporated: A conversation with Ska Studios"
917:"Charlie Murder now coming to an unannounced platform"
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was promoted as a free Xbox download with Microsoft's
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series, and Destructoid's Chris Carter believed that
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their heads. Interspersed between the normal combat
490:to join Ska Studios, becoming its second employee.
294:Players fight using two buttons to string together
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1075:"Charlie Murder preview: Anarchy in the XBLA"
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973:"Summer of Arcade 2013 lineup announced"
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536:program during the month of June 2014.
514:built in as a secret for the occasion.
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1196:"Charlie Murder for Xbox 360 Reviews"
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189:. First revealed in January 2010 for
7:
775:Vincent, Brittany (18 August 2013).
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510:booth at PAX 2011, using an in-game
1006:Meunier, Nathan (30 October 2013).
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236:and four-player online and offline
1130:Xbox Wire Staff (12 August 2013).
240:modes. The game was created using
217:were released on May 12, 2017 via
14:
1173:from the original on 17 July 2014
1008:"Charlie Murder: The love story?"
888:Lowrie, Nigel (19 January 2010).
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734:Lewis, Cameron (8 August 2013).
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1320:Action role-playing video games
1231:Ryckert, Dan (14 August 2013).
1039:Cohen, Corey (16 August 2013).
855:Carter, Chris (9 August 2013).
1161:Carter, Chris (16 June 2014).
1103:Silva, James (29 March 2013).
971:Cocke, Taylor (11 June 2013).
915:de Matos, Xav (6 April 2010).
865:. ModernMethod. Archived from
811:Otero, Jose (20 August 2013).
1:
676:The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile
443:Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0
944:de Matos, Xav (5 May 2010).
670:The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
480:The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
471:The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
445:, which is designed for the
1138:. Microsoft. Archived from
441:noted that the demo ran on
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1365:Xbox 360 Live Arcade games
1105:"The Blood of the Indies"
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29:
1315:Role-playing video games
1233:"Anarchy In The Streets"
857:"Review: Charlie Murder"
777:"Review: Charlie Murder"
173:video game developed by
1330:Cooperative video games
813:"Charlie Murder Review"
736:"Charlie Murder review"
317:Players use an in-game
1045:Official Xbox Magazine
977:Official Xbox Magazine
741:Official Xbox Magazine
679:. Game Informer noted
651:Official Xbox Magazine
625:Official Xbox Magazine
179:Microsoft Game Studios
57:Microsoft Game Studios
783:. Hardcore Gamer, LLC
431:Xbox Live Indie Games
191:Xbox Live Indie Games
61:Ska Studios (Windows)
686:s similarity to the
345:Gameplay screenshots
276:cooperative gameplay
238:cooperative gameplay
185:and Ska Studios for
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821:. IGN Entertainment
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400:Battle of the Bands
1245:on August 17, 2013
1073:Conditt, Jessica.
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1390:Ska Studios games
1169:. Modern Method.
643:review aggregator
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451:Microsoft Windows
271:role-playing game
207:Microsoft Windows
187:Microsoft Windows
177:and published by
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287:are a number of
280:fight each other
195:Xbox Live Arcade
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1325:Beat 'em ups
1297:
1247:. Retrieved
1243:the original
1236:
1209:. Retrieved
1199:
1175:. Retrieved
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1156:
1144:. Retrieved
1140:the original
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1125:
1113:. Retrieved
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1083:. Retrieved
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1053:. Retrieved
1051:pp. 1–3
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867:the original
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567:X360: 78/100
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522:localization
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129:May 12, 2017
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52:Publisher(s)
40:Developer(s)
1380:Indie games
1375:MacOS games
1370:Linux games
1292:Video games
1249:30 December
1167:Destructoid
862:Destructoid
825:30 December
589:Destructoid
579:Publication
422:Development
395:garage punk
325:, and scan
312:leveling up
267:beat 'em up
252:Similar to
226:garage punk
175:Ska Studios
171:beat 'em up
157:multiplayer
143:Beat 'em up
79:Platform(s)
45:Ska Studios
1304:Categories
1201:Metacritic
1019:Retrieved
984:Retrieved
749:Retrieved
699:References
688:Dishwasher
646:Metacritic
563:Metacritic
554:Aggregator
269:game with
1136:Xbox Wire
1081:. AOL Inc
952:. AOL Inc
925:. AOL Inc
545:Reception
540:Reception
319:Windows 8
289:minigames
232:has both
1171:Archived
1146:24 March
1115:24 March
1055:24 March
1021:25 March
986:24 March
956:24 March
929:24 March
900:24 March
512:cutscene
488:ArenaNet
447:Xbox 360
435:PAX East
327:QR codes
248:Gameplay
199:Xbox 360
197:for the
183:Xbox 360
181:for the
138:Genre(s)
109:Xbox 360
84:Xbox 360
1211:6 March
1079:Joystiq
1012:Polygon
950:Joystiq
922:Joystiq
873:6 March
787:6 March
751:6 March
439:Joystiq
244:tools.
149:Mode(s)
117:Windows
102:Release
88:Windows
1278:Portal
1177:24 May
606:7.5/10
594:7.5/10
500:'s
476:tester
301:bosses
285:levels
213:, and
67:Engine
59:(Xbox)
1085:8 May
684:'
655:'
582:Score
557:Score
262:is a
219:Steam
215:macOS
211:Linux
169:is a
125:macOS
121:Linux
96:macOS
92:Linux
1251:2013
1213:2014
1179:2015
1148:2014
1117:2014
1087:2014
1057:2014
1023:2014
988:2014
958:2014
931:2014
902:2014
875:2014
827:2013
789:2014
753:2014
673:and
631:9/10
627:(US)
618:7/10
478:for
338:Plot
818:IGN
662:IGN
613:IGN
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