Crimsonland is a twin-stick shooter from 10tons with local co-op and loads of weapons, perks, and modes to unlock. The recently released Xbox One version offers 22 Achievements, whereas the Steam and PlayStation versions have 21 Achievements or Trophies to their name. Some of these Achievements can be quite difficult, but our in-depth Achievement Guide has lots of advice to help you unlock them all!
Roadmap and platform notes
The total completion time for Crimsonland's Achievements should be about 15-20 hours. Only the primary player can earn Achievements, not co-op partners (weak!).
Although players have some freedom in the order they pursue this game's Achievements, Quests mode must be played through on Normal difficulty first in order to unlock the various Survival Modes, weapons, and perks. Clearing Normal unlocks Hardcore difficulty, and beating Hardcore unlocks Grim difficulty.
Recommended order:
- Quests (Normal)
- Survival Modes
- Quests (Hardcore)
- Quests (Grim)
- Gembine ('Perky' Achievement)
This guide applies to Xbox One, Steam, and PlayStation 3, 4, and Vita. However, the Quest modes are significantly harder to complete on PlayStation platforms due to Perks not being available in Quests mode in those versions.
Quests (Normal) Playthrough
Quests mode is Crimsonland's campaign mode. The Xbox One version offers seven chapters while other versions only have six. Each chapter consists of ten levels. Beating all ten levels unlocks the next chapter.
The goal in every level is to defeat all enemies. The green meter at the top of the screen will flash when the final enemy has spawned, and it flashes again when the last enemy dies.
Most levels are significantly easier with at least one co-op partner, but not all. Remember to enable Perks in the Settings if playing on Xbox One or Steam!
Chapter 1 Complete (30): Complete all Quests in Chapter 1.
Anybody can get this one.
Chapter 2 Complete (30): Complete all Quests in Chapter 2.
Level 2-10 is one of the two hardest levels in the game. The spider enemies split into two smaller spiders when killed. The smaller the spider, the faster it moves. Try to focus on whittling down on one spider and its offspring while leaving the other spider intact. Too many medium-small sized spiders and you'll be surrounded.
Rocket weapons are far and away the most effective against splitting spiders, although some ion weapons and the HR Flamethrower can work if luck holds up. Your best bet is to pause and choose Replay if the first weapon drop is not a rocket launcher.
Impaler (30): Get 100 percent hit accuracy in Chapter 2 Quest 5.
You start with a Gauss gun (railgun) in this level. Each wave of enemies appears in a straight line, making it possible to kill the whole wave with one well-aimed shot. Even if you don't wipe out the entire wave at once, you can still get this Achievement as long as each shot hits an enemy. It shouldn't take very many tries.
Chapter 3 Complete (30): Complete all Quests in Chapter 3.
You've got this.
Chapter 4 Complete (30): Complete all Quests in Chapter 4.
I believe in you!
Chapter 5 Complete (30): Complete all Quests in Chapter 5.
Ain't nothing but a thang.
Chapter 6 Complete (30): Complete all Quests in Chapter 6.
6-10 is probably a little easier than 2-10 on Normal, but it gets much harder on Hardcore and Grim difficulties. See 'Club Grim' Achievement section for tips.
Chapter 7 Complete (30): Complete all Quests in Chapter 7.
This chapter is exclusive to Xbox One. It introduces a new enemy – a purple crustacean that spawns tiny green babies. Move quickly to take out the purple guys, just as you'd do with any monster generator. Chapter 7 is easier than Chapter 6 – you can do it!
Not a Scratch (30): Complete all Normal Quest levels with full health remaining.
Whenever you complete a level with full health remaining, the message "Not a scratch!" will appear at the top of the screen just below "Well done, Trooper." This also causes a star to appear above that level number on the level select menu. To unlock this Achievement, you'll have to get all 70 stars on Xbox One and 60 stars on other platforms.
The best way to get a level's Star is of course not to take any damage, but you actually can take hits as long as your health gets restored to full by the time the level ends. Health can be restored either by collecting Health powerups (which spawn infrequently) or by selecting the Regeneration perk upon leveling up.
If you have a hard time getting a level's star but haven't unlocked Regeneration yet, it might be best to return when you finally unlock it later in Quests mode. For particularly challenging levels, you might need to keep trying until you finally do get Regeneration.
Once you have Regeneration, you can usually get your health back to full fairly easily. Kill all but one enemy and then run around the level until your wounds fully heal.
2-10 is the hardest level to star, followed by 6-10. See 'Chapter 2 Complete' and ''Club Grim' Achievement sections for specific strategies.
Many levels will be easier to star with a co-op partner, but not all of them. If either player takes damage, you won't get the star.
Miscellaneous Achievements
Bloody Good Time (30): Explode 50 creatures to gibs within the first 30 seconds of a level.
Tough to tell exactly which weapons qualify for this one, but rockets, Gauss weapons, and the Fire Bullets powerup should be fine. When you find yourself with a powerful starting weapon, simply blast away while grabbing all the powerups you can. The Achievement will pop if you kill enough enemies in time. I got this one somewhere between 2-1 and 2-4, but you could get it anywhere during your Normal playthrough.
Home Wrecker (30): Destroy over 500 nests.
Nests come in various forms, all of which spawn monsters. You're guaranteed to get this naturally as you play through the game. If you end up wanting to grind for it, levels 5-8 and 6-3 have tons of nests.
Master of Chains (30): Bounce Shock Chain powerup over 30 times.
The Shock Chain powerup looks like a black orb with a blue 'X' made out of lightning. Pick it up and the lightning will bounce unpredictably from enemy to enemy until it finally hits nothing and leaves the screen.
The best levels to try for this one have high densities of weak monsters. I got it on 4-7, but several later levels and Survival would work as well. When you think the screen is crowded enough, grab the Shock Chain and try not to shoot anything until the powerup runs its course. Hopefully it bags 30 baddies before leaving.
Smart Pack Rat (30): Collect 50 Blowtorches.
The Blowtorch is arguably the worst weapon in the game, although it can be surprisingly effective against splitting spiders. And yet you'll want to pick up each one you run across, because it takes a long time to get 50 of them!
You can't track progress through the Xbox One Achievement app, but the game itself does track the stat. From the main menu, pick Extras/Achievements and then select Stats. Scroll down and you'll find counters for every weapon, including the blowtorch.
I got this one late in my final 'Grim' playthrough. If you haven't grabbed 50 blowtorches by then, grind Survival or the level of your choosing and hope some torches drop.
Perky (50): Unlock all Perks.
After completing Quests mode on Normal, you'll have unlocked 54 out of 55 perks. The last one 'Lifeline 50-50' is locked away within an obnoxious minigame called Gembine.
To access Gembine, view the Credits from the Extras menu. Then input the following code on your controller:
- Xbox One: Y, Y, Y, X, X, X, Y.
- PlayStation: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Square, Square, Square, Triangle
- Steam: Type the word GEMBINE on the keyboard.
Gembine is a clone of 2048, the numeric puzzle game that inspired Threes. Unfortunately, players will have to achieve a high score over 53,717 points in order to unlock the final perk.
Unlike Threes, there are no online 2048 solvers. You'll have to reach the target score on your own. Still, I can give you a few tips!
The general strategy is to pick a corner and try to move all of your high-value gems into it. I used the top-right corner. Try not to ever move the highest-value gem(s) out of that corner; just keep building around them. Also try to avoid allowing low value pieces (such as small red circles) to get stuck in the middle of the board.
Some 2048 guides suggest that you start the game by alternating between pressing up and right. I wouldn't do that for very long, because you'll arrange a better board by thinking about your moves.
I struggled with this minigame for an hour or so – I thought it was hopeless. My breakthrough came when I learned to look at the "Next' piece before making moves. Whichever direction you press to move the gems, the piece will enter from the opposite direction. Press right and it comes from left, etc.
Always check what the next piece will be and consider how it will affect the pieces on the side where it will appear. For instance, you might have a triangle on the left side of the board and a triangle as the next piece. Press right so that the piece will enter from the left and you'll be able to match the two triangles, creating a more valuable piece.
Once the game clicked with me, it probably took about 8-10 more tries to score 53K. Good luck!
Quests: Hardcore and Grim Playthroughs
Club Hardcore (80): Complete the game in Hardcore difficulty.
To unlock Hardcore difficulty in Quests mode, clear Normal mode. Beating Hardcore unlocks the Blade Gun and Grim difficulty. The Blade Gun's lengthy reload time makes it a poor weapon to use.
For strategies, see 'Grim Reaper' below.
Grim Reaper (200): Beat the game in Grim difficulty.
Hardcore and Grim are both tougher than normal, although you no longer need to worry about getting a star on each level. Many levels will be easier to clear with a co-op partner, but not all of them. The real problem levels are 2-10 and 6-10. If you can beat them, you'll have Grim difficulty in the bag.
6-10 (picture below) is like an amped up version of 2-10. It starts with five green beetles at the top of the screen, but soon splitting spiders begin to spawn. Eventually deadlier brown and red beetles will appear as well, not to mention tough zombies that create smaller zombies.
Rockets are your only hope of keeping the splitting spiders under control. You'll need to pause and Restart the level repeatedly until you get some form of rocket as your first weapon drop (I succeeded with Mini Rocket Swarmers). Restarting over and over isn't fun, but it saves a lot of wasted attempts, believe me.
Once you have a rocket launcher, start thinning out one or more batches of spiders. You also need to kill off the beetles while you're at it, as they can easily kill you on contact. Save the zombie makers for last.
The most useful perks include: Telekinetic, Long Distance Runner, Fastloader, Poison Bullets, and Ammo Maniac. After those, Bonus Economist, Lucky, Out of Thin Air, Uranium Bullets, Perk Expert, Doctor, and Lean Mean Exp Machine are good choices. Only pick Regeneration if none of the above appear.
Blasting the baddies with rockets isn't enough to win. You really need to carve your way to the powerups the monsters drop. Take advantage of your level-ups to do this – enemies will be pushed back and you get a free (but short-lived) shield after selecting each perk.
Use your shield to scramble into the items and use them to kill hordes of enemies. With any luck, you'll level up again as the powerups run out, allowing you to reach the next batch safely. Just keep grabbing everything and pounding away at the tougher beetles until they die. After that, finishing off the stragglers should be easy.
I don't recommend attempting 6-10 in Grim with any more than two players due to weapon scarcity and increased enemy count.
Chapter 7 will go by quickly compared to 6-10! Beat 7-10 to complete Grim and unlock the Splitter weapon.
Survival Modes
The Survival menu consists of six game types, all with single-player and co-op leaderboards. Only the actual Survival mode is available at the start of the game; the others will unlock as you proceed through Quests mode. Although you can jump into Survival right away, you really should wait until completing 6-10 in Quests mode so that you'll have unlocked all important perks and weapons.
All Survival modes are easier with at least two decent co-op players, so be sure to bring in a friend or two if you have trouble reaching the target high scores. The only really challenging Achievement is tied to the actual Survival mode, so we won't provide guides for the other modes. If you can handle Survival, the rest will be a cakewalk!
Little Survivor (30): Get over 250k points in Survival game mode.
See 'Mr Survivor' below.
Mr Survivor (50): Get over 500k points in Survival game mode.
The most useful perks include: Telekinetic, Long Distance Runner, Fastloader, Poison Bullets, Ammo Maniac, Bonus Economist, Lucky, Out of Thin Air, Uranium Bullets, Perk Expert, Lean Mean Exp Machine, Doctor, Reflex Boosted, and Regeneration. Get My Favorite Weapon if wielding a useful weapon.
Good weapons include: Shotguns, rockets, and anything with spread. Avoid weapons with long reload times.
Success in Survival comes down to not only weapon and perk selection, but also good powerup usage. The Fire Bullets powerup is very important because of the additional damage it provides. When combined with a weapon with sufficient spread (especially shotguns), Fire Bullets can nearly clear the screen of monsters.
The Freeze and Shield powerups also prove essential to survival. Note that while a Freeze powerup is active, additional Freezes will not spawn. The same applies to Shields. So try to have only one or the other active at any given time. That way you can jump from a Freeze to a Shield and hopefully another Freeze will appear by the time the Shield wears off, and so on.
Be sure to grab Double XP powerups whenever they appear, but don't go out of your way for 500 and 1000 score bonuses.
Reaching 500,000 points requires mastery of these and all previously described techniques. It won't be easy – I had to get it in 3-player co-op. Keep practicing, recruit friends if needed, and eventually you'll get there!
Arms Race (50): Get over 100k points in Weapon Picker game mode.
See 'Survival Modes' above.
Feel the Rush (50): Get over 50k points in Rush game mode.
See 'Survival Modes' above.
Quickly! (50) Get over 250k points in Blitz game mode.
See 'Survival Modes' above.
Booom (50): Get over 75k points in Nukefism game mode.
See 'Survival Modes' above.
Be sure to read our Crimsonland Xbox One review and Crimsonland Windows/Steam review if you haven't already. If you've found this Achievement Guide useful, please leave a comment to let us know!
- Crimsonland – Xbox one – 185 MB – $13.99 – Xbox Link
- Crimsonland – Windows PC and Mac – $13.99 – Steam Link
