Update: The countdown seems to be pegged to your IP address's local time. Gamers on U.S. Eastern time say they have about two and a half-hours left right now. So, midnight, wherever you are, it should be out.

The Behemoth tweeted about it late last night, directing people to this countdown site.

The pack will include two new characters - the Necomancer and the Cult Minion. There will also be a new Animal Orb - the Dragonhead, and two weapons: the NG Skull Mace and the long-awaited chainsaw.

The Behemoth Presents - The Necromantic Pack [Castle Crashers.com, thanks lockerhaxor]

The pack includes two new characters - the Necomancer (natch) and the Cult Minion. There will also be a new Animal Orb - the Dragonhead, and two weapons: the NG Skull Mace and the chainsaw.

"Yes, ... the damn Chainsaw," writes Kelly for The Behemoth.

"We will post the date as soon as we find out!" Kelly adds. That goes for the price, too. "Once again, this is completely up to Microsoft. But I can leave you with a tantalizing ... SOON."

Necromantic Pack DLC [The Behemoth, via Joystiq]

Last time we showed you this, most people felt a little...underwhelmed. Weren't quite sure what's going on. This trailer, however, has developer commentary, giving you a better insight into the whole thing.

But the game was playable on the Comic-Con show floor, split into three parts, each game type a multiplayer affair for up to four players. Is that the maximum number of players? Behemoth folks at the show wouldn't say. It's another thing that's "TBA."

Game 3 is, as far as we can tell from our hands on time with the game, a series of competitive and team-based multiplayer platformer games with a Behemoth flair. You'll customize the look of your adorably animated character, drawn in the Dan Paladin style, then enter a hub world full of doors, each leading to various game types.

There's "Grab the Gold," which features a floating gold whale that defecates gold bricks. Pick up those bricks and transport them to a floating winged safe to deposit your winnings. Whoever has the most gold when the timer runs out wins the round.

"Soul Snatcher" is a game of keep away. Players will lose their souls if they're knocked out, have their heads stomped upon, or burn to death. Grab the floating, frowning soul and play keep away. The longer one holds onto an opponent's soul, the higher their score. Big scores beat small scores. Obviously.

Game 3 also features a slightly less violent competitive mode, "Paint the World." Run your character over the gray and white blocks the level is built from to paint them the color of your team. The more tiles you own, the more points you score. The catch is that tiles your character touches don't instantly take on your team's color, meaning an opponent could swoop in and make it his own. The level will also "de-colorize" some tiles during a broadly sweeping desaturation event, forcing you to revisit some tiles.

All of these game types get a little more interesting, thanks to the combat items one chooses for their character. These include, but are not limited to, weapons like an exploding Frisbee, a mortar that launches blocks of ice, a fireball and an electric fan. That fan is one of the defensive options, pushing back opponents and the projectiles they'll send your way. A bouncing ball, described to me as the best item in the game, certainly didn't seem that way, based on my use of the thing.

At close range, players can melee with their fists. That's called "punching" someone.

The Comic-Con demo was enjoyable, if limited, and definitely promising. Game 3 is cute, customizable and combines familiar game modes into a package that's in line with The Behemoth's previous work on Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers. The flyer for the game indicates that there will be a single player component. It also promises unlockables, depth and replayability, features and [can't make this word out] and the reas... that word gets cut off too. Look, it's gonna have stuff in it.

It's described as a "competitive platformer", and looks a bit like a cross between Smash Bros., Bubble Bobble and Bomberman. And while "competitive platformer" makes it sound like a multiplayer game, The Behemoth promise there'll be a singleplayer dimension to the title as well.

As you can see, Dan Paladin's trademark art style is in full effect. No word on platforms yet (though it looks shiny enough to be XBLA/PSN), though we do know we can expect it sometime in 2010.

The Behemoth Presents: Game 3 First Look [GameSpot]

While there are no details on when the game is coming, how much it'll cost or whether the Sony version will include any exclusive content, we do know the game is real, and that it will be out sometime in the future. In the meantime, check out the below vid to see the PS3 port in action.

Castle Crashers First Look [GameSpot]

For a game released by such a small team, that's a tremendous achievement. Course, when you factor in people who bought the game but never logged a score, (hey, it happens, for whatever reason), it'll look even better.

I'd normally now ask politely for a direct sequel, but am thinking Castle Crashers: Natal instead. Give me a real workout, fitness games be damned.

Thanks A Million [The Behemoth]

That's what the developer is asking fans in the latest blog posting over at The Behemoth Blog, where they've been keeping an eye on the number of players showing up on the Castle Crashers leaderboards. With 900,000 players crashing in the eight months following the game's release, they're asking players to post their guesses as to when they'll reach the big one million. The closest guess in their forums come the big day will win...something.

I'm not sure yet what the prize will be for this.. but rest assured. it will be awesome, nay…SPECTACULAR! if there are lots of close entries, we will award lots of cool prizes.

It's not every day you get a chance to win something vaguely spectacular! Check out the blog posting at the link below to find out how this spectacular thing can be yours.

900,000 strong [The Behemoth via VideoGamer.com]

The trailer shows that the new game from The Behemoth, makers of Castle Crashers, appears to be a cooperative platformer.

Due out in 2010, the title, price, platform or details beyond this trailer remain unknown. Whatever it turns out to be, it does look fun. One request though, keep that soundtrack. We need more opera in video games.

It's a trailer. [The Behemoth]

The developers behind Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid also said they will be showing a very early version of the game off at the Tokyo Anime Fair on March 20 and 21.

Until then they've posted this single shot from the game which offers little insight into game play, but at least gives us a sense of the art style.

Tokyo Anime Fair and Game #3 stuffs!

In his blog, the Muttpop president waxes on the development process behind the Luchadores Five figures. Apparently, some of the early sketches were so inspirational to Silva and Frissen, they "decided we could e-mail bomb our favorite toy companies and a videogame company called Behemoth."

Behemoth had just released ALIEN HOMINID for the Gamecube and Xbox. I really felt like the spirit of that game had something in common with what we were doing. I heard that the Behemoth guys were thinking of doing a multiplayer game so I was trying to convince them to do one with the Luchadores Five and Tequila. Both Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin got back to me via email. They really loved the designs I sent them (I sent the 2 'pitch' jpegs below and a few final pencils images of some of the other characters from Luchadores Five) and were going to talk to their investors about the possibility of collaboration.

Obviously, it didn't work out. But I think I can see some similarities between the green Crasher and the Tequila sketch. Could it be the green luchadore mask?

Muttpop Lucha Libre Beginnings [Muttpop Blog via Offworld]

Artist Dan Paladin writes on the Behemoth's Development Blog of Development that the studio is "off to a very strong and solid start," but is understandably cagey on details. (We anticipate something animated that displays graphics on screen.)

"The game has proven to be a lot of fun for the people that we’ve shown!" Paladin writes. "Perhaps we can start posting imagery later on and begin a guessing game about the game. It’s like two games in one! Maybe we’ll just flat out tell you, though, and ruin the guessing game."

And that's about all we know. Considering how long development on Castle Crashers took — not to mention the title update to fix the little bugger — we'll switch into Patience Mode while we slowly anticipate the Behemoth's next.

Dan Paladin; Best Blogger of 2009 [The Behemoth Development Blog]

Three months later, with patience wearing thin, the X3F guys bugged the Castle Crashers dev team who told 'em that "the update's release is definitely reaching the end of the process" but that they still can't talk about a release date. It's still in Microsoft's hands apparently.

So, hurry up and wait, again. Hopefully this will be a "Surprise! It's out!" kind of thing and not the sort of item appearing on a New Year's resolution list.

The Behemoth: Release of Castle Crashers patching nearing 'end of the process' [X3F]

The Behemoth: Castle Crashers Hits 250k Players, Fixes Coming [Gamasutra]

Chainsaw massacre !!! [The Behemoth]

We just got off the phone with Microsoft and we had a great talk about updating Castle Crashers, YES!! Looks like we’re on our way to getting this title update out and the bigger issues like saving and online connectivity resolved, in addition to other bugs that have been reported.

Unfortunately that's as precise as they get, saying they "don’t have a specific time frame yet" for when we can expect the release, but it can't be too far off. Can it?

Title Update is Coming! [The Behemoth]

So, should you be reaching for the hammer again?

LOVED

Fun – This game is fun. It’s as fun as you remember old side-scrolling beat em ups being, and then some. It can often be funny (when it’s not relying on gross-out jokes), and is always charming, from the teary-eyed sand monsters who guilt you for killing them to the heart-wrenching tale of a villain wedding gone bad and a love unrequited.

Good Looks – It may be under 150MB, and may only be going for 1200 MS points, but Castle Crashers is one of the best looking games on the 360. The game’s dripping with bold, vibrant colours, Dan Paladin’s art style has matured ten-fold and there’s both ingenuity and genuine humour to found in nearly all the character designs.

Depth – There’s a little more depth to Castle Crashers than your average, old-school side-scroller. Your character levels up as you progress, leaving you to assign attribute points in the fields of strength, magic, defence and speed. Not only does this let you tailor your character to your own play style, it lets you specifically upgrade your stats if you’re failing a stage or a boss fight because you’re too slow, or too weak. A wide variety of collectible weapons and animal sidekicks (who each give you a specific boost) to be found throughout the game also flesh the experience out.

Hack, Slash – I said “fun” before. The biggest contributor to that deserves its own spot. There’s a simple, fluid joy to Castle Crasher's combat. Button-mashers are catered for, as the game’s not terribly difficult, but a series of quick, easy combo moves are there for the more experienced player, as well as a satisfying magic attack that can be levelled up to become almost too powerful.

HATED

Rough Around The Edges – Castle Crashers has been a long time coming. It’s as though they spent the extra time polishing the art, music and extra bits, and forgot to fix some of the more important stuff. Like cheap enemy attack routines that can see you killed by an unavoidable onslaught of ranged attacks. And paper-thin characters you need to line up perfectly to register a hit on. And stage art that's too busy, resulting in enemies you can't see, and deaths you can't avoid. Or times when you finish 4 levels, quit, then restart to find the game only remembered you finished 2 of them.

Online? Try Offline – The game supports 4-player online co-op. Or, least it says it does. I spent all weekend trying to play a game with no luck. Not a single connection. A patch is promised, and should hopefully improve things, but it stings when a game built around the premise of co-op good times doesn’t let you play any (online, at least) co-op.

This is one of those times when it’s important to remind you that our loved/hated sections aren’t points. A game shouldn’t be judged on how many pros there are vs the number of cons. Because I absolutely adore Castle Crashers. It's bright, it's happy, it's simple, it's fun. It is, much like Bionic Commando was last month, a text book example of how you take a tired, decades-old game style and make it great again.

They just need to get these online problems fixed. Soon, if at all possible.

Castle Crashers was developed by The Behemoth, and published by Microsoft. Released on August 27 on Xbox Live Arcade. Priced at 1200 Microsoft Points. Reviewed on Xbox 360. Played to completion of main storyline. Unable to connect to online multiplayer.

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Xbox Live Arcade Activity For Week Of August 25th [GamerBytes]