STEVE MILES·FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2019·Crypt Of The Serpent King carries a lot of potential.For starters,its graphically appealing and looks like the early retro titles(Doom..) that used to grace systems like the Commodore Amiga,Amstrad etc. Its a Dungeon crawler with a First person perspective,and the task for each dungeon you enter,is to proceed through its intersecting corridors,taking out any enemies you encounter,with a quest to collect Dungeon keys.These keys will eventually unlock a gate at the end of each dungeon,and allow you to take on the Boss of that particular level. There is also chests to find,containing Gold and should you take damage from enemies,you will find Provisions in order to heal and gain more energy points.
As this game is also a Roguelike,there is a Permadeath system in place,meaning should you die,any Gold and Xp from enemy battles is carried over,with a Save option in place after death or completion of a dungeon. Gold and Xp can be used to improve attributes and also buy better weapons for the next dungeon venture,thus increasing your chances of successfully making it through the next dungeon and boss.
In summary, the gameplay can be very linear.Contact with enemies requires tapping the ZR button quicker than your enemy,as there is no“Block”option,and also as a first person game,it is very difficult to see clearly enough on what makes contact or not. One point I also found annoying was the fact that you have to adjust your view over a chest,in order to unlock it and open it.You cannot just approach a chest from the side,or look above the chest for it to open,which means you can potentially be scanning around for the “Open Chest”prompt,and get suddenly attacked by an advancing enemy. On the subject of advancing enemies,a positive point is that just looking down a corridor and seeing an enemy creeping towards you,can be slightly unnerving and i feel the walk of the enemies is pretty sinister and very well done.A downside,is that for each dungeon level,you only get ONE type of enemy for that level,so once you deal with one goblin warrior,there is goblin warrior after goblin warrior until dungeon completion. Sound is decent,and gives a creepy feel to the adventure,but is constant throughout,so you can be listening to a deep build up of music,expecting enemies to be around the corner,but in an empty room,so crescendo doesn’t really play a part as regards the overall sound.
Overall,Crypt Of The Serpent King has certain qualities that can be fun and partially addictive for a short time.Repetition can quickly make the experience feel pretty stale,pretty quickly though,and regardless of whether you enjoy your time here or not,there is that overall feel that this is a “bare bones”game that could really benefit from an expansion. The makings of a decent game that just falls short on all levels,even at the budget price…
Thanks to Rendercode Games for the code.
