Knight Crawlers Review (PC)

I’m lucky that this room features some stairs. I make my way up and take a left, stopping on a parch that allows my knight to shoot at the enemy group while my spin attack also deals some damage and pushes them back. Neither of them is smart enough to try and actually move up the stairs as well. It takes some time but soon they are all dead.

I jump down to take a look at the equipment they left behind, which I choose to turn into essence because it doesn’t fit my playstyle. It’s time to trigger another enemy wave, probably the final one before the door that’s keeping me in this room swings open. I do so and a group of varied opponents falls from the sky near me.

I’m already moving away, putting as many floor traps between my character and enemies. They take environmental damage while my character shoots a few arrows at them. When they get close I spin and then run away, trying to avoid taking damage. I stop to shoot a few more arrows and I hit the threshold that gives me a choice of three possible upgrades. I choose the health steal, which will give me a little extra space to take damage as more powerful enemies start showing up.

Knight Crawlers is developed by Good Morning Games, with publishing from The Iterative Collective. I played it on the PC using Steam. the title mixes a physics system with wave-based combat.

+4more

The game's premise is pretty simple: knights move through dungeons, fighting the goblin forces of darkness, seeking special enemy bosses to eliminate. The fantasy universe is generic and the only important narrative is the one players create for themselves. There are a few characters to meet in the sanctuary but all their dialogue is functional.

Knight Crawlers is focused on creating a satisfying combat loop that incorporates familiar combat mechanics with a full-blown physics system and plenty of environmental interactions. It’s a satisfying loop that makes traps and spawn points as important as a character’s attacks.

When the knight first enters a room, players should take a quick tour and map the traps, their type, and the best chokepoints. Then it’s time to trigger an enemy wave and work to eliminate them. The knight will shoot arrows, which have the potential to deal a ton of damage, but only when he is standing still. The player’s avatar also has a spinning melee strike that will push opponents away and can be used on the move.

Players can trigger as many enemy groups as they want inside a room, leading to some pretty chaotic battles, but it’s a better idea to deal with one at a time. Enemies always want to move in a straight line toward the knight, so it’s important to kite them around through as many traps as possible. While players avoid incoming damage, they also need to find spots where they can stand still for a while and shoot some arrows.

As gamers get through enemies, they will gain levels, and each of them comes with a power-up chosen from a set of three cards. The knight can get improved attack or defense, the ability to get back health when killing opponents, or a straight-up extension of the health bar coupled with a heal. The idea is to pick the upgrade that suits a player’s general approach best.

Play Video

The knight will also pick up equipment and essence for upgrades. This happens in the Sanctuary, where gamers go once they die. Here they can also customize their avatar’s appearance, based on the types of new gear they find during a run.

It’s a good idea to invest in extra health initially because it makes it easier to get deeper into the dungeons and get more essence. Opponents aren’t very capable as individuals and make dumb decisions all the time but they can easily overwhelm the knight if he gets trapped in the middle of a group.

Knight Crawlers' core loop is pretty fun, especially once players get a handle on how traps work and the general layout of the rooms they’ll move through. Kitting a group of opponents, and dragging them through a ton of traps, is tactically satisfying. But the game can become repetitive and plenty of grinding is required to make progress. Play the game in short sessions with clear goals.

The game only offers local Player versus Player for multiplayer at the moment. The developer says that he is working on adding cooperative options for the campaign, something that the community has been asking for.

Knight Crawlers doesn’t shine in the graphics department. The game pulls from a range of rooms to construct a run and after a while, they start to look the same and only the traps and checkpoints stand out. Players can find a lot of cosmetic customization options for their own hero but, again, how he looks isn’t that important, just what he wields and where he stands. Finally, there’s a massive disconnect between the game’s world and the art on the upgrade cards, which suggests they were created using an algorithm and have no connection to this fantasy universe.

The sound design is also kind of limited. All combat effects sound somewhat wet and there’s no voice acting. The soundtrack tries to keep the action compelling but can only do that for around 30 minutes at a time before it becomes repetitive.

+4more

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion