I walk up to a drop in the floor and as I look down there is lava at the bottom. On the other side is a key so I leap across and retrieve it. As I turn around I see two skeleton knights draw their swords. I ready my hatchet and leap back over the gap and towards the skeletons.
Crypt of the Serpent King by Rendercode Games is a very basic indie title with some really hard enemies and traps. It is one of the cheaper games but you do get a good time killer and somewhat fun journey.
One of the best parts of the game to me was the sound. It was used perfectly to create tension and really make you panic. Especially that first time when the music kicks in and the enemy emerges from the darkness.
Another thing that I really enjoyed was that even the normal enemies was a real threat. Their attacks took large amounts of health off of you so you had to play more strategically. What makes fighting enemies even harder as well is if they hit you your screen turns red. I feel that the enemies should have been more diverse on each level.
On each level the enemies are the same design and weapons so you don’t really have much challenge once you learn their fighting style and timing. I feel like the same with gathering the keys. On each level there are the same challenges to get the keys to unlock the boss. In level one you have to jump over a lava pit. I would have like to have been challenged a bit more.
When playing easy if you die you can restart a level. However, The dungeons are procedurally generated so every time you enter a level it will always have a different layout and it makes it fun to explore it again. Also each level has a different dungeon design. There is one with a slight Greek theme because the boss looks like a gladiator.
The one thing that I would change about the game is a storyline. At present the game doesn’t have a storyline. Even if it was just a short story about who the minions are to the boss of the level and who the boss is to the Serpent King would have made the game more interesting for me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this first person hack & slash. The sound really made the game really enjoyable and have feeling. Even though it has a basic design the dungeons are fun to play and the enemies are terrifying to go up against.
GameCritUK 