Knight Crawlers

Knight Crawlers is a fine game that does what it wants well but has nothing else to offer in the long run.

Knight Crawlers had the good idea of mixing ragdoll physics with a set of classic action game mechanics. And it is fun, for the first few hours, to learn how enemies move and then find the best way to use the environment and the knight’s attacks to eliminate them. The entire experience is solid given that it was created by one developer.

My time with Knight Crawlers, although initially frustrating, was rather enjoyable. I appreciated it more after discovering a small team designed and created the game.

Knight Crawlers is a game I wish I could love. While some players will certainly find a solid, if short, experience in the title, I found myself too distracted by the game’s seemingly untapped potential to really immerse myself in it. I’m not saying skip it, but I personally will be keeping my eyes out for some big updates before I play again.

Knight Crawlers offers several ways to customise your rogue-lite experience. You can change your character's outfit, decide on your combat approach, and how you approach a dungeon run. Rather than throwing large numbers of enemies at you and seeing what happens, the gameplay allows you to choose what you want to do. Unfortunately, Knight Crawlers is still held back by several issues. Melee combat isn't effective compared to ranged combat, and the wobbly character's movement can work against you. There are also a good number of bugs that can interfere with your experience, forcing you to restart otherwise-successful runs. The potential of Knight Crawlers is there, but some areas haven't received the refinement that could have helped demonstrate said potential.