We've reported on a few of the updates that have been released for our favorite early access game Crawl, but today is a particularly special event; Crawl 1.0 is officially here and the game is launching for not just PC, but Xbox One and Playstation 4 consoles. We have been big fans of crawl since its very early days and it is great to see just how far its come since the early access went live in 2014.
Those of you still unfamiliar with Crawl should seek out the devblog from Powerhoof so you can see just how much incredible work has gone into the game. It is an incredibly well animated 2D brawler that has a distinct focus on local multiplayer. The game begins with a sinister introduction during which each of the players seeks to kill the others. The last one standing gets to remain human (for a time) while the others become spectres that follow the human around, possessing traps and using arcane sigils to become monsters and attack the human. Whoever kills the human becomes human themselves, each one working to reach level 10 and activate the gate leading to the boss.
The boss monsters in Crawl are fiendish and terrifyingly large. The latest boss is a massive golden statue, mostly buried except for a number of limbs that can fire beams, start fires, crush and turn the hero into a chicken. This colossal beast, along with the other two are the end goal for any hero, but I have found myself drawing some games out, just to see what monsters I could unleash.
As the hero gains levels, the phantoms gain wrath points. These are used to purchase more powerful monsters. The monsters you have access to depend on the old god you select at the start of the game and range from a small fish that shoots bubbles to an enormous skeleton priest that throws flaming skulls at the hero.
In addition to huge bosses and more than 50 monsters, the rooms in each dungeon contain a number of trap tat the phantoms can possess to take out the hero when possible. Using the traps in tandem with some of the other player's monsters can lead to a particularly large amount of damage dealt to the hero, though coordinating attacks in a game where each player is fighting to come out ahead is understandably difficult.
The mechanics of Crawl are a blast, but the animations really bring the whole thing together. Every monster and character, even the traps and other objects in the game are incredibly well animated. The stagger of a dazed hero, or the whip of a monster's tentacles; every creature has their own unique animations that give them a surprising amount of personality.
Crawl has been our go-to for local multiplayer for over a year now. The number of monsters, the incredible voice work in the intros, the hilarious and challenging gameplay and everything in between make for a really spectacular evening with friends. Some may feel that the game would be better with online multiplayer, but I've always thought it best to be able to look your opponents in the eye. Go pick up Crawl soon, as it's 20% off on some platforms during the launch. You won't regret it.
