PUBLISHED: Thurs, May 30, 2019 (Wink to Mikey)
"Rogue-like" is one of those terms that has almost lost meaning due to over-use and it's a rare game that manages to meet the definition. Crypt of the Serpent King is the latest title that would like to incorrectly bill itself as a rogue-like, but in reality it's a bare bones dungeon crawl. It's also the laziest, dullest game I have played in a long time – a masterclass in bad design. It's a port of an Indie game from the Xbox 360 and I'm not sure why anyone thought it was worth bringing to today's console generation.
Serpent King is a first-person game of walking through corridors and lightly tapping enemies until they, or you, fall over. While exploring each of the game's seven dungeons, you will be tasked with finding several keys in order to unlock the final room and kill the boss. Each level has just one enemy type lurking in the corridors between the rooms that contain the keys. They relentlessly move towards you once they've spotted you and attack once in range. The keys are always found in square rooms and you get to them by jumping a narrow gap filled with spikes or lava. There are chests containing loot or health in the mix as well, but that's about it.
These elements are copy-pasted in what I'll have to assume is a procedurally generated dungeon. When the surroundings are this dull, it's nearly impossible to tell if I'm looking at procedural generation or merely random map selection. It doesn't really matter, to be honest. If you die and start in a new random version of the current level, you certainly won't feel like you're anywhere new. The only variation in each level is the boss, who has a different physical look than the other enemies in the level. Like everyone else, he will simply move in your direction and jab at you until someone falls down. There are no ranged attacks to face, no status conditions inflicted and no unusual enemy strategies. Once you've jabbed your way through seven levels (no more than 10 minutes apiece), the game is effectively done. In all honesty, the concept here is so spartan that you could simulate the whole game in Minecraft using zombies. The result would be nicer to look at and considerably more fun to play.
But for a few only $2.99 in the states you might not be out too much money
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