Iron Crypticle

Genre: 2-Stick Shooter / Arcade

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

Iron Crypticle is a 2-Stick Shooter with an aesthetic that has medieval knights chucking axes at zombies, and gameplay that’s straight out of classic arcade games like Smash TV.

Visually, this game looks decent enough, with a definite old-school arcadey flair to it. Nothing truly special or nostalgic, but enough to fire up the ol’ nostalgia for the classic age of arcade games.

The gameplay ties into this as well, with screen-by-screen action straight out of Smash TV, complete with choosing the direction you walk to get to the next screen. And although the gameplay here is slower than Smash TV, it’s still pretty good, albeit somewhat repetitive.

That’s not to say that this game doesn’t bring anything different to the genre, since it has added an experience and leveling system so you can gradually build up your character over time, as well as a unique skill-leveling system based on chain-grabbing food drops from enemies… which is frustratingly not communicated well to players at all. Oh, there are also rooms to buy upgrades, and bonus rooms to play a fun little platformer minigame.

This is a great game to play in local co-op, though I’ll post a warning that this becomes less true the more the players differ in skill level, because the limited number of lives means that once a player is out, they’ll have to sit and wait until the other players kick the bucket too.

I have a few other complaints as well – there are definitely darker stages where it’s hard to see just what’s going on. And as I mentioned earlier, the game can get a bit repetitive at times.

Still, if you’re looking for co-op arcadey action, Iron Crypticle does a very good job delivering a fun experience for local play. It’s not without its flaws, and it doesn’t do anything that’s truly original, but for what it’s trying to be, Iron Crypticle hits the mark pretty well.

tl;dr – Iron Crypticle is an Arcade-style 2-Stick Shooter that plays like Smash TV with a Ghosts ‘N Goblins aesthetic. It’s a game with good, arcadey action that works well in co-op, though it’s not without its issues here and there.

Grade: B

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