Dungeon Crawlers Review
PROS
- Fun turn based combat thanks to characters with specific roles.
- Lots of loot to find to upgrade your party.
CONS
- Camera and movement can be a bit annoying.
VERDICT
RPG fans looking for an old school dungeon crawler... this is not it, but what it does offer is fun turn based combat, a humorous plot and lots of loot.
- Full Review
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If you want to be taken seriously in the high risk, high reward profession of dungeon crawling, you're gonna have to have a unique skill to offer towards a group. That way when the turn based fighting breaks out, you're not only useful to the group, but indispensable as the battle continues along. You start off Dungeon Crawlers with three such out of work dungeon crawlers; a warrior, a mage, and a cleric. An innkeeper tasks you with clearing out his basement and from their its onward to loot and adventure!
There are two game modes, out of combat and in combat. Out of combat you control the party leader, exploring all the nooks and crannies the dungeon floor has to offer. Bookcases and chests can be looted and items can be equipped. You better be careful opening doors or popping around corners however as before you know it, a gang of monsters will throw you into the battle mode. This is the heart of Dungeon Crawlers and is quite a fun system. Combat is turn based, allowing you to tap each character, move them on the grid, and select an attack or spell to use, or have them defend if you like. When your turn is over, the enemies have their turn and this keeps up till one side is dead. If you've ever played a strategy RPG before like the Final Fantasy Tactics series, you should be familiar with the idea, but this is a much more streamlined and simplistic approach.
Streamlined and simplistic doesn't mean bad however. The focus is on what each party member's role is and how best to use their spells and attacks to clear the room, and positioning can play a big part in how much the enemy will wail on certain characters when it's their turn. Everything is handled with the touch of a finger, although the game sometimes misinterprets what square or character you're tapping (and controlling the camera can be a nightmare sometimes). As monsters are killed, experience is gained and as you level up, new attacks and spells are learned. The weapons and armor you find when searching the dungeons are very dungeons and dragons as a new wand may add +1 damage, but just like D&D, every little addition to your attacks is welcome.
With a story that injects itself with regular doses of humor and presents a colorful 3d world full of interesting monsters (colorful for a series of dungeons at least), Dungeon Crawlers is a fun play. Hardcore RPG and strategy fans will probably be annoyed with the lack of depth in the battle mechanics, but everyone else should enjoy this as a good introduction to the RPG dungeon crawling genre.
Screenshots
$2.99
