In a world crumbling with soulless baddies, you are on a quest to slay and partake in the dark world of Crumbling World. Crumbling World for PC is very much still in an alpha state, but the bare-bones show a lot of promise for what could be called a cult classic or harken to old dark ARPGs. The game has very little hand-holding, so you must really explore the levels, but be careful not to fall off a ledge, as it is likely certain death. The world is crumbling after all. There is already a wide range of baddies to slay and the bosses seem to have some unique abilities, that hopefully, the player can acquire something similar down the road. In this demo, there were lots of different choices in terms of dealing with your character stats. You had a basic level up system, but you could find items that let you choose to sacrifice defense for attack or give up stamina for more defense. There was also exploration, where you could find hidden rooms for quest objectives or extra goodies. This is our Crumbling World preview for PC.
For combat you had your basic attacks, blocking, and some old school Zelda backflips and rolls. Blocking was difficult as you couldn’t break up attacks, you had to really plan out its use, so I just invested in defense and spammed attacks. Jumping, was high and used for some platforming, but it was helpful to quickly maneuver around enemies to attack from the back or side. It also seemed to be the fastest movement as when you came down, you did a small sprint forward.
Overall, the game was keen on being dark and gritty, which was done beautifully with the low-poly graphics. The character and enemies were very easily identifiable, but it didn’t feel like you were playing Roblox or Minecraft. Spell effects and minor details really stood out from the background, which is often an issue for many low-poly games. I think with some polish, better controls, and a deeper combat system, this game could be a great pick up for the single player enthusiast.
Pros
- Great dark and gritty vibe
- Great use of low-poly graphics
- Interesting “crumbling” world aspect
Cons
- Controls feel clunky, may feel better on a controller
- Camera angles can sometimes be detrimental
- This game needs key mapping
Thank you DumeArts for the key provided.
COMPARE TO: Superhot, Diablo, Classic ARPGs