Cryptark

 PC
Cryptark Image
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 9 Ratings

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  • Summary: Cryptark is a 2D sci-fi roguelike shooter through which you assume the role of a heavily armed privateer seeking to earn government contracts by boarding deadly alien space-hulks. It's up to you to strategize a plan of attack, pick an equipment loadout, and destroy the central core to beCryptark is a 2D sci-fi roguelike shooter through which you assume the role of a heavily armed privateer seeking to earn government contracts by boarding deadly alien space-hulks. It's up to you to strategize a plan of attack, pick an equipment loadout, and destroy the central core to be victorious. … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Vandal
    Jul 17, 2017
    85
    Cryptark is a game that we've really enjoyed. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it doesn't have to to be an interesting challenge.
  2. The Games Machine
    Jul 7, 2017
    85
    Cryptark is one of the best roguelites of the past few years: it has a strong personality, a life-or-death economic system, and excellent twin-stick shooter gameplay.
  3. GameCritics
    Jul 10, 2017
    85
    Cryptark is a wholly satisfying action-roguelike. The developers have offered an embarrassment of riches when it comes to weapons and equipment, and pilots can figure out their playstyle in settings that reward exploration and experimentation. There’s a huge amount to see and do, and tight combat mechanics support it all. Cryptark is a perfect example of how well-implemented randomness can elevate a great action game into an endlessly replayable work of art.
  4. Game Informer
    Jun 28, 2017
    78
    Cryptark’s surprising depth of options might hook you at the outset, but they aren’t enough to make you return time and again.
  5. 4P.de
    Jul 14, 2017
    77
    It has its fair share of shortcomings, but nonetheless this twinstick action with its free weapon configs and the surprisingly motivating campaign is quite entertaining.
  6. CD-Action
    Sep 25, 2017
    75
    Cryptark is built around an interesting idea, offers a wide array of weapons and makes you adapt to variable conditions. What holds it back is the fact that it sometimes crosses the line between demanding and unfair. [09/2017, p.37]
    All this publication's reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 5
  3. Negative: 2 out of 5
  1. Asdsyn
    Jun 22, 2020
    10
    good indie game
    ...........................................................................
  2. skohl
    Nov 29, 2018
    6
    This is a cool game, visually it's gorgeous, but it lacks content, and the difficulty level is for hardcore only.
    There are only 6 playable    This is a cool game, visually it's gorgeous, but it lacks content, and the difficulty level is for hardcore only.
    There are only 6 playable mechs to unlock, with 6 levels. The final level, the Cryptark itself, is so much more difficult than the rest of the game, that it pretty much is the game. Everything else before it is just a race to collect enough resources and gear to, maybe, hopefully, survive. A successful game takes 2 hours at most.
    The part that really kills the fun for me, is how you don't get to keep the weapons you unlock when you get a game over. What's the point of having a save file, if it gets deleted when you lose? Like I mentioned before, you can unlock new mechs to start with, but that's it in terms of gear that carries over to a new playthrough.
    The levels also have a time limit, which incentivizes you to rush, as well as bonus objectives that incentivize you to take additional risks. It feels low effort and random, and I can't help but think it would be more fun if it had actual level design and a thoughtful difficulty progression.    … Expand
  4. kch3691
    Dec 18, 2017
    6
    Cryptark is a rogue-like twin stick shooter. The player character floats in space and uses a jet pack to get around. Mechanically the game hasCryptark is a rogue-like twin stick shooter. The player character floats in space and uses a jet pack to get around. Mechanically the game has a very deliberate feel. There is also a resource management and load out side to the game. Dying does not end your run but running out of money permanently kills your character. I enjoyed the game but the resource management aspect combined with random level generator screwed my run over more than once through no fault of my own. Not bad overall but there are lots of options for games like this.… Expand
  5. bowsers2
    Dec 17, 2019
    3
    A 2D shooter in a space ship game with good combat and powerful feeling weapons, massively let down by a horrendous monetary system where youA 2D shooter in a space ship game with good combat and powerful feeling weapons, massively let down by a horrendous monetary system where you run out of the money needed to buy ammo so you can’t finished even the earliest levels.

    Added to the insanity is that the “campaign” has a arbitrary timer which is never enough, and that too will end your game, needing to start over.

    Once again we have awful indie devs hiding a lack of content - behind grotesquely pushing repetition system; like running out of money, overly hard difficulty, unfairly punishing restart from the beginning of the game/level death models, unfair timers.....with awfully basic and repetitive procedurally generated levels....just so foolish gamers can bang their heads against a wall.

    Only buy if you hate yourself. Otherwise stay away    … Expand
  6. suneater
    Oct 29, 2017
    3
    CRYPTARK is yet another indie "rogue-lite" that suffers from the issues almost all modern indie games do: bad level design/randomization,CRYPTARK is yet another indie "rogue-lite" that suffers from the issues almost all modern indie games do: bad level design/randomization, forced permadeath, and gamebreaking bugs. I would not recommend this unless, like most games on Steam tagged with Rogue-lite, you are okay with spending $10 on a game you'll become very frustrated with and probably never complete.

    The basis of any video game involving moving a character through an environment is good level design. A well crafted map can be the difference between de_dust and well... anything experienced in this game. Level generation in CRYPTARK is a non-sensical, cluttered mess filled with rooms that are empty except for a single enemy, doors that open into solid walls, and rooms with multiple doors but only one locked entrance. Enemies will also ignore these shortcomings and can fly and attack through doors and even some walls, turrets will shoot hitscan lasers from off-screen, and spawners will send armies after you from literally the opposite side of the map. On top of that you have to deal with the visual clutter on the screen from the derelict art style. I understand that these maps are supposed to be on an abandoned, long adrift fleet, but that doesn't mean everything has to be so claustrophobic and visually noisy. I enjoy the tactical challenge presented but you're usually fighting against a bad or cluttered level design rather than a complex or hand-made map.

    Of course, being an indie game in 2017 means you have to have permadeath. This makes sense in the "Rogue" game mode provided but there's really no reason to not have a save system in the main Campaign mode. There is clearly some sort of save system in Campaign too because when the game crashed on me it kicked me out of the ship I was in and brought me back to a mission select menu. At this point I'm just going to asssume any indie game that forces permadeath is too lazy to code a save system because there's really no reason for it in Campaign.

    You might be thinking "What's wrong? Can't handle permadeath?" I wouldn't mind attempting an Ironman run if the game actually worked properly. I attempted roughly 10 Rogue mode playthroughs and 3 of them ended at the Cryptark because of a game-breaking bug crashing the map. This would kick me out to the main menu and force me to restart the entire run again. I have played and beaten actual rogue-likes before so I find this kind of punishment completely uncalled for in a game mode that is mandatory to unlock the Cryptark Excavation mode.

    I feel no desire to continue playing until Rogue mode is playable so I can actually unlock the last game mode. This might be fun for a few hours once you get past the massive learning curve but it's yet another indie rogue-lite that most people won't complete. I personally won't recommend this until they can fix the bugs and prove that the level generation has been improved to look less like a monkey-coded mess.    … Expand

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