Krater is an action RPG brought to you by Fatshark, an independent Swedish development studio. In a word, Krater is original. Not in gameplay, which unfortunately tends to become repetitious towards the end of the game, nor does it make any revolutionary strides in mechanics, they are woefully similar to any other point-and-click action RPG. What makes Krater worth checking out (and despite some of the negative comments in this article, the game is definitely worth a look) is its bold and original art style, and its unique take on a post apocalyptic scenario. Fatshark took a chance on a very different leveling system and their character/team building mechanic.
You enter the colorful world of Krater as a three man squad comprised of your typical tank, healer and DPS (either ranged or melee), greeted not only by a brilliant and living world built around a crater in Sweden, created by a massive Earth ending asteroid, but also by a tongue in cheek humor expressed by the gas mask clad denizens of this unique world. You point and click your way through your typical “go kill that,” or “bring me ten of those RPG type quests,” that unfortunately bring nothing new to the table. What drives you are the crazy NPCs sending you on these missions and the weird comical motivations of the quest givers.
In some areas, such as combat and enemy variety, Fatshark simply fails. The combat becomes a matter of “push button one, two, three; repeat.” There is very little movement or coordination involved and it made me sad to see that a game with, in my opinion, a lot of potential, fails so epically in this very important respect. Along with a boring combat system, the enemies have very little variety in the way they appear, along with their abilities and battle tactics. These two elements combine to create a game that, despite an engaging art style and story, becomes a bit of a grind.
I give credit to Fatshark because, unlike some very big name game designer, they were not afraid to take chances or do things differently. The character designs are awesome, you can be a mutant or human; for example, your tank, or bruiser as they’re called, has a stop sign on his back for ornamentation and smashes his enemies with a beastly looking reworked lawn mower or a weighted bench press bar. The way you improve your team is by leveling them up in your standard fashion, but leveling does not increase your stat points, it merely opens up slots for implants that you find or craft and the implants are what increases your abilities. This is a different take on your more standard equipment slots and for me was enjoyable and engaging.
Overall Krater is not for everyone, if you like your games with a sense of humor that doesn’t take itself too seriously, then maybe this one is worth a look. Its original and interesting art style, and world design, is also a big selling point for this game. As an artist, that was enough to draw me in, but if you’re looking for the next Diablo, or combat strategy is your thing, then you may want to give Krater a pass.
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