Crawling Lab

About

In "Crawling Lab," players enter a secret laboratory overrun by the rogue AI "Crawl Queen" and her Biodoll minions. Armed with guns and a limited supply of ammo, players must battle their way through attractive enemy designs, upgrade their weapons, and eventually confront the Crawl Queen to escape the facility. The game features simple controls, various enemy traits, and additional content unlocked upon completion.

Genres & Tags

Action

Play Modes

Single-Player

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 168 reviews

graphics4 positive mentions

gameplay14 negative mentions

The game features addictive mechanics and offers a lot of replay value for its price.
The visuals are appealing, especially the design of the Biodolls, which adds to the overall enjoyment.
The gameplay is fun and allows for practice in shooting skills, making it a great time killer.

The gameplay can become repetitive due to limited map variety and enemy movement patterns.
There are performance issues, including lag and hitbox problems, especially in later stages.
The upgrade system feels lackluster, and players may find themselves running out of ammo frequently, leading to frustrating gameplay.

gameplay
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
55%
24%
The gameplay of this title is characterized by a mix of addictive mechanics and a repetitive loop, with players enjoying the simple, responsive controls and roguelike elements. While some find the gameplay engaging and fun, others criticize it for being dull and lacking variety, particularly in map layouts and enemy designs. Overall, the game offers a straightforward experience that may appeal to fans of the genre, but it could benefit from more creative modes and polish.
- “This rogue-like shooter game takes a while to get used to, but once you understand the gameplay restrictions and mechanics, it's quite straightforward from that point.”
- “Very enjoyable, simple gameplay, but you do have to think later - do you waste the good ammo on the easier-to-kill bots, or save the sniper shots for the harder-to-kill ones and hope you have enough knife durability to take out the smaller ones?”
- “The gameplay loop is designed so that the level of fun does not drop at any time.”
- “It may have a bit of a repetitive gameplay loop, and the controls could do with a little more polish.”
- “Unfortunately this game feels really rough, the gameplay is repetitive, the map layouts are repetitive.”
- “The difference here is that the game was insanely padded during my playtime and the gameplay wasn't engaging enough to make grinding enjoyable.”
story
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
87%
8%
The story in this FPS roguelike is considered simplistic and primarily conveyed through the Steam store page, minimal cutscenes, and visual storytelling, leaving players to piece together the narrative from notes found during gameplay. While it offers a basic premise of an elite squad ambushed by a biodoll, many players feel it lacks depth compared to previous titles from the developer, though there is hope for future updates to enhance the storyline. Overall, the narrative serves more as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a focal point, with limited engagement beyond the main story.
- “Story: you're a member of an elite squad; unfortunately, you were ambushed by a biodoll and couldn't escape in time.”
- “But there is more of a 'read between the lines' when it comes to the story of Crawling Lab.”
- “The story is basically given to you via the Steam store page, a bit of obvious visual storytelling, and two short cutscenes at the beginning and end.”
- “Yes, probably their most simple story yet.”
- “Regardless, the story is not as direct and explained as Etirue's previous work, and that will be one of the more common complaints players will have with this game.”
graphics
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
61%
17%
The graphics in the game are a mixed bag; while the design of the "bio dolls" is noted for being visually appealing, the overall visuals are described as typical for Unreal Engine 4/5, lacking in quality for other elements. Players appreciate the aesthetics and the immersive cutscenes, but some feel that the graphics do not stand out significantly beyond the main characters. Overall, the visuals are decent but not groundbreaking.
- “Pros: good graphics, decent sound, controls are tight and responsive.”
- “Basically you're in a lab and starting with a knife you gradually pick up ammo and kill 'bio dolls' which are basically robots with sexualized female bodies. The game impressively has a few cutscenes which I did not expect.”
- “And the graphics for anything other than the biodolls are not really the best either.”
- “Basically you're in a lab and starting with a knife you gradually pick up ammo and kill 'bio dolls' which are basically robots with sexualized female bodies. The characters are just scantily clad for no reason.”
- “It hit me after 8 hours of playing this game that the undertone of shooting hot girls is slightly psychotic, though in reality it's just a fun game where you get to shoot and gain skill points while also getting to look at something pretty instead of something ugly, adding to the aesthetics.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
60%
30%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with players expressing a desire for a greater variety of tracks, as the limited selection of just a few songs can become repetitive over the game's lengthy playtime. Many feel that the music quality resembles that of a low-budget project, often described as stock sounds or filler music, which detracts from the overall experience.
- “Just have huge parties in the test room, with music, lights, and hundreds of dolls dancing!”
- “I wish there were more different tracks of music; the game is on the long side, so it would be important not to annoy the player with the same 3 tracks, even if they are very good.”
- “Longer pieces of music are much needed in games these days.”
- “The music sounds pretty much like what you would expect out of a low-budget project.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
Overall, the game's optimization is generally well-received, with users reporting stable performance and no significant issues such as FPS drops or stutters. However, some players noted that frame rates may be slightly lower than expected.
- “Performance-wise, it runs fine with no issues; maybe a bit lower in frames than what you would expect, but no FPS drops or stutters.”
- “The optimization of visuals, audio, and performance is impressive.”
- “Overall, the performance is solid with minimal bugs.”
- “Performance and bugs.”
- “Visuals, audio, and performance.”
- “Performance-wise, it runs fine with no issues, maybe a bit lower in frames than what you would expect, but no FPS drops or stutters.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game offers significant replayability, particularly through its various modes outside the main story, making it a compelling choice for players seeking extended gameplay. Users highlight the almost infinite replay value, driven by unique gameplay elements like ammo scarcity, which enhances the experience. Overall, many players find themselves returning to the game more than others in the developer's portfolio.
- “The replayability is almost infinite, due to various factors.”
- “It definitely has replay value, and I think over 2 days, I played this more than their other games so far.”
- “A FPS roguelike and a nice little time killer with more replay value if you play the modes outside the main story game.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be frustrating, as resource farming is challenging due to limited starting equipment and low rewards at the end of maps. The gameplay lacks engagement, making the grind feel tedious and padded, particularly for those who struggle with planning their resource management.
- “The difference here is that the game was insanely padded during my playtime and the gameplay wasn't engaging enough to make grinding enjoyable.”
- “Game play is not bad, but the resource farming is hard. You start with basically no ammo and a knife that breaks fast. End of map rewards are super low; the only one that's worth it most of the time is to fix your knife a bit so you can get 2 more swings out of it.”
- “Game could be grindy for people who can't plan.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Reviews indicate that character development in the game is perceived as lacking, with players feeling underwhelmed by both the character designs and the overall game loop.
- “It really just boils down to being underwhelmed by the game loop and the character designs this time.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Crawling Lab may not meet the emotional expectations set by previous etirue titles, as it lacks the same level of touching or humorous storytelling that fans have come to appreciate. This could lead to disappointment for those seeking a deeper emotional experience.
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in "Crawling Lab" may not meet the expectations set by previous titles from etirue, as it tends to be less impactful and may disappoint some players. While the game attempts to deliver emotional and funny moments, it falls short of the usual charm associated with the developer's work.

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Crawling Lab
$4.24
See offer on Steam

8h Median play time

8h Average play time

8-8h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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