Crimson Metal

About

In Crimson Metal, play as Adam Crimson, the lone survivor of the Omega squad, and navigate through treacherous cyborg and biological-warfare weapon production facilities. With old-school level design and demanding gameplay that needs quick reflexes, you'll face numerous traps, cyborgs, and mutants on your quest for freedom. This experimental game aims to recreate the challenging and brutal experiences of 90's shooters.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

47%

Audience ScoreBased on 134 reviews

music15 positive mentions

gameplay5 negative mentions

The game has a nostalgic old-school feel reminiscent of classic FPS titles like Doom and Quake, providing a fun and challenging experience.
The soundtrack and sound design are praised for enhancing the atmosphere, creating a dark and immersive environment.
Despite its flaws, many players appreciate the effort put into the game, noting that it offers enjoyable gameplay and a sense of accomplishment.

The game lacks basic features such as an options menu for adjusting controls, audio, and graphics settings, which frustrates many players.
Frequent crashes, long loading times, and various bugs significantly detract from the overall experience, making it feel unpolished.
Gameplay mechanics, including enemy AI and weapon handling, are often criticized for being clunky and unbalanced, leading to frustrating encounters.

music
43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
58%
7%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its atmospheric and intense qualities that enhance the overall experience, particularly in creating a dark and ominous atmosphere. However, some players have criticized the lack of options to adjust the volume, finding it excessively loud and repetitive at times. Overall, while the soundtrack is often highlighted as a standout feature, its execution and integration into gameplay have drawn some complaints.
- “Definitely following Doom in its sci-fi horror roots, the level design, soundtrack, and monsters are pretty scary.”
- “The music and sound effects are awesome; the level design is great.”
- “I love the music (soundtrack) and it really sets the atmosphere for the dark, enemy-filled halls.”
- “There are no menu options to turn down the music or any options for that matter.”
- “For the first glance it doesn't look bad, the graphics are okay, the music is atmospheric, but soon I've had to realize that it's very trashy and not in a good way.”
- “Just now I quit after a few minutes of play, because I literally could not cope with the music anymore.”
gameplay
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
72%
16%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its polished graphics and nostalgic elements reminiscent of classic FPS games like Quake and Doom, while others criticize it for being slow-paced, filled with bugs, and having awkward mechanics such as dual-wielding and aiming. Many users noted that despite the potential for enjoyable gameplay, issues like linear level design, crashes, and frustrating AI detract from the overall experience. Overall, while there are moments of fun, the gameplay often falls short of expectations due to its numerous flaws.
- “To give credit where it is due, this has a substantial amount of polish and custom UI/artwork that I wasn't expecting to be there, in terms of introducing simple mechanics like 'secrets' and monster closets.”
- “The game is a throwback to the older classics like Quake and Doom but with much better graphics and gameplay.”
- “The interface works, the gameplay is entertaining even without anything specific to do in the game, and it has a level of polish (even when it first came out as an indie title) that allowed people to see the potential and have fun with it.”
- “Just goes to show, no matter how long and hard you polish FPS creator's action gameplay - you'll still end up with a turd.”
- “Filled with bugs, horrible gameplay.”
- “The general gameplay wasn't enjoyable, and it didn't fill my expectations.”
graphics
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
62%
27%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the polished custom UI and atmospheric design that evoke nostalgia for classic titles like Quake and Doom, while others criticize the outdated visuals and lack of graphical options. Many users appreciate the aesthetic choices for weapon designs, but overall, the graphics are often described as subpar, with a significant number of players finding them unappealing and poorly executed for a game released in 2017. Despite these criticisms, some players feel the graphics fit the game's environment and genre well.
- “The graphics and sound (dark, thumping music and loud gunshots) create an ominous, threatening atmosphere.”
- “The game is a throwback to the older classics like Quake and Doom but with much better graphics and gameplay.”
- “Graphics are nice though, I really do like the choice of weapon designs used; they look clean and pretty.”
- “The enemy models, general textures, and overall visuals of the game are very outdated, even for an indie title, and look like something out of a game from at least 17 years ago.”
- “My experience is that the graphics are mostly horrible (I had to go back and play Firestarter (2004) to get my bearings back), the sound effects, while good sounding, have no distance degradation or direction.”
- “The resolution is locked, graphics are pretty terrible which is strange from a game from 2017; it's not even like it's bad for an aesthetic choice either.”
atmosphere
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
38%
19%
The atmosphere of the game is characterized by a dark and ominous tone, enhanced by impactful graphics and sound design, including thumping music and loud gunshots. Many reviewers appreciate the nostalgic feel reminiscent of late 90s hardcore gaming, with elements that evoke classic titles like Quake and Doom. While some find the overall execution lacking, the combination of moody soundscapes and brutal gameplay effectively contributes to a compelling and immersive experience.
- “The graphics and sound (dark, thumping music and loud gunshots) create an ominous, threatening atmosphere.”
- “The game has a dark, dismal atmosphere with some elements even taking me by surprise; hearing an enemy grunt in the hall reminded me of Quake 2 on low health and almost out of ammo.”
- “It feels that the developer tried to bring a dark sci-fi atmosphere, and he did it right!”
- “I love the music (soundtrack) and it really sets the atmosphere for the dark, enemy-filled halls.”
stability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent crashes, long load times, and numerous glitches such as weapon malfunctions and environmental clipping. Many players describe it as feeling unfinished and buggy, with poor AI and collision detection, leading to a frustrating experience overall. While some appreciate its nostalgic charm reminiscent of 90s FPS games, the technical shortcomings detract from the enjoyment.
- “It occasionally crashes, load times can be slow, and it sometimes glitches out.”
- “Game seems unfinished and buggy.”
- “The long load times, the terrible AI, the clipping, the glitches, it all comes down to FPSC!”
story
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
45%
27%
The story in the game is generally viewed as minimal and underdeveloped, with many players noting a lack of backstory, voice acting, and a cohesive narrative. While some updates have introduced additional story elements and world-building, the overall consensus is that the plot remains basic and requires further fleshing out to enhance the gaming experience. Despite these shortcomings, a few players appreciate the dark tone and find enjoyment in the gameplay, allowing their imagination to fill in the narrative gaps.
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
- “Overall, Crimson Metal is an enjoyable game to me, just pick-up and play shooting with a dark tone and minimalist story; making my imagination fill in the gaps.”
- “Crimson Metal now runs faster, combat is more fluid with better animations, tighter controls, more ammo in levels, and I also noticed subtle world-building with load-screens giving background on the enemies, weapons, and story.”
- “The story is non-existent, and the game's really easy.”
- “There's not really a story, there's no soundtrack, there's not even voice acting.”
- “The story really needs to be fleshed out more in-game; the most I know is from the Steam store page.”
optimization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
57%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe frame drops, micro-stuttering, and graphical issues such as flickering textures and character glitches. Many users note that even on modern hardware, performance is unacceptable, and the lack of adjustable settings exacerbates the problem. Overall, the consensus is that the game is poorly optimized and in need of significant improvements.
- “The game definitely needs some love in terms of optimization; the textures on the walls flicker, the framerate drops at certain moments (and I am playing on a modern machine), enemies phase through walls, and sometimes the protagonist glitches while walking when you're picking up ammo from shelves.”
- “No settings means you can't alter the performance.”
- “The game is horribly optimized.”
- “It's not optimized at all: with a 1050 Ti, it sometimes drops to 1 FPS.”
- “When it comes to optimization, this game definitely needs some love. The textures on the walls flicker, the framerate drops at certain moments (and I am playing on a modern machine), enemies phase through walls, and sometimes the protagonist glitches while walking when you're picking up ammo from shelves.”
- “The game is fun to play with acceptable levels of difficulty (searching for ammo/health), but it is badly optimized with severe frame drops!”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate frustration with the monetization strategy, particularly regarding intrusive ads that disrupt gameplay and functionality, such as altering controls. Players express dissatisfaction with the lack of an options menu to manage these ads, suggesting that the monetization approach negatively impacts the overall gaming experience.
- “The monetization strategy is frustrating, as it feels like the game is designed to push players towards spending money rather than enjoying the gameplay.”
- “The constant ads interrupt the experience, making it hard to focus on the game.”
- “It's disappointing that there are no options to customize the monetization settings or limit the ads.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its clever and absurd responses to errors, which players find amusing rather than frustrating. Additionally, players enjoy discovering quirky exploits, such as the unpredictable gun reloading mechanic, adding to the game's comedic charm.
- “I thought it was funny as hell to come up with such a ridiculous answer for an error that would have been glossed over if you hadn't directly mentioned it.”
- “I found a funny exploit where if you switch guns after draining your magazine, it automatically reloads the gun, but only half the time.”