Krater Launches, Perhaps Not Quite Ready [Updated]
Update: The achievement system has officially been patched in, and it sounds as though many glitches are largely confined to specific hardware configurations. We'll have our thoughts on the game itself up soon, but in the meantime, the coast appears to be largely clear.
Original article: So Krater sounds really great to me. It's the silver-tongued sales shark of action-RPGs. "Tired of graybrown, grimdark post-apocalypses?" it asks. "Well, ours has color!" Then it adds "Planning to take another 11 years off from ARPGs after that one with the guy and stuff? Well, we have three guys and stuff. And also permadeath in a mode you don't have to unlock." "Sold!" I'd immediately reply, if I didn't briefly gaze into Krater's wavering eyes and detect a hint of fear. "What about bugginess and missing features?" I inquire, head cocked to one side. Beads of sweat pooling on its forehead, it stammers out an "Er, um, well, about that... hey, a trailer!"
A quick perusal of Krater's forums yields reports of a missing achievement system, no audio options, botched keybindings, sound glitches, incomplete voice acting implementation, and plenty of other odds and ends. Fatshark, of course, is promising fixes, but - given that the beta was also something of a glitch-ridden mess - I can't help but feel like this is incredibly disrespectful to customers. Fatshark was clearly aware that Krater's riddled with holes, but it decided to pass it off as a complete product anyway.
Jim's playing it for a review - [Expect that early next week - Jim] - but for now, exercise caution with this one. On paper, it has all the makings of an interesting experience, but - much like an actual bottomless radioactive hole in the ground - you might want to look before you leap.