Crabmeat Review (PC)
Summary: Taking major inspiration from other indie games in both gameplay and graphical design, Crabmeat is a fun, decently paced horror fishing game with incredible attention-to-detail and lackluster visuals.
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Crab games!
When discussing acclaimed horror games, you’ll also find the usual suspects: Silent Hill, Resident Evil, maybe even Dead Space or Alien: Isolation. But if you travel off the beaten path and explore indie experiences, you’ll find some gems. Crabmeat is one of those experiences. Describing itself as a “short first-person point-and-click survival horror game,” Crabmeat has you play as a convicted felon working to pay off a debt to the “Feudostate.” You’ll man a boat to catch king crab and travel the Antarctic Sea while defending yourself from threats that board the ship and uncovering secrets of the mysterious Feudostate and its purposes.
Now I have to say, my initial playthrough of Crabmeat resulted in a very different review. At first, I believed the game to be unenjoyable, boring, and poorly paced. The gameplay felt slow, the graphics were substandard (a sentiment I unfortunately still hold), and all-in-all, it felt very forgettable. But by the end, I was hooked. The ending, while basic, felt good, and after a long trip back and forth between crab fishing spots, the gameplay grew on me. And while I still find the graphics mediocre, they work pretty well for the vibe Crabmeat is trying to give players.
Gameplay
As previously mentioned, you’ll be driving around a LOT. The game runs on an in-game timer that is displayed around the ship, meaning there is a reason not to waste too much time fulfilling your quota. Much of the action consists of you releasing traps into crab spots, maintaining your ship, and protecting it from any bad things looking to make your life worse. Since I went into this game with different expectations, the reason I did not like it initially was because it felt so slow. Even on the highest throttle, your ship can feel like it’s slugging through mud rather than water. That was before I found a plethora of side objectives and oddities for me to explore on the map. There are the easy ones: extra traps and lore bits, but you can really explore anywhere on the map that the game allows you to. And that provides the game with a lot of opportunity—opportunity it takes and runs with.
After fishing, you’ll need to make sure there are fewer fish and more crabs in the sorter. Any other sea creatures you catch will need to be discarded. Coupled with making sure that everything on the ship is running smoothly (i.e., don’t crash too much and you’ll be fine), the game constantly has you running around to make sure everything is in its correct spot. Alongside maintenance, other crab-like creatures will come from below the water and begin wreaking havoc on the ship. (It’s bad luck to have a ship without a name, so let’s call her Jenny for now). These creatures will attack at random spots on Jenny, requiring you to dispose of them with weapons you find aboard the ship. But be careful; some of these creatures won’t go down without a fight.
The gameplay is simple and replayable, and it gives the player plenty to do while not detracting too much from its goal: creating a horror experience. That being said, points are being deducted for the point-and-click control scheme. While not absolutely terrible to control (it’s actually pretty fun to control the ship with clicking), walking around and using items, especially during combat, can be kind of annoying because you have to click to turn a direction. This means if you’re not fully looking at the objective you’re trying to complete, you have to drag your cursor all the way to the left or right to turn. I’m a big believer that controls in a game are a lot more important than people let on, and in a horror game, this can be frustrating in those tense moments where even movement is fighting against you. The controls are doable—just not preferred.
Graphics
I don’t believe that graphics make the game. Most of the time, if the style fits and they made an effort, graphics don’t really bother me too much. But there is a big trend, especially in the indie horror game community, of using PS1-era graphics: low quality, polygonal, and nostalgic. There is a certain charm to PS1 games that really shines through, almost like a “so bad it’s good” feeling. There’s also a technical aspect to it. Lower quality graphics and fewer polygons mean less to render and more room to play, so even those on lower-spec systems can enjoy them. Let me clarify: I DO NOT dislike this style. But now, I’ve seen so many games utilize it and… there’s a reason we don’t use those graphics anymore. The monsters look okay but don’t really add anything to their scariness, and the models of your tools, like your repair gun, look massive in comparison to the rest of your body. Again, a stylistic choice, just one I’m too used to now.
Audio
The game features almost no music, a fantastic decision from the developers. They really made the silence and ambience stand out when you’re out fishing, using gritty and realistic sound effects for your tools and your actions throughout the ship and the in-between sections. But the real standout parts are the random sounds you’ll just hear when driving. If you happen to leave the steering wheel and work on the ship while it’s still moving, you’ll hear things that will cause you to look around before continuing your work, making you question, “What in the world was that?” This, to me, is the best part of horror experiences, as it keeps you constantly tense when attempting to progress. This is only accentuated by the lonely, slow blow of the wind and the deep creaking of the floorboards whenever you walk or run anywhere on the ship.
Value
Sitting at just $7.99 in the U.S., Crabmeat is a bite-sized experience at a price anyone can love.
Verdict
While certainly keeping up with trends alongside its inspirations like Iron Lung, Crabmeat distinguishes itself with uneasy gameplay, a surprisingly rich lore book, and moments that will give even seasoned horror veterans a chill when out fishing.
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