Fight Crab 2 Review (PC)

I’m not going to beat around the bush with this one — Fight Crab 2 is arguably one of the weirdest shells I’ve ever had to crack. It’s odd, mainly down to the fact that, bar the blatant disregard of logic, it is, quite simply, a game about sword-wielding crabs that scoot around on baby blue mopeds and wage war with one another. And that’s fine, as we’re pretty much forced to expect the unexpected in this day and age. But crabs, on scooters, however, is an entirely different beast to tame, and I can’t for the life of me figure out whether I’m in love with the concept, or unexplainably ambivalent about it.

If you’re able to remember Robot Wars—the cult TV series that instructed its competitors to both build and battle their own carbon death machines—then you’ll probably have a good idea of how Fight Crab works. If not, then just know this: it’s a battle-focused single-player and multiplayer game designed to have fledgling combatants thrash it out over a series of deadly battles and, with the full power of an enormous array of weapons, spells, and abilities at their disposal, flip the other fighter over to secure a win. That’s Fight Crab 2, in a nutshell: simple, clean-cut, and absolutely bonkers entertainment on a nautical platter.

It’s been a little while since we first caught wind of the original Fight Crab, so it’s only natural that returning fans will want to raise a question or two about the sequel. So, let’s talk about it, and how the long-awaited sequel builds on the previous blueprint that first came to fruition back in 2020.

Make it Snappy

Fight Crab 2 is all rather simple: obtain a crab, and shove it through the ringer in order to bulk out its attributes, skill sets, and weapon wheels. Like before, the goal behind each round is as straightforward as they come: chalk up a plan of attack, and use every tool in your arsenal to knock the other combatant over and onto their backs. Sounds almost too easy on paper, for sure, but with each round featuring a treasure trove of weapons, spells, projectiles, and other hard-hitting objects, believe me when I say — nothing could be tougher. It’s a weird concept, but one that’s equally as challenging as it is strange.

Fight Crab 2 offers an offline Career Mode, as well as a full-fat multiplayer mode, both of which feature their own Leagues to progress through, enemies to fight, and tools to unlock. The former, which serves as the primary mode in the sequel, sees you progressing through a three-year career as your up-and-coming fighter. In each month, you’ll take on several matches—bouts that feature various unique goals, such as protecting a few humans, or defeating a ranked enemy in order to ascend higher up the food chain. Like before, you also obtain all sorts of in-game rewards for completing these tasks, which can ultimately transform your claw-tagging friend into an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. It’s reaching that spot on the ladder, however, that’s the issue.

Fleshing out your crab is easy enough: you earn an in-game currency from the victories you earn—money with which you can pour into the in-game shop for various cosmetics, attribute boosts, and weapons. The options and perks are plentiful, and bear more than enough to keep you trudging forward and forever unlocking new ways to boost your career prospects.

To War

There’s a slight change in how the combat works in Fight Crab 2: the left stick continues to control the movement, whereas the right stick operates both of the claws. It isn’t a huge step forward for the series, but it does modernize a lot of the cluttered controls that made up the original. Of course, the option to revert back to the older mechanics is still available, but it scarcely simplifies things, truth be told.

Aside from the minor tweak to the controls, gameplay in Fight Crab 2 remains mostly the same as its predecessor, in the fact that you still have access to a tapestry of hilarious mounts, tools, and melee weapons. Granted, it can take a bit of time to figure out what’s what and which claw operates which item, but once a few rounds have been played out and there’s a victory or two under your belt, it does, in all fairness, become a lot easier to come to grips with.

To start out, you only need to know the basics—a short-sighted set of controls that see you either punching, guarding, dashing, or jumping. Like most games that feature melee-based combat, players must alternate between defending enemy jabs, and countering various attacks in order to land a crushing blow. If enough damage is dealt over a certain period of time, then with any luck, the enemy will stagger, and eventually roll onto their backs. And that, really, is all there is to it. It’s simple, chaotic, and annoyingly addictive.

More Meat on the Claws

Fight Crab 2 does manage to replicate a lot of the same features that made it into the original, which is a relief, in ways, as most of the nodes that bulked out the first installment were scarcely without faults. This time around, however, rounds do tend to flow a little smoother than before. Mechanically, it’s easier to control, and not to mention accessible for even those who favor controller support over alternative hardware. Add the fact that it simplifies a lot of the basic controls, such as movement and button inputs, and it’s easy to see why, at least structurally, it’s of far more stable quality than its predecessor.

It does go without saying at this point, but if you’re expecting to witness a visual marvel of any sort, then you’re only going to be lining yourself up for disappointment. It isn’t the prettiest game, nor is it in possession of a certain “wow” factor, either. Having said that, it does pay homage to a lot of cult classics — particularly in the arcade domain. So again, while it isn’t necessarily pretty — at least in the traditional way, it is, at least, free-flowing and mechanically efficient. So that’s something, right?

I’d be lying if I said I hated every waking moment of the dozen or so hours I poured into Fight Crab 2. If anything, I enjoyed it — perhaps a little more than I cared to let on, even. At no point did it become overly repetitive, even when certain goals were achieved by carrying out fairly similar motions. There was enough there, too — enough to keep me chipping away and sampling new approaches and arsenals for each new contract that I chose to accept.

Verdict

Fight Crab 2 is obviously going to turn a lot of heads, there’s no ignoring that. In addition to it being the unruly creation that it is, however, the game is, weirdly enough, surprisingly in-depth and in possession of a huge chunk of playable content. Its full-fledged Career Mode is a fantastic addition, and something that I, for one, found oddly satisfying for all the right reasons — even when the goal behind each match was one and the same as the others.

To answer that all-important question, is Fight Crab 2 worth getting your claws into? Yes, it is — especially if you’re a sucker for beat 'em-up games that throw caution to the wind and opt for absolute chaos and wall-to-wall pandemonium left, right, and center. It’s also a good way to blow off some steam, too, as it rarely takes itself too seriously — as made clear by its seemingly infinite wealth of illogical ideas. And again, while it isn’t the cleanest-looking game on the block, it is, at least, playable — and that counts for something.

If you did manage to load up on all of the content that the first game served up, then you’ll definitely be able to find a second serving of all the same ingredients in the sequel. What’s more, you’ll also be able to delve into a brand-new Career Mode that has thrice as many in-game pathways, exhibitions, and items to onboard and flesh out. Sure enough, it’s still the same-old Fight Crab, but with a slew of nifty extras and upgrades, to boot. So, if you’re one for keeping up with the times, then you’ll definitely want to consider transporting your assets over to the latest branch in Calappa Games’ unruly series.