Metal Eden review – GameSpew

It’s been nearly eight years since the release of Reikon Studios’ Ruiner, a cyberpunk-inspired twin-stick shooter which I called “action-packed, stylish as hell and downright awesome.” Now the developer is back with Metal Eden, which is also action-packed and stylish as hell. It’s pretty awesome, too, though perhaps not quite as awesome as Ruiner was nearly a decade ago. But still, that’s high praise.

If you want a quick idea of what Metal Eden is like, imagine the acrobatic antics, world design and narrative structure of Ghostrunner, add in the frantic first-person shooter action of DOOM Eternal, and then throw in the ability to turn into a ball like in Metroid. Sounds great, doesn’t it? And it is.

The protagonist here is ASKA, a Hyper Unit sent on a suicide mission to rescue the citizens of Moebius City. To do that, she needs to track down four engineers and retrieve their cores, but with a whole army of machines standing in her way as well as deadly traps and security defences, it’s not going to be easy. But you were probably expecting that, right? Besides, while Metal Eden is challenging, difficulty options mean that you can tweak the experience to your preferences. It doesn’t have to make you want to tear your hair out if you don’t want it to.

Though Metal Eden may initially give the impression that it’s a roguelike, what with its talk of death being inevitable and ASKA being rebuilt at the end of the tutorial, it’s actually a straightforward mission-based affair. You make your way through fairly linear levels, blasting pretty much anything that moves, sometimes finding your progress blocked until you’ve defeated a number of waves of enemies in an arena. What makes it so exhilarating, however, is the frantic pace of the action, and the tools at your disposal. It helps that it looks jolly nice, too.

ASKA has a range of weapons at her disposal, which will build up as you play through the game. Most of these have secondary fire options, too, which you can develop by completing challenges and then expending a currency called Dust. Needless to say, you’ll soon find your favourites and want to upgrade them to the nines. You’ll want to consider that energy-based weapons are better at destroying enemy shields, though, while kinetic weapons simply cause more damage.

You have other options when it comes to destroying enemy shields as well; the most effective of them being a hefty punch. Your standard punch is pretty mighty, but should you be in a position to rip out an enemy’s core, you can then absorb its power to enable you to perform a super punch if you wish, which instantly takes down an enemy’s shield. Absorbing an enemy’s core can have other benefits, too, or you can simply throw it at another enemy to do some serious damage.

Add in your agile movement abilities, such as mantling, wall-running and a nifty dash which can also be performed in the air, plus tools which include a jet pack and a grappling hook, and the combat here can get pretty chaotic, with you darting around the arena to stay alive while unleashing hell on those around you. You’re not defenceless should you decide to turn into a ball, either, which you can do with the push of a button. How does unleashing lightning bolts and missile salvos sound?

Perhaps the action can get a little bit too chaotic at times, leading to things feeling a bit messy. And it could also eventually feel a little repetitive for some, too. But for those who love games that never let up, providing one thrilling encounter after another, there’s a hell of a lot to like here. Like in DOOM, you’ll be ripping and tearing with reckless abandon, only instead of pulling fleshy demons apart, you’re remotely ripping out the cores of robots to momentarily power up your slaughter, and it’s brilliant.

So, it’s simple: if you happen to love Ghostrunner and DOOM, you’ll get on with Metal Eden like a house on fire, blasting through its enemies with a massive grin on your face. And if you love Metroid, you’ll appreciate its ball-based antics, too. It may not be all that original outside of its core-ripping, but it offers non-stop exhilarating action alongside some beautiful sights and a kickass soundtrack.