Metal Unit Review
Release date: February 3rd , 2020
Developer: JellySnow Studio
Platforms: Steam (Reviewed)
Price: $14.99
Metal Unit is best described as robot anime meets Dead Cells. The game mixes rogue-like and platforming and adds an anime twist to it. The Gamers Lounge has played a few hours and so far it's been interesting.
Metal Unit takes place in 2020, the earth is under attack from Aliens and from ancient forces. Players are thrust into Joanna whose sister has gone missing. Through a tale of betrayal and family values the story is laid out. Fire up her M-11 suit and get to work, might as well kill everything along the way. I had a little bit of a hard time getting into the story.
The art style is retro 16 bit mixed in with pixelated cutscenes. There is a lot of detail in the levels and backgrounds. It would have been nice to see more detail in the suit. The gameplay is interesting, and most gamers who have played platformers can jump right in. I was thinking I would be piloting a larger mech, something that dwarfed cities. Instead the M-11 suit is no bigger than a human, think of it as something like Marvel’s War Machine. Enemies start out cute and easy but they get tough quickly.
Players have some interesting options to attack; from ranged weapons to up close melee, there are options for every sort of play style. There are also sub slots that can hold weapons such as grenades, missiles, and lighting strikes. Most of these items run on a cool down and most of the time it's manageable. Items and weapons can also be bought from vendors by spending coins.
The soundtrack is full of 80s synth music and I found this to be the perfect fit. The game plays like Metroidvania, Joanna can dodge and dash and double jump. Since its a rogue-like once you die it's time to start over. You earn RP points which can be spent on your next run but since it's a rogue like, all of this is randomized and only available for this next run. What will be available at the start? Good weapons or the same stuff from last time?
The game controls well and it's pretty fast paced. Metal Unit seems to be taking the traditional Metroidvania ideas and giving them a twist. The game won’t appeal to everyone but it does have some nice things.
Final Score
Pros:
Interesting theme and gameplay
Lots of items and weapons
Cons:
The game gets hard fast
Text and story can be hard to follow