PLATFORM: PC, PS5, XBOX SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Many years in the future, Earth has become uninhabitable and humans have transferred their minds into Cores, spherical objects that are stored on the floating city of Moebius. The hope is that, one day, humanity might find a new home and the Cores can be transplanted back into host bodies, repopulating the new planet and starting a new civilisation. Unfortunately, due to interference from a mysterious organisation called The Engineers, the robotic protectors of the Cores have gone rogue, and it’s now your job – as a superpowered android called Aska – to head to Moebius and secure the Cores.
Metal Eden takes inspiration from a handful of titles, most notably the modern iterations of Doom and the underappreciated Ghostrunner, to form a fast-paced first-person-shooter with parkour elements. Aska’s movement is smooth and sleek and incredibly fast, and the range of weapons you’re given to play with feel satisfyingly weighty. Throw in a couple of gimmicks, like the ability to rip Cores from enemies and use them to either power up your suit or launch them back into the fray to damage your foes, and the Metroid-esque “Ball form” where Aska transforms into a ball that can roll around at high speed, along with multiple upgradeable alternate weapon modes and a skill tree that allows Aska to acquire new abilities, and all the pieces are in place for an engaging and exhilarating experience.
Metal Eden doesn’t concern itself with distractions – it’s a very linear game with very little room for exploration – instead focusing on the core gameplay to make sure that every second of your time is spent either blowing robots to pieces or working your way through the levels with finely-tuned traversal mechanics. It’s likely that a full playthrough might only take 4 or 5 hours, but multiple difficulty settings are available for a bit of added replayability. Short but very very sweet indeed, Metal Eden seems to have cracked the FPS formula in grand style and bodes well for whatever the developers turn their attention to next.
