Metal Eden PC Review
Summary: Become a HYPER UNIT ASKA and attempt to recover citizens' cores from an orbital city, MOEBIUS.
4.9
Cybernetic Chaos
Steam tags list Metal Eden as a “Boomer Shooter”… I’ll get back to that in a moment, but the notion that this is inspired by the games that forged the first person shooter genre is absolutely valid!
Metal Eden is a visually stunning, stylistically engaging, shooter very much in the style of the classic games.
The story sees you take the role of a HYPER UNIT ASKA, an advanced battle android and you are powered by a Phantom Core. Essentially you are a humanoid weapon being sent to recover citizens’ Cores from MOEBIUS a massive orbital city that was intended as a new home for humanity but is now a death trap.
You start out (much like the classics of years past) with a simple load out and you are given some instructions to get you used to getting about in the world. As an android it makes perfect sense for your instructions to come directly to you and you will indeed have one voice that continues to give you context for everything as you make your way through the world. But you will encounter other voices, other characters who also add to the story of what has happened and what the current state of play is… things may not be quite as they seem.
Ok… so that “Boomer Shooter” thing… if I’m not mistaken it is intended to refer to people who played FPS games in the early days… you know Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake etc… that’s me! I remember seeing a demo of Wolfenstein playing in a shop and being wowed and not just the 3D levels but the sound effects… but I feel it important to note, I am in no way a Boomer… Boomers were the generation born after WW2, specifically “Individuals born between 1946 and 1964” I was born in ’78 and grew up in arguably the golden age of gaming… so despite a technically incorrect label… I would say Metal Eden definitely evokes the feeling of those classic shooters. Specifically (if I stretch my memory back enough) it makes me think of I believe Quake and Unreal Tournament. The big difference of course is that this has a much wider spanning world, AI enemies (similar to Bots but with different programming) and a compelling story.
The pacing is very well done too. Much like those classic games… you are presented with a new weapon just before things start to ramp up a bit. Each weapon can be upgraded and you can choose how to upgrade it. You can also upgrade your own abilities and the combination of these allow you to tailor your play style to what works best for you. In regards to weapons, you can swap bewteen them either via a radial menu, via the number keys or via mouse scroll wheel, the latter can be a bit tricky as if you don’t have rounds in a given weapon (and don’t scroll on quickly enough) it can default back to the basic weapon… I also found in the heat of battle that sometimes I couldn’t quite determine which of my weapons I had in hand (which can be critical as you have one that depletes armour that is fantastic to pair with a heavy hitting weapon)… but that might just be my ability to focus in the midst of action.
Final Thoughts:
There are plenty of contenders for FPS game time these days and while some may try and add new features or unique gameplay dynamics, Metal Eden takes a look back at what made the classics great and basically just combines all the best features and bundles them into a beautifully realised sci fi world in a way that feels new but also familiar. A brilliant combination of the old and the new. Well worth grabbing and having a play for those of us “Boomers” and for the younger gamers alike!
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
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