AAA studios have kind of given up on motion video games that concentrate on fashion, spectacle, and deep fight techniques. Fortunately, smaller studios are beginning to decide up the slack, and SCREEN JUICE’s Morbid Metallic is precisely the type of experimental title I might prefer to see extra of.
I had an opportunity to play an early entry construct of Morbid Metallic, and whereas there may be room for enchancment, there was so much to love about it.
Type switching?Character switching!
Morbid Metallic is a roguelite hack and slash sport with a Hades-like construction. Transfer by battle rooms, get rewards and upgrades throughout your runs, and earn forex to unlock everlasting upgrades on future runs. It is a tried-and-true components, but when all of it got here all the way down to RNG and meta development, Morbid Metallic would not stand out as a robust motion sport.
There’s loads of depth to every character’s base package, and the roguelite bonuses solely improve an already interesting fight system. Nevertheless, the actual draw is the power to modify characters on the fly. This works virtually anytime, in fight, on the transfer, within the air, on the bottom. With the ability to change freely means every character brings one thing distinctive to the desk and you’ll broaden your combos in inventive methods.
For instance, Ekku has a launcher and Flux can blink at enemies. You’ll be able to launch enemies, change to Flux, blink, land a number of hits, use a particular, then change to Eku for a downward thrust assault. That is only a primary instance of what’s doable. This seamless transition is what actually sells the entire expertise.
You can even stick to at least one character and have the ability to do extra injury with a centered construct. However mixing and matching is the actual enjoyable, and that is the place the fashionable fight actually shines.
The dearth of a stamina bar permits you to transfer sooner and looks like you have got higher mobility choices. I like that you probably have sufficient talent you may run by biomes in a matter of minutes. That mentioned, I do recognize the minimap, because the environments really feel a bit samey, making it troublesome to find out which rooms result in upgrades. One thing just like Returnal’s HUD map improves navigation.
The controls are additionally quite simple. There are not any directional assaults, complicated inputs, or something intimidating on a mechanical degree.
Type comes with some friction.
There are some fight quirks that I do not totally perceive but. In lots of motion video games, equivalent to Satan Could Cry and Bayonetta, enemies can’t assault from off-screen. This permits builders to design extra harmful enemies with out making encounters really feel unfair. Morbid Metallic would not really feel unfair total, however some enemies use projectiles and coping with them off-screen might be irritating, even with injury indicators. This jogs my memory of the newer God of Struggle titles the place enemies are on the assault even while you’re out of sight, which I do not actually like.
One other side that might be improved is the particular cooldown system. Most motion video games do not depend on normal skill cooldowns, that are reserved for extra highly effective assaults or final assaults. You are at all times managing a timer right here, so having a cooldown in your specials can restrict your skill to chain collectively trendy combos. On the flip facet, enemy assault telegraphs for good dodges really feel a bit too beneficiant, so I believe tightening these home windows barely might make fight extra rewarding.
That mentioned, these are all areas that may be improved throughout Early Entry. Regardless of these issues, Morbid Metallic shapes up as a stable motion sport that is straightforward to choose up, gives a wealth of combo prospects, and options characters which are genuinely enjoyable to play.
Morbid Metallic will launch in early entry on April 8, 2026. You’ll be able to add it to your wishlist on Steam now.