Axiom Verge

Genre: Metroidvania

Players: 1

.

Review:

(Note: Included in Axiom Verge 1 & 2 Bundle along with Axiom Verge 2)

Axiom Verge is a Metroidvania that is probably the closest experience to Super Metroid that any game has achieved outside of maybe the subsequent games in the Metroid series… and that is a big “maybe”. Fans of Super Metroid, you don’t even need to read the rest of this review, just go ahead and get this game.

Having said that, while this game has some elements that very clearly resemble Metroid, it definitely has its own distinct identity. And while the world you explore is just as alien as any planet Samus set ever foot on, this game actually goes a step farther in its presentation and story by making the player question the reality of the world around them.

Players take the role of a scientist, Trace, who finds himself on this bizarre alien world after an accident in his lab, apparently summoned from another dimension by a giant mechanical head with an AI that seeks your help. However, things may not be the way they seem – you’ll soon encounter dimensional rifts called “The Breach” that look a lot like a computer glitch, and the further you explore, the more you encounter strange events that make you start to wonder what’s really going on here.

The game’s story is a delight, and the game’s presentation is as well, going for a 8/16-bit retro look that works really well for the game, beckoning the imagination to picture the surreal landscapes and odd monstrosities you’ll encounter. While not impressive on a technical level, and not as iconic and memorable as the locales from the Metroid series, this game’s visuals are nevertheless excellent and do a great job of selling the feeling of being isolated and alone on a hostile alien world.

The gameplay also makes use of this game’s unique story and presentation, as Trace’s growing repertoire of abilities increasingly make use of these “glitches”, almost as if you’re using a cheat to hack the game itself. This is a clever take on the genre that works really well here and solidifies this game’s unique identity.

This game isn’t without its issues, though. The game starts pretty slowly, and it takes a while to open up and really feel like you have a lot to explore. Also, this game is far less hand-holdy than a lot of modern Metroidvanias, and while many will undoubtedly see that as a good thing, here the lack of any real compass can lead to frequent moments when you don’t know where to go next and will be wandering around looking for something to do. Also, this game is damn hard, and you’ll find yourself dying a lot.

Finally, this game’s controls for weapon-swapping are extremely awkward and easy to accidentally set off (touching the right stick brings up the menu, and you have to press in the sticks to swap them on the fly). Players can re-map the controls, but the controller is so packed, with every button assigned to a necessary control input, that I can’t imagine how re-mapping it could fix the problem – this is the sort of thing where some attempt should have been made to have a button shuffle through attacks, or have one of the other moves become context-sensitive, or something.

Still, overall these are minor frustrations in what is otherwise a brilliant game that does some really interesting and original things with the genre, and the fact that this game gets so close to being a successor to Super Metroid while still maintaining its own identity is damn impressive. Metroidvania fans should absolutely get this game.

tl;dr – Axiom Verge is a Metroidvania that is the closest thing to Super Metroid outside of the Metroid series itself, yet it still maintains its own identity, with its own bizarre alien world, an intriguing plot, and unique powers based on the “glitchy” infection spreading through the game’s world. While the game has a few flaws keeping it from perfection (some control issues and a fairly high difficulty level), it is still a phenomenal game that fans of Metroidvanias absolutely need to get.

Grade: A

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