Tom Happ, who is known for his development work on EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour and NFL Street franchises, has gone indie and crafted a delightful tribute to the exploratory action (A.K.A."Metroidvania") genre. Axiom Verge ($19.99) is a 2D platformer that combines the best aspects of classic side-scrollers like Contra and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, while incorporating Metroid-like gameplay to deliver a refined experience for newcomers of the genre and seasoned vets alike. Axion Verge is a fun, engaging title; in fact, it's one of the best PC games you can play. Still plodding story elements and seemingly pointless weapons mar the experience a bit. I reviewed Axiom Verge on PC, but it's also available for PlayStation 4($799.95 at Amazon) and PlayStation Vita($999.00 at Amazon).
You control a scientist named Trace, who is working on an unexplained experiment that goes horribly wrong. One explosion and dilapidated research facility later, Trace is awakened by a strange voice that directs him to a nearby gun. Stranded on an alien world ran by biomechanical entities, most of which have been infected with a deadly pathogen, Trace takes it upon himself to restore the world to its former glory.
Star Trek
Axiom Verge's gameplay consists of scaling rooms and corridors, discovering new abilities as you explore, and backtracking to use those abilities in previously inaccessible areas. A map keeps track of where you've been and where you haven't, which is typical for games in this genre, but it has a useful reminder function that shows the exact area of an unreachable weapon, upgrade, or corridor.
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Why You Should Game on a PC
Although Axion Verge's level design is in the classic Metroidvania style, the gameplay is more akin to Contra's run-and-gun action. Trace has a floaty, yet appropriate, weight when he jumps. The controls are tight, and weapons can be fired in all directions. As a result, you execute offensive and tactics quite fluidly.
Your primary weapon is the Axiom Disruptor, a biomechanical gun that you can upgrade with different projectile options that you find while traversing the land. The Axiom Disruptor can be equipped with up to two firing options, and each weapon is built specifically for tackling distinct circumstances. For example, the Nova shell's ability to detonate at any time is great for eliminating swarms of nestled enemies, while the Voranji projectile deftly damages bosses with its multi-attack shooting pattern. Other weapons and upgrades let you phase through walls, distort environments, and drill through rock. New weapons appear at a brisk pace, unlike traditional platformers that infrequently reward you with new toys. Firing options begin to pile up rapidly, and after a point you'll primarily stick to the weapons you know.
Enemies vary in sizes, numbers, and abilities. Each creature is meticulously placed in specific corridors structured to prevent you from advancing farther. It takes precision and trail-and-error enemy attack pattern memorization to progress in later levels. Bosses require just as much attention as the lesser creatures in order to find the fatal flaw in their attack pattern. You will die, and you will die a lot, but the difficulty is fair despite death being so swift. Thankfully, all upgrades gained prior to Trace's death follow him to the last save station you visited.
Space Age Love Song
Axiom Verge's story harkens back to the retro style of 1980's science-fiction, engrossing itself in all the pseudo-science and technological endeavors commonly found in the genre. You discover notes on your journey that offer a bit of insight into the story. The plot is a slow-burn mystery that leads to an eventual, predictable plot twist. The narrative takes its time to develop, and even more time to develop into something interesting. But once it does, you will find yourself investigating every nook and cranny in order to find notes that delve deeper into the lore.
Aesthetically, Axiom Verge's visuals are inspired by Nintendo's 8- and 16-bit Metroid games. Everything from structures to the environment outdoors has an Alien-like biomechanical look, and colors are effectively used to express the bleakness of the planet's condition. But Metroid's influence robs Axiom Verge's settings of visual uniqueness; the game comes off as mere carbon copies of locations visited in Nintendo's franchise.
Axion Verge's soundtrack likewise carries an old school sci-fi tone. The music ranges from vibrant and futuristic, to dark and brooding; it's appropriate for the game's environments.
The Options Void
There is a disappointing lack of resolution options. Axiom Verge has a default 480 x 279 resolution, and two viewing options: Windowed and Full Screen. The game look and ran fine in both modes. You can also tweak the amount of special effects that appear on screen by selecting either Graphics Detail 1 or Graphics Detail 2, but the differences between the two options are minimal.
Axion Verge supports keyboards, as well as controllers, with the latter feeling more natural and fitting. That's likely due to the game's origin as a PlayStation 4 indie game.
Back to the Future
Axiom Verge is a reminder of what made classic Metroidvania games so appealing—and that's also the title's greatest flaw. Though Axiom Verge delivers an interesting science fiction storyline for those willing to put time into it, tons of rooms to explore, and numerous ways to shoot aliens, it doesn't do enough to push the genre forward. Still, Axiom Verge is a solid choice for those new to exploratory action games, or those who have a need to re-experience that type of gameplay. But if you're looking for a game that revolutionizes the Metroidvania genre as we know it, you're barking up the wrong biomechanical tree.
Axiom Verge delivers one of the better experiences in the oversaturated Metroidvania genre, but if you've played a NES/SNES Metroid title, then you've played Axiom Verge. The game's plenty fun, but it fails to carve out a distinct identity.
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