I haven’t touched a 2D metroid game in ages and so I was pleasantly surprised by how similar this game is. “Nintendo seems to have forgotten about Metroid” is what I would’ve written just a few weeks ago, but the recent announcements of Metroid Prime 4 and Samus Returns have made me very happy. While having completely different characters, storyline and mechanics than my beloved franchise, this game managed to seduce me almost immediately and reminded me pleasantly about good old days long gone.

As with all of my reviews, these are my own opinions and experiences; please check out other reviews too!

The eight-directional shooting system lets you shoot down and diagonally downwards only after you jumped, are in the state of falling down, or hold a button to lock your movement and shoot in any desired direction. While this might be alright for most of the game, there are some bosses and situations made harder because of this limitation.

There is only one boss battle theme, played across all of the game’s bosses, making them much less epic than they could’ve been. I’m not asking for one for each boss but a couple of them would’ve been nice to spice things up.

Discover 23 different obtainable weapons, each with their own firing arc, range, and damage values. You can also find permanent passive power ups (increased weapon damage, bullet range, health, etc) and there are 16 different upgrades where each one will change the gameplay in some way or another which keeps things fresh pretty much through the whole game. Access previously unreachable places or use them to advance in the story. Two things I want to highlight are the ability to hack enemies to render them harmless or make them vulnerable to your attacks, and an interesting way of glitching through certain walls which opens a lot of opportunities for secrets and hidden paths.

Several save points spread across the the map let you save your progress, regenerate health and ammo, while setting a point to revive in the case of death. Dying in this game will not reset your progress but instead respawn all enemies and breakable objects.

Axiom throws over 60 different enemy types at you and new ones will often surprise you with fresh attack patterns and steadily increasing damage. It also kindly invites you to 10 different boss battles that will keep you on your toes, a good mix stationary and mobile designs, and a few of them are quite harsh but still doable.

Finally I’ll mention how well the game utilizes the controller, with each and every button having it’s own purpose for a good variety of gameplay mechanics.

A 2D art style that could be ripped right out of Super Metroid just with a higher resolution. While beautiful to look at, a creepy and mysterious atmosphere is stretched throughout thanks to the eerie backgrounds.

Just like the graphics, the chiptune soundtrack offers mysterious but energetic vibes that approach frightening at times. Some tracks even feel like they’d fit in a new Metroid game, and the whole thing just fits the game so well, it's unbelieveable.

Checkout the composer's website for a preview![axiomverge.bandcamp.com]

Definitely the weak point. Not by being lame or cheesy, but just because of how it’s presented. It starts out with a very mysterious premise but loses it’s focus near the middle and tries to grab it back at the end. It barely works but it’s sufficient enough to give the game a passable ending.

Clearly inspired by the Metroid franchise, Axiom Verge is a metroidvania through and through, where one slowly explores a large and mysterious world while finding abilities, weapons and tools that let you access previously unreachable places with each new item.

I recommend this game to fans of the 2D metroid and metroidvania genres. I also highly recommend checking it out if you are drawn in by what you see on the store page.

[h1][Introduction][/h1] I haven’t touched a 2D metroid game in ages and so I was pleasantly surprised by how similar this game is. “Nintendo seems to have forgotten about Metroid” is what I would’ve written just a few weeks ago, but the recent announcements of Metroid Prime 4 and Samus Returns have made me very happy. While having completely different characters, storyline and mechanics than my beloved franchise, this game managed to seduce me almost immediately and reminded me pleasantly about good old days long gone. As with all of my reviews, these are my own opinions and experiences; please check out other reviews too! [h1][Negatives][/h1] The eight-directional shooting system lets you shoot down and diagonally downwards only after you jumped, are in the state of falling down, or hold a button to lock your movement and shoot in any desired direction. While this might be alright for most of the game, there are some bosses and situations made harder because of this limitation. There is only one boss battle theme, played across all of the game’s bosses, making them much less epic than they could’ve been. I’m not asking for one for each boss but a couple of them would’ve been nice to spice things up. [h1][Gameplay][/h1] Discover 23 different obtainable weapons, each with their own firing arc, range, and damage values. You can also find permanent passive power ups (increased weapon damage, bullet range, health, etc) and there are 16 different upgrades where each one will change the gameplay in some way or another which keeps things fresh pretty much through the whole game. Access previously unreachable places or use them to advance in the story. Two things I want to highlight are the ability to hack enemies to render them harmless or make them vulnerable to your attacks, and an interesting way of glitching through certain walls which opens a lot of opportunities for secrets and hidden paths. Several save points spread across the the map let you save your progress, regenerate health and ammo, while setting a point to revive in the case of death. Dying in this game will not reset your progress but instead respawn all enemies and breakable objects. Axiom throws over 60 different enemy types at you and new ones will often surprise you with fresh attack patterns and steadily increasing damage. It also kindly invites you to 10 different boss battles that will keep you on your toes, a good mix stationary and mobile designs, and a few of them are quite harsh but still doable. Finally I’ll mention how well the game utilizes the controller, with each and every button having it’s own purpose for a good variety of gameplay mechanics. [h1][Graphics/Art][/h1] A 2D art style that could be ripped right out of Super Metroid just with a higher resolution. While beautiful to look at, a creepy and mysterious atmosphere is stretched throughout thanks to the eerie backgrounds. [h1][Music][/h1] Just like the graphics, the chiptune soundtrack offers mysterious but energetic vibes that approach frightening at times. Some tracks even feel like they’d fit in a new Metroid game, and the whole thing just fits the game so well, it's unbelieveable. [url=https://axiomverge.bandcamp.com/releases]Checkout the composer's website for a preview![/url] [h1][Story][/h1] Definitely the weak point. Not by being lame or cheesy, but just because of how it’s presented. It starts out with a very mysterious premise but loses it’s focus near the middle and tries to grab it back at the end. It barely works but it’s sufficient enough to give the game a passable ending. [h1][Conclusion][/h1] Clearly inspired by the Metroid franchise, Axiom Verge is a metroidvania through and through, where one slowly explores a large and mysterious world while finding abilities, weapons and tools that let you access previously unreachable places with each new item. I recommend this game to fans of the 2D metroid and metroidvania genres. I also highly recommend checking it out if you are drawn in by what you see on the store page. [code] Enjoyed this review? Curious for more recommendations by Excurious Curations? Check it out over [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28338439]here[/url]! [/code]