Cyber ninja-like warriors running through a simulation at the behest of a NPC who may as well stop just short of calling me “Tenno”; a Style meter that actually influences some cooldowns (sort of); and Returnal-esque exploration – I could really go on and on with describing Morbid Metal. And if there’s one thing that the rogue-lite genre has proven, it’s that you can never have enough spins on a formula to empower yourself while constantly hounded by the possibility of losing it all. The entropy of demise, held back only by the sheer audacity of your build – if you play those figurative cards right.
It’s sifting through those options, adjusting your build, pivoting from bad choices and ultimately overcoming the odds that serve as the foundation of rogue-lites/likes. And SCREEN JUICE’s debut effort isn’t quite there yet in terms of features and content, but it’s a strong start.
I’d be lying if I said I expected much story from Morbid Metal. Yet even then, the narrative is threadbare. It’s one of those motioning to the gameplay and then asking “what more do you really want” scenarios, but there is some semblance of a narrative. You’re an AI inside of a simulation, engaging in one battle after another.
"You can cycle between them throughout a fight, combining their abilities in rudimentary ways. For example, launch enemies into the air with Ekku and then slam them back down with Vekta."
There is some lore to gather throughout, and the simulation seemingly mimics a “brutal, dark sci-fi world.” If that – and your character being the “last AI” sounds kind of vague – it plays out in about the same fashion in-game.
Nevertheless, the prospect of escape is enough to push through while leaving sufficient room to build on. No more, and no less, and certainly not your main impetus for playing at this stage in early access.
The combat, warts and all, is. You start with Flux, a katana-wielding warrior that specializes in teleporting stabs and mid-range slicing projectiles. Ekku joins in short order, offering a powerhouse playstyle, launching enemies in the air when you’re not stunning them. Vekta arrives a fair bit later and offers more crowd control, pulling and pushing enemies, inflicting the Link status for shared damage, and so on.
You can cycle between them throughout a fight, combining their abilities in rudimentary ways. For example, launch enemies into the air with Ekku and then slam them back down with Vekta. Each character has alternate choices to their starting abilities, so you could just as easily swap out Vekta’s Ultimate that spins in place, daring anyone to touch it, for, say, levitating all targets for a few seconds. Enhancing these abilities and discovering all their permutations is definitely fun – like blade projectiles bouncing between enemies or implanting Echoes that blow up after a short duration (which can then implant more Echoes in a chain reaction).
That is, until you discover the “Leak” status effect. It’s essentially bleed and can be upgraded to stack up to nine times, dealing more damage over time to enemies and causing them to take additional damage. Activating it is simply a matter of successfully hitting an enemy with an ability, which can lead to mindlessly cycling through all characters without any need for coordination. Granted, you don’t need to lean too much into such combos for success, but Leak trivialises things all the more, to the point where you can outright phase bosses.
"As for the actual levels that you’ll traverse…well, if you’ve played Returnal, then much of this will look familiar. Nodes to grapple onto, but not necessarily during combat, which would be a miss if the double-jumping didn’t make up for it."
At least the other abilities synergize more with the hack-and-slash combat, which has your usual perfect dodges and counters (complete with a cooldown for the latter so you can’t just spam it continuously). It would be nice to have more tactics available, like temporarily summoning another character to fight alongside you, either to unleash an attack or provide a quick buff. There are some interesting perks and choices, but at this point, there’s a way to go when it comes to facilitating different builds.
At least the combat is on point in most circumstances. Dodging for that split-second slowdown before transitioning into a whirlwind of death as Flux feels pretty nice, as does discovering Ekku’s double slash can actually deliver a mid-air smash against flying enemies. If you’re not locked onto enemies, then there are occasions where the targeting can feel iffy – you might intend to utterly demolish a shielded foe with an Ultimate, only to nail a weaker threat instead. It requires some minor adjustments, especially in the heat of battle, but you get used to it.
As for the actual levels that you’ll traverse…well, if you’ve played Returnal, then much of this will look familiar. Nodes to grapple onto, but not necessarily during combat, which would be a miss if the double-jumping didn’t make up for it. Spinning lasers that you need to navigate past, with the only real penalty being health loss. Healing items and Corporas, which provide passive stat gains like increased air damage, are occasionally situated in slightly out-of-the-way spots that require the bare minimum of platforming. Once you enter a designated arena, there’s no way out until every enemy is annihilated, but otherwise, it’s full sprinting through, occasionally stopping to smell the virtual roses.
Some sections mix things up, like trials where you need to survive for as long as possible or switch forms every five seconds, for a payout. And while there seems to be an incentive to go off the beaten path, risking your life for potential upgrades, it’s usually not as dangerous, and at times, a little too straightforward. The second biome puts more work into its platforming and hazards, at least, and choosing to clear two branching sets of rooms or fighting the boss right away is a nice touch. The bosses – of which there are currently two – also feel unique enough, boasting multiple phases and some intriguing mechanics, like split-second dodging projectiles from afar or taking out connected minions.
It probably won’t take long to clear all three biomes, but Morbid Metal does offer a fair number of unlocks in The Void, your de facto hub. You can gather currency to alter starting abilities for each character. Earn enough Void Matter, and you can upgrade stats like basic attack damage, attack speed, critical damage, and so on in the Void Nexus. Various Enhancers can also become unlocked, allowing you to upgrade abilities and passives, or even receive limited enhancements between biomes. Of course, if you prefer a monkey’s paw-style deal to emerge during runs, that can also be arranged.
"For those who think its combat and movement look cool, or feel like it has potential, Morbid Metal is certainly worth a look."
The amount of customization here is admirable, if not super-imaginative, though modifiers that you can adjust pre-run, a la the Pact of Punishment, are sorely needed. I can’t imagine that SCREEN JUICE hasn’t at least considered it, even if it’s working more towards finishing the game.
Regarding performance, I had no trouble running the game on the highest settings with DLSS Quality mode on a Core i5-11400, 32 GB of RAM and an RTX 4060. The frame rate remained steady throughout, even if some iffy foliage and pop-in were occasionally noticeable. Native upscaling is a bad time, though; wouldn’t recommend it on the same hardware setup with similar settings.
For those who think its combat and movement look cool, or feel like it has potential, Morbid Metal is certainly worth a look. But what’s currently here needs more work, whether it’s adding more nuances to the combat, expanding upon different build opportunities, injecting many more unique rooms and challenges, balancing out different upgrades, or simply in terms of additional biomes and bosses. The price certainly helps (only $13.50 until April 21st), but if you’re looking for something meatier, it may be worth waiting until the roadmap’s reveal.
This game was reviewed on PC.
