Metallic Child

Flashy, loud, and insanely addictive, Metallic Child promises to be an incredible new addition to the popular rogue-like genre. Developed by STUDIO HG, the game promises to be a cross between your everyday top-down perspective dungeon crawler and the wildest third-person character action games.

Randomized items and impressive boss battles are but just a few of the things that await players who wish to aid Rona in her journeys. As we draw closer to the game’s release, now’s a great time to look at what this unique action rogue-lite has to offer.

Deep Space

Metallic Child’s plot takes place aboard the Life Stream, a space lab piloted by robots. One fateful day, the robots onboard decide to crash the lab into planet Earth. While most robots agree with the plan, two of them pledge to save humanity: Rona and Pan.

Players will play as a fictionalized version of themselves, as they control Rona from Earth. It’s not uncommon to see some games where the player’s avatar is of integral importance to the plot, but rarely we’ve seen that they’re actually in-game versions of themselves.

While you’ll have to control Rona as you would any video game character, you’ll also have to forge a strong bond with her. Through conversations and dialogue choices, players will be able to shape their relationship with the Metallic Child, ensuring that she makes it safe through her journeys. This adds an extra layer of emotional attachment for the main character rarely seen in most rogue-lites.

Frantic Robot Action

While the Metallic Child has the randomized loot and enemy placements of a rogue-lite, its gameplay is more reminiscent of beat ‘em up games. As you progress through the game and defeat the many bosses that stand between you and your objective, you’ll unlock a plethora of new weapons and abilities.

This weapon unlock system (and some visual design elements) is reminiscent of the Mega Man X series, so fans of the Blue Bomber’s franchise will feel absolutely at home with Metallic child. Some bosses even use a 2D side-scrolling perspective that will give players even more Mega Man flashbacks.

Grabbing enemies is a core mechanic of Metallic Child’s combat. Along with your weapons, enemy robots make great tools to dispose of the hordes of mechanical foes that stand in your way. Grab them, throw them, or downright smash them, there’s lots of room for experimentation and fun to be had using the game’s physics-based combat system.

Flashes and Sparkles

It’s impossible to talk about Metallic Child without mentioning its vivid and flashy art style. Every explosion and particle effect looks amazing, accentuating the game’s action perfectly. The character designs also strike the right balance between cool and cute, definitely catering to any anime fan’s tastes.

The smooth gameplay and weapon variety elevate the game’s visuals another notch. In games like this, fluid gameplay is clearly more important than flashy visuals, but Metallic Child manages to get both of those right somehow. Also, the soundtrack rocks: composed of some retro-sounding synth tracks, this is the real sequel that the Blue Bomber deserved.

Pros:

• Fast and fluid gameplay
• Excellent performance
• Outstanding visuals
• Great character design

Cons:

• The plot is a bit predictable