If that sounds a bit familiar it’s because that is also the setup to Eric Chahi’s Another World (a.k.a. Axiom Verge is the tale of a scientist who is transported to another world when his experiment goes awry, and his lab explodes. But a lot of you who missed it, or have been on the fence, or for those who are skeptical you might need more. It really does live up to the hype it has had for almost a year. I could end the review with that introduction. SECRETS: Who knew nostalgia could be so trippy? Chip tunes.ĬONS: Not the most original story. That isn’t an exaggeration or hyperbole here. Metroid fans would be completely okay with that. This game feels like it could actually fit in the Metroid universe somehow, or that you could call it Super Duper Metroid, and that it is the successor to Metroid fusion. There are even fewer that have managed to do it as well. The thing is there are but a mere handful of examples of games that tried to do something a Nintendo game did, and did it well. Forces you to find the exit, only to tell you you’ll have to go back to that area to get something later on. It drops you in a map, and forces you to explore. Because when you get down to brass tacks, it is. It would be easy to write Axiom Verge off as a Metroid clone. This is one of the most impressive games I’ve played through in a while. Unless there was an ability I missed (and I managed to explore most of the map and finish the game without it), these half-dozen jumps really do require unforgiving, almost pixel-perfect precision, in a way that stands out from the rest of the game.Wow. Several platforming leaps where success finally, mercifully came after about a dozen failed attempts, made while I wrestled with the world’s most fiddly grappling hook. There are times when the game could be more accommodating. Which ability do I need here, and which part of the map should I approach this obstacle from? Can I even get around this barrier yet, or should I come back later? Discovering the solution is usually more satisfying than finding whatever trinket lies in wait as a reward, because you’ve been entrusted to discover it for yourself. Axiom Verge 2-more so than its predecessor-is a game where unexplored map sections are actually devious navigation puzzles. The Breach really blows open the game, particularly when you gain more freedom in travelling between the worlds. It’s an intoxicating place, contrasting nicely with the more grounded nature of the overworld. In the more cramped setting of the Breach, you control your adorable drone sidekick, bashing enemies and dodging traps while listening to synth prog-rock cover versions of an already extraordinary soundtrack. Unexplored map sections are actually devious navigation puzzles The Breach is a separate map-laid atop, or below, the primary one-but with a mostly different layout, and a wildly different visual style: super low-res and with a colour palette that hasn’t been seen since '70s sci-fi. You’ve seen the feature before in games, probably in other Metroidvanias, where the two dimensions are just reskinned versions of each other. However, its standout feature is actually borrowed from The Legend of Zelda: there’s another world running parallel to this one. The newly fleshed-out world encompasses several distinct biomes, linking together in a more organic way than its boxy predecessor. It feels weird to say that combat is downplayed, in a game brimming with diverse enemies, but that’s only because the exploration side has received such a significant rework. As someone who dreads the bosses in Hollow Knight, for that very reason, I’m very much in favour of this change. Axiom Verge 2 doesn’t want to interrupt the flow of exploration. But there are no locked-off boss arenas-two encounters with the villain excluded-and no giant health bars to whittle down before you can progress. Oh, there’s a perfunctory final battle, and some optional scraps against unique enemies. There’s just as much fighting here, with one key exception: there are no boss fights in Axiom Verge 2.
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