Metal Slug Tactics review for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch

If you grew up in the 90s you’re probably familiar with those red arcade machines which could play multiple games, the NEO GEO MVS was NEO GEO’s arcade hardware system which enabled their owners to maximize their income by offering multiple titles without having to place multiple machines. While I primarily played King of Fighters on them whenever I had the opportunity, I did have a soft spot for a run and gun game by the name of Metal Slug. What made it so memorable was the gorgeous pixelated graphics, simple to learn, hard to master gameplay and that iconic yell you’ll hear when you pick up a power up with the letter “H”… HEAVY MACHINE GUN!

The franchise saw 7 releases on the original NEO GEO hardware, ports to many consoles as well as mobile platforms and even spin offs which changed the gameplay to such genres as Tower Defense, 3rd Person Shooter. So given the franchise’s propensity to hop genres it’s no surprise that a SRPG game would eventually be a genre taken up by the franchise. Developed by Leikir Studio who released such titles as Isbarah, Wondershot, Rogue Lords and Synergy, did this relatively unknown studio nail the franchise’ aesthetic? I’m inclined to say yes, the pixel art is bespoke, you have little exaggerated details and the war machine designs has the fantastical feel that the mainline games has.

Before I get the gameplay, here’s a brief summary of the game’s plot. The dastardly General Morden is back and has taken over yet another nation. So once again it is up to the Regular Army, specifically the P.F. Squad, S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S and the famous Ikari Warriors to take on Morden’s forces and stop his nefarious plans.

Metal Slug Tactics is a strategy RPG at heart, but what the marketing material understates is that it is also a roguelike. Yes, all this time I was expecting a lengthy campaign in which I could build up Marco & co., recruit new allies, leading to a climactic battle against Morden and his forces. However instead Lekir Studio prepared an experience that could easily be enjoyed in short bursts and each session will feel unique.

You can choose 3 characters to deploy and you set off initially in the Argun Palm Desert Region (as you liberate other regions, they can be your starting point of each run, however in order to assault Morden’s stronghold of Sirocco City, you’ll need to liberate at least 1 region). Once in a region’s map, you can choose one of three battles to engage in. Each battle usually consists of a primary and a secondary objective, completing each grants a reward at the end of the mission. I tend to choose missions where you’re not required to kill every combatant on the field, but given my lack of success in the title, perhaps your strategies might want to differ from mine. After completing 3 battles, the enemy will initiate a response in the form of a boss battle and boy do these engagements test your mettle.

Each boss arrives to the scene via an unskippable cutscene (which I hope Leikir patches in a skip cutscene option, because while watching the bosses make their entrance is cool the first few times, after a couple runs you’re just praying to get that time back). These hulking machines tend to have ample amounts of health, their attacks can hit multiple squares and some of their attacks can even home in on your character, forcing you to scramble for cover in order to mitigate the damage. Also they are accompanied by plenty of grunts, forcing you to choose between attacking the boss head on or whittle down the endless amount of troops to ensure your forces don’t get wiped out during the enemy’s turn. I understand the franchise is renowned for its difficulty, but Tactics really didn’t need to stick to the script that much. Suffice to say bosses aren’t completely insurmountable as players have completed “runs” of the game already…thus putting the onus of my failures purely on myself.

I do have to say I am impressed at how arcade-like the game is, especially since the roguelike element means you’re always being put on the back foot. You usually enter battles outnumbered, unless the rewards roll in your favor you could find yourself running out of special weapon ammo or given a selection of stages where your squad might not be well suited for, so you’re either gonna win by the skin of your teeth or go down in flames. When your characters get taken out and they will… you will have the opportunity to revive them with “reinforcement tokens” much like plopping a quarter in the coin slot, your formerly deceased character will rise again allowing you to reposition them in proximity to the place where they were slain, alas their special weapons ammo aren’t refilled.

Speaking of weapons, your range of fire feels severely limited. Your standard options consist of cardinal directions, so if your opponent is diagonal to you, they might as well be invisible. Unlike in Star Wars, where having higher ground means having an advantage, in this title it means you won’t have the opportunity to fire on enemies unless you’re utilizing grenades or throwables.. Cover also works in a funny way, I find times where I managed to flank a unit taking cover, but my shots efficiency will still be decreased and sometimes completely nullified. The game also has a synchronized attack gimmick where if you have two units line up properly during an attack, the second unit will also launch an attack, however all bosses are immune to synchronized attacks after the first one of each turn.

I also lament the lack of progression in the title. Yes, you can earn currency to unlock perks which will appear randomly for you to select, but none of the perks wow’d me enough to have them dilute the perk pool. Also having a majority of characters and their fourth loadout tied to completing runs means those players who won’t stick to the game due to its high learning curve will miss out on a majority of the content.

While it seems like I’m rather down on the game, I’m actually not. Spiritually it feels like something that would’ve come out in the arcade, devouring quarters unless you got really good at the title. In an ideal world, I would hope Leikir tweak the “recruit” difficulty to give players a place to acclimate with some guardrails, perhaps save revenge attacks and some of the bosses homing attacks for the second difficulty or perhaps let the player run a 4 person squad instead of only 3. Granted now the game is in the wild, I’m sure some savant player will release information on how to mitigate the game’s difficulty (Looking at the global achievements on Steam, around 13 percent of the player base has completed a run liberating all four of the game’s regions), but it makes it hard to recommend the title to a wider audience, I’d probably only recommend it to seasoned SRPG players.

Just because you’re not good at the game doesn’t mean the game is bad, in fact I appreciate the work that the developer put in to ensure the spirit of the franchise is present, even if the gameplay is completely different. As for me and my future with the title, I might hang back a little, see what strategies better players come up with, hopefully I’ll be able to complete a run and eventually unlock all the characters and their loadouts. I do hope the game sells well enough to warrant some form of DLC…because where the hell are the martians? It just doesn’t feel like a Metal Slug game without those tentacled extra terrestrials!

Note: Dotemu provided us with a Metal Slug Tactics code for review purposes.