In the thrilling world of Metal Bringer, crafted by PLAYISM and ALPHAWING, players are catapulted into a future where humanity teeters on the brink of disaster. Taking on the role of Suria Yugia, players are stirred from a millennium-long cryosleep by their robotic ally, Bud. The setting is Meru Laboratory, a place engineered solely for Suria, running over 8.7 million hours, translating to around a thousand years of automation. The formidable integrated system S.I.V.A. has now seized control, aiming to indefinitely trap humanity in cryosleep. It’s wrested authority over the Labor AI, with a chilling mission to capture and preserve humans by force. Direct combat is perilous, prompting players to engage through Labors and Arms—humanoid droids and larger mechanized suits that can be piloted, respectively.
The first adventure involves crafting your initial Labor unit, broken down into fundamental components: head, body, and weapons for each arm. It’s a delicate dance of weapon stats, balancing attack velocity, strength, and actions. Pay heed to the weight, as it’ll directly affect agility and swiftness. Ranged weaponry adds another layer of stats to juggle, such as reload and bullet speed, dispersion, and more. Additionally, some weapons can inflict status ailments like burning or freezing. Customization enthusiasts will appreciate the color palette, offering tweaks in skin tone, eye color, and even the hue of your arsenal and projectiles.
Gameplay mechanics feel intuitive: move using the left stick, aim with the right, fire your weapons using L2 and R2, jump with X, and interact using Square. The Circle button offers quick dodging abilities. Searching for an Arms and riding one—done with a simple down press on the D-Pad—is a pivotal strategy. Camera control is facilitated with L1 and R1, and should you come across spare parts for Arms, swapping them out on-the-fly is possible. Locking onto foes with a click of the right stick proves invaluable amidst the chaos of multiple adversaries or boss confrontations.
Throughout Metal Bringer, you gather D Chips. These allow for Labor upgrades, boosting effectiveness in various facets—health, defense, weapon interfaces, and more. You can also upgrade numerous weapon types, from blades to high-tech cannons. The diversity here encompasses swords, lances, and even homing plasma cannons.
Blueprints collected during play unlock app installations that further enhance Labor abilities for each run. These apps enhance weapon charge times, mobility, jump effectiveness, damage output, and even homing accuracy on projectile-based weaponry.
Let’s not skip over the trophies—a rewarding aspect of any game. Metal Bringer’s trophy list includes a Platinum and a mix of 24 Bronze, 13 Silver, and 3 Gold trophies. Objectives range from progressing through the game’s various locales, conquering bosses, to deepening your Labor’s customization and weapon diversity, like amassing blueprints and dealing staggering damage over a single hit or combo.
Ultimately, Metal Bringer delivers a captivating roguelite action narrative set in a future brimming with peril for humanity. As Suria Yugia, awaken from slumber to navigate this immersive adventure against the backdrop of a seemingly eternal automated existence. The game is available on PlayStation 5, priced at $19.99.
This review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy graciously provided by PLAYISM.
