Test – Metal Slug Tactics: a spin-off with ingenious mechanics

16 years is the time that separates the release of the last canonical Metal Slug, namely Metal Slug 7 which saw the light of day on Nintendo DS, from the new spin-off which has just been released. Certainly, a few episodes intended for mobile media have appeared in the meantime, including Tower Defense, but no game has really attracted attention. A question therefore arises: does this Metal Slug Tactics spin-off manage to reconnect with the spirit of the license, sufficiently to mark its comeback?

DotEmu is a publisher specializing in the return of certain cult licenses. The company is notably associated with Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap, Streets of Rage 4, Windjammers 2 and TMNT Shredder’s Revenge. Recently, she signed the return of a famous SNK license, namely Metal Slug. The project was developed by Leikir Studio, a Parisian development studio founded in 2012 to which we owe Isbarah, Wondershot and Rogue Lords. The latter made a bold bet by offering the license a completely new approach. Forget the run ‘n gun of the canonical episodes, this spin-off takes the form of a turn-based tactical RPG, with a rogue-like aspect.

It must be admitted, T-RPG is a niche genre. At first glance, the choice of Leikir Studio is surprising, especially to put back in the spotlight a license known for its run ‘n gun aspect. On paper, the two genres are opposites. One requires you to take your time, to think, to anticipate the next shots, while the other plays on urgency to move forward as quickly as possible by shooting everything that moves. However, the developers have achieved the feat of combining the two. This involves a very simple but oh so effective idea. The further a character moves on the map, the more dodge points he gains to limit the damage received during the next (enemy’s) turn. In short, unlike many titles of the genre which rely on area control, Metal Slug Tactics does everything to ensure that the player moves his characters as far as possible. So we essentially find this “run” part, even if you have to move square by square, each in turn.

Of course, the “gun” part is also insured. As a base, Marco and Fio are equipped with firearms (a weak one with unlimited ammo and a more powerful one with limited ammo), while Eri sends explosives, in addition to her secondary weapon. In addition to these three characters, by completing the game under various conditions, you unlock six other key characters from the series, namely Tarma, Trevor, Nadia, Ralf, Clark and Leona. Everyone has their own package and skills, like Trevor who can mentally control enemies. The games play out mostly in the same way. There is the player’s turn and that of the enemy (during which we suffer). During the first, you can move each of your characters before attacking the enemies. Among the subtleties, we note a certain verticality which allows you to protect yourself from some of the attacks, cover systems adding defense points (not always in a coherent manner, moreover) and interactive decor elements to make more damage. You can activate a pulley to unload your cargo on the enemy or even explode a barrel near the opponents. There is even a particularity with the enemies who mummify us, the latter allowing us to do much more damage in melee on the following turn.

The gameplay is rather well calibrated and requires a certain amount of thought… and above all anticipation. It is therefore necessary to carefully study all aspects of the game, particularly in terms of the use of special actions, the optimization of your movement points or in terms of assets which add significant bonuses. Metal Slug obliges, the famous tank is also there. When added to the mission, it can do some serious damage. We are not going to dissect each element of the gameplay but there is a specificity which makes the games so interesting. It’s synchronization. Concretely, when the allies are positioned in such a way as to be able to hit an enemy that we are targeting, the latter synchronize and also trigger their attack. The poor opponent(s) then suffer two or three attacks. Enough to reduce their life bar to zero very quickly, or even eliminate several of them in a single turn. To help visualize the impacts, by moving the area of ​​action, we can observe if the attack will hit, how much it will inflict, if a synchronization will be launched and how much damage it will do.

Truth be told, the developers tried to make the gameplay accessible to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, if there are lots of good intentions, newbies will quickly be lost. The fault lies in a tutorial which is too succinct to understand all the notions of the game. In addition, we feel that the interface was designed above all for PC players. The texts are very small and the windows pile up when you want to specify a concept by clicking on the right joystick. A feature that is triggered just by hovering over the link on a PC. More practical and less invasive. As there are a lot of texts, especially to understand the effects of skills or assets, we quickly find ourselves embarrassed or approaching our television, when we are not squinting. Likewise, we are sometimes confused when a button is used for validation part of the time and another takes over the rest of the time.

You therefore need a handful of runs before you begin to grasp the subtleties of the game. As the difficulty is a little higher, even at the weakest level, many newcomers will face defeat and give up. Not saying that everyone gets past the first boss. However, rogue-like requires, we carry out up to three missions, we trigger the fight against the boss and, if we triumph, we access the next area. With a little practice, you can finish the game quickly by covering two zones (the first and Sirocco City) or by falling under 4 hours by cleaning up the other two zones. Of course, if we lose, we start from zero or almost. However, we keep the accumulated coins to unlock new packages and other mods for our weapons. It is therefore run after run that we optimize our team, our equipment, and that we can better and better understand the next one. We also learn to focus more on missions requiring killing everyone or designated targets, or even those requiring reaching the finish with one or two units or those requiring surviving for X turns. On the other hand, missions aimed at escorting a unit are quickly avoided.

The problem is that despite the procedural generation of isometric 3D environments, a feeling of repetitiveness quickly arises. This is true even if the different characters bring different approaches, especially since those less accustomed to the genre may take time to finish the game for the first time. We also sometimes complain against the fixed camera which prevents optimal visibility when our character passes behind a level structure. It is also frustrating to sometimes come across a mission whose difficulty seems much higher, which ends a run early. It is also not uncommon, in the heat of the moment, to confuse the selected character and therefore launch an unwanted action. Sure, you can always reset a turn to a certain extent or take advantage of a resurrection under certain conditions, but it can be annoying.

On the packaging side, the studio has done what is necessary to welcome newbies and fans alike. You don’t need to know the license to get started with the game. On the other hand, if you like it, you discover a lot of fan-service. The scenario is reduced to its simplest expression but we find all the key characters and we even benefit from dialogues to be unlocked according to certain conditions. The music is pleasant and the sound effects are appreciable. The retro appearance is very correct even if we have already seen more careful. In any case, we recognize many elements of the franchise and we appreciate the care taken in the animations.

Conclusion

Leikir Studio made a strange bet with this spin-off of the license. By leaving aside the run ‘n gun for a turn-based tactical RPG, the Parisian studio takes an unexpected contrast. It is clear that the result is quite up to par, thanks in particular to the dodge system pushing you to move as much as possible and to the synchronizations which optimize the damage inflicted. We find the entire universe of the license, a lot of content to unlock with the sweat of our thumbs, pleasant music, lots of winks and neat animations. The pixel art is rather clean and the whole thing is clearly a pleasure to play for a fan of the genre. However, several aspects can be off-putting, starting with the management of the menus, the writing which is too small and the tutorial which is far too succinct to allow a novice to understand everything. It’s a shame because many efforts have been made to help newcomers, with plenty of room for improvement. Still, the rogue-like aspect is questionable, especially when the latter accentuates certain redundant aspects of the runs, even if the different characters, packages, skills and assets, associated with procedural generation, try to erase this.

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