Metal Unit | Switch Review

Strap in and lock on as Metal Unit blasts its way onto the Nintendo Switch from Jellysnow Studio. When Neowiz picked it up as a publisher, I knew it was something I had to get my hands on somehow. Since the day I booted up and fell in love with Skul: The Hero Slayer, I’ve watched the projects Neowiz has been involved with like a hawk eyeing his favorite hunting grounds. Metal Unit has been available via Steam for quite some time now, so I already knew what I was getting into with this one. I was more curious about Metal Unit’s fit for the Switch with its “pick up and go” functionality. I couldn’t wait to get my hands wrapped around this port and find out if I was correct…or not.

Monsters and Machines

You play as Joanna, a trainee new to the use of Mech Unit 11. Joanna has no memory of her past, and is informed from the get-go that her sister is a traitor, and is the one she must find and defeat. While early on the tropes of amnesia and “loved-one-turned-villain” felt a little like eating the same dish of spaghetti for the sixth day in a row, soon I found myself wanting to get through the levels and bosses faster and faster so I could continue the story. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

Unfortunately, the dialogue quite often made the story here hard to chew in segments. Too often phrases and the visuals that matched were either far too dramatic for the scene, or on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. That being said, however, I still continued to be drawn into what was going on, and wanted to hurriedly get to the next story segment.

So Many Ways to Kill

Metal Unit is a 2D action platformer roguelite. You are piloting a mech, equipping various different weapons and items as you find them; and there are a lot of them to find. You will have a melee weapon, a ranged weapon, and up to five sub-weapon slots that you can equip with different items at any time. All of these put together make for an entertaining dance across screen as you obliterate your enemies with flashes of elemental havoc partnered with blades and bullets. While the combat is fun, it feels very stiff and lacking in fluidity. It wasn’t hard to look past this, however, and enjoy the destruction my mech was raining on my television.

The environment of the levels you play through are based on different biomes. Each level has different stages that you must clear in a linear order. At certain intervals, one of the stages is a campsite, where you can sell or buy items, combine items in the synthesizer, and either rest to regain health or take a chance at a bonus level to clear and get another prize. Whenever I would come across this, I don’t think I opted for rest a single time. No matter how low my health was, in a roguelike based on item discovery, it made little sense to me to rest when the option of opening another chest was the alternative. In my opinion, Jellysnow Studio missed the mark with this mechanic, which I’m only guessing was built to instill suspense. 

While the frigid action in this game was a bit off-putting, and some of the mechanics seem to be a bit useless, I still had a blast fighting through these levels and coming up with different weapon combinations to slaughter my enemies before me. 

Feeling Rough

The aesthetics of Metal Unit are a bit rudimentary, matching the action of the controls you fight with. While this isn’t a positive note, it’s also not a negative mark. The world is a 16-bit design, and the edges are a bit rough, but it functions exactly the way it’s supposed to. Much like the action, once I got used to the feel, it was very enjoyable.

The sound coming through my headset was wonderful as I was playing through levels, annihilating everything in my path. The 90s synth effects had me in the zone, and were quite a nice experience.

Final Verdict

Metal Unit is worth the time to check out. While it’s not going to throw you through an experience that leaves you quivering with overexcitement, it is a blast to play. I did have to change the button configuration a bit, but at least that option is there, as I’ve played plenty of games that frustratingly lack that feature. Also, despite its shortcomings, the port to the Switch is exactly what I thought it would be: exceptional. While there are other roguelikes out there that are probably more enthralling, this is the perfect game to pick up casually when you’re waiting at the bus stop or on lunch break at work. So strap in and lock on whenever you want, on the go!

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of Metal Unit provided by NEOWIZ for coverage purposes. It is also available on PC via Steam.