A mash up of Castlevania, Contra, and Metroid in a well-executed package. We preview the 16-bit action platformer Axiom Verge!
A couple of months back we previewed a trailer for Axiom Verge , a Contra/Metroid/Castlevania action platformer. Recently, we got to play through an alpha build of the game that features a good look at the level design, weapons, and a boss fight.
The gameplay that was featured in the trailer matched up well to the actual gameplay in the alpha build. The level design is simple as you travel through Mario-esque pipes that take you upward or sideways into each new section. Each section is designed differently enough that you get a good sense of progression, especially when you have to backtrack to parts of the level that might not have been accessible at the beginning of the game. The enemies in each level are relatively easy to kill, and their variation keeps things fresh between each section of the game.
But how do you kill all of those enemies? With five guns that are spread around the demo. We were able to find four, but rest assured there are five weapons that you can find if you do more digging, ranging from a weapon that shoots delayed bullets that explode on demand to a weapon that can drill out parts of the level or simply kills your foes. Each one of the weapons has more of a purpose than just killing enemies. You sometimes need to backtrack to unlock certain parts of a level that were unattainable due to unfound weapons in your arsenal. This also gives you the satisfaction of killing your enemies in different ways than you did before with another gun. The guns are fun to shoot with and the look of each weapon’s ammo captures that old-school 16-bit feel.
Luckily you don’t need all of the guns to tackle your first boss fight. After some exploration, you encounter a floating talking brain with a drill bit stinger, and he's hell-bent on killing you just because you disturbed and entered his domain. The brain boss was easy to take down because he only shoots out red orbs that either disappear once you dodge them or have a delayed enough explosion to move away from them. Since it is the first boss fight, we'll cut the difficulty level some slack. Overall, Axiom Verge is looking like a game you should be paying attention to once a final build is released. You can check out the trailer and take a look at the playthrough we did on TwitchTV.
Marco is an avid gamer and writer who's been in love with video games since the Sega Genesis. He likes to discover new indie game talent and shed light on a side of the industry that gets bigger ever year.
I'll be getting it, it's true that by now we have awesome looking games but gameplay has been getting really bumped down in the latest years. Even I despise the fact that games now are just TOO short and a bit too easy. I'm sick of 10 hour gameplay I want a 20+ hours gaming extravaganzza
Meh.
Sure the look is old school. But that's not that great any more. Old school play is great, but old school looks is not.
1 Like I'd love to see the expressions on new gen gamers' faces looking at these graphics going WTF? Get it away from me..... I truly miss the old days of gaming. I'd love to see old retro style games make a come back. Thank higgs boson for emulation.
1 Like Love the look, I really will enjoy playing this one I am sure! I'll be waiting for it...
4 Like Thanks for all the encouragement, folks :) And happy 4th to those from the states!
1 Like i just hope this game is hard as hell as in the old NES games with no walkthrough and you were 9 yrs old with no clue on what to do yet you still had tons of fun playing it over and over
Agree, coz big devs making crap all the time, stupid brainless first person shooters , nothing new or nothing old good,playing indie games most of time, games with brains!
diffuclt play does not equal a game with brains.
Smart play with intuitive plot and engaging play. THATs brains.
5 Like Screw big developers, publishers and all AAA, DLC, DRM crap!!
All hail the good and old 2D 16 bit fun!!
I'm totally in!
@fang_proxy Funny - I mentioned earlier in this post that Axiom Verge had a bit of a Turrican feel to it... Gunlord by comparison is practically a clone!! - even the music! Looks and sounds awesome though :-)
1 Like I might be spoiled by modern games... but I'd really love to see this game as a full XBLA game. Microsoft needs to make this happen! I'd love to see what kind of deviously challenging achievements could be cooked up for this game.
Also, this awesome deserves to show up in my games list when people look at it! :)
1 Like Got a little feel of Turrican in there too... Now Turrican was a cool series of games, loved them on the Amiga!
Looks interesting. I thougt it was a Metroid game when i looked @ the picture. I might check it out when it drops.
1 Like I'm gunna enjoy this. Anything that plays like Metroid is an instant buy for me.
1 Like @notserbamma Not really, games were more epic and entertaining then most games in these days.
1 Like I just came here because of the picture. It looks like Super Metroid. It's a pitty that it won't be available for PS3.
5 Like This is what i always say, we are in a videogame age in which we have games that looks amazing but lack gameplay.
Also we have a Axiom Verge, a game that goes back to basics.
A style of game that is almost lost, don't know if this game lack dificulty or not but we need game like the N E S era.
1 Like Looks more like an 8-bit title. Genesis platform games like Sonic had far better graphics.
7 Like @LoserMike For now it's an indie title. Of course I'll try to strike a deal to get it on the full XBLA.
@AxiomVerge I'll play this either way but this really needs to be an XBLA game. I think the success of games like FEZ prove that there is a good market for games like this.
1 Like @stripesonfire And didn't Phil Fish repeatedly express his discontent with Microsoft and how they handle their xbox live releases. Steam ftw.
1 Like First minecraft , then this. By next year videogames might devolve to the ping pong paddle with the ball attached to a rubber string.
@ilantis What a narrow line of thinking you must have regarding games. Technology does not make a game fun, that takes superior gameplay or an excellent story. I'm hoping this one nails the gameplay, we shall see.
2 Like @ilantis It's already out :) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paddle-ball/id347858367?mt=8
@ilantis have you played minecraft? quickly becoming the most played game of all human time. there is a reason for that. its an amazing "game"
@inaka_rob Did you read me saying I think Minecraft or any other game is bad ? No. Just for the records I spent more than maybe 40 hours on the game.
@slayer1090 I deleted the last part of the comment which I didn't tought necessary, since it was implied that some people used to spednd much more in the game, and 40 hours is more than average, but since you ask it was "I know it might not be a lot for some, but the time I spent in the game was enough for me to create everything I wanted, so for me it was enough". Pity you if you keep playing without enjoying.
2 Like @ilantis Oh don't worry, there will be plenty of graphical advancements in the next COD game to keep gamers like you entertained. XD
@Ovirew there's one thing in life i love and respect and that's sarcasm. we could be friends.
3 Like @ilantis graphics aren't that important and personally I can't wait to get this I loved all those old run and gun games like contra, but I wonder if the difficulty will be tuned down in this like it is in most games these days, I hope not cause for me that's what made all those retro games worth playing they were the most challenging and rewarding games I've ever played.
2 Like Just a note: don't quote people for things they don't say. It was just a joke and personally I really liked playing some games with "dated" graphics for the first time, and as a matter of fact I played Castlevania SotN on 2007 and it's one of my favourite games (although the graphics are quite superior to 16-bit games). Keep in mind I'm from 92, so many of you "ye ol gamers" will hardly understand what is like playing such (for me) old games. For many of you games were awesome then, for me they are awesome now, it's the circle of life *put raibow here*.
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