Slave Zero X is both exciting and frustrating

Do you like gore, biopunk visuals, and retro fighter-like combo systems? Subordinate ZeroX may be for you. But be warned: it’s hard, and in many cases for the wrong reasons.

Released a month ago, the game from the retro-ambience experts at Poppy Works perfectly blends a fast-and-furious combat system with the stunning beauty of a 1999 third-person shooter on PC and Dreamcast, but forgets some of the past. Content is meant to be left behind.

Slave Zero Star of the show? A vengeful, sword-wielding warrior who embarks on a journey to murder the false gods with the help of a stolen slave, the Unified Archetype, turning his enemies’ most powerful weapons against them. This deadly armor originally appeared as a biomechanical suit, but we quickly discovered it was much more than that.

While the plot isn’t the main dish in Slave Zero At first glance, it may look like a run-of-the-mill cyberpunk dystopia, but it quickly becomes apparent that it’s much more than that. If a game’s atmosphere lends itself to underdeveloped mechanics and systems, you’re likely to fall in love with it.

Mind you, I don’t think there’s anything bad or disappointing about Slave Zero, mostly because it’s been flying under most people’s radar and isn’t entirely compatible with famous titles, but it’s frustrating to play something that could be great with some proper tweaks and rework. All in all, Slave Zero

Fighting game Sickos will feel right at home, as the game’s controls are mostly similar to classic 2D fighting games, right down to split-second mechanics like using i-frames for strictly parrying and dodging, which can signal victory. The difference between repeating difficult boss fights. 20th time in a row. Slave Zero X isn’t 2D Sekiro, but it doesn’t hold your hand and doesn’t even offer a difficulty selection. It’s a tight-knit experience with a clear vision that actively wants players to to god or perish.

A constant balance between defense and ruthless offense is a great concept that works most of the time, because when things get scary, you should be building up bursts of energy to push enemies away, then activate additional energy for your attacks, which can also steal life. Combining the right timing of these moves with some advanced moves can often pay huge dividends by keeping even the toughest enemies on the ground for a few extra seconds, so mastering the basic mechanics of deception is a good thing. matter.

The premise should be attractive enough for many players looking for a retro challenge that’s both sexy and brutal. You might be knocked unconscious to death by a bunch of cyber thugs with one wrong move, but the next time you try, you might have no problem slicing them into tiny pieces because you completed the task perfectly and keep going until Only bloody wreckage remained.possible real Sometimes satisfying.

On the flip side, however: hitboxes can be wonky; platforming is an afterthought and terrible; many common enemy encounters result in repeated patterns of getting away with it unscathed. There are sparks of really good design here, but most of the time, the beautiful 2.5D levels and strong (albeit limited) combat mechanics outshine everything else. Slave Zero X looks and feels perfect, but it often doesn’t know how to best balance its encounters or make the ride as smooth as possible.

Boss battles can also be glorious, challenging, or downright frustrating, with overly generous hitboxes (for your enemies) and hard-to-break combos that drain your health bar instantly.Combine these annoyances with the limited number of checkpoints in some areas not too short levels and a very grueling, money-based progression system (although I did like the callbacks to Link: The Faces of Evil’s Morshu), you might leave the game too frustrated to play anymore.

Brave yourself through the ugliest parts and roughest elements of the game, and you’ll be rewarded. While the story is mostly nonsense, there are some great character moments, and the world-building (both on screen and in text) is fascinating to say the least. I can see many players choosing to give it a fair chance but ultimately failing. Even as someone who has beaten many difficult games, Slave Zero X kept testing my patience. The thing is… a lot of the bad moments come down to the game respecting both the worst and the best parts of retro gaming, and nostalgia and style can only get you so far.

Slave Zero X is available now on PC (Windows), Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Series X/S, and PS4/5.