One question gnawed at me before I picked up Metal Slug Tactics: Do opposites attract? More specifically, what happens when you take a fast-paced run’n’gun and turn it into a turn-based strategy game? These genres are almost as far as can be from each other. But just as a paradox can hold two truths in tandem, these contrary genres both have something to give each other.
While I was sold on the tactics portion of the game since the first trailer, it took me until playing to realize what a significant shift this was in gameplay. But Dotemu isn’t trying to throw out what makes Metal Slug Metal Slug; they’re trying to integrate the two genres. The first way they translate running and gunning into tactics is by the adrenaline / dodge system: the more spaces you move, the more adrenaline and dodge you generate. Adrenaline is used for abilities, and dodge reduces damage taken – so counterintuitively, rushing as far as you can into enemy lines might be safer for your character than moving slow and steady. This mechanic alone accomplishes the bulk of the genre-transition. It’s a well thought out system, though understanding the nuances of it won’t happen right away.
Gameplay after the tutorial was tough to grok; it felt incredibly tough for the first few runs. As I naturally understood more, it got better, though the ‘hows’ of the dodge meter continued to vex me. When you select a character to move, it shows that character’s range, but some spots are more green than others; the more green a spot is, the more adrenaline and dodge generated. Maybe it’s just pathing confusion, but it doesn’t always seem like the furthest spot generates the most adrenaline. Enough on that though; just go to where it’s green and you’ll be fine.
Its closest analogue gameplay-wise is Into the Breach. You start runs with different characters and loadouts, have limited reinforcements if your characters K.O., and you choose what regions to play in before the final boss. You also get to preview missions and their rewards, so you can make an overarching plan of attack for the region. The main thing that they didn’t copy from Into the Breach is the ability to foresee your enemy’s turns, which is good because combined with everything else that would have been tantamount to copying their homework.
The art for the most part is absolutely fantastic. I’ve always loved the spritework of the Metal Slug series, and its pulpy design is perfect for the military setting that’s so often homogenized in other games. Animation is great, the cartoon style is fantastic, and the traditional artwork is built to match. There is one exception though: the title screen (seen at the top) would have been better served by being illustrated. It’s not bad, but it feels incongruous with the rest of the pixel art. It’s an odd failure on their part, considering how well done the pixel art is everywhere else. And the key art is right there!
The music ranges from good to fine; there aren’t many songs you’ll noticeably rock out to, but the music is still pleasant in the background. There’s not a single grating song melodically, which is a good thing considering how long you’ll mull some turns over. It all serves its purpose of providing rocking music to not study / relax to. One standout track though is the music for your home base. You’ll spend a lot of time here upgrading weapons and abilities, so it’s good they made that a bop.
The game feels a bit complicated at first, but it’s meant for multiple replays – more makes sense as you dive into it. My advice is to dive in, understand what you can, and don’t get tripped up trying to understand it all at once. Thankfully, it has a tip button for highlighted keywords like in Pentiment. That was very helpful when digging in to discover more game mechanics, though we once again run into the problem of text on screen being much too small. Game designers still fall prey to this mistake. Please devs, if it will be played on a TV, check your work on a screen 6 feet or more away!
The options overall are lackluster; there’s the previously mentioned text size, which you can’t change. But more frustratingly, my muscle memory from other strategy games interfered in small ways. I want to swap the d-pad to “move” and the analog stick to “select ability”. On isometric games like this, the D-pad just feels natural for traversing the grid. It makes it easier to line up enemies for the shot when I can just backtrack with the D-pad, instead of fighting the analog stick. There’s also an issue with elevation and rotation. In Disgaea, I can rotate the camera orthogonally so that I can see enemies behind obstacles. Not so in Metal Slug Tactics. The game works well enough without that feature, and implementing it would have tripled work for the artists. I can understand why it wasn’t done – still, I miss the option.
Technical performance was good on my Xbox, though there are reports it has much more issues on the Switch. There were one or two visual glitches when my characters would change states (ex: entering or exiting a tank, dying as a mummy) and their sprites didn’t properly update. There was one item description depicting code that didn’t fetch the item quality description, and during boss fights there was occasionally some slow-down. But all the bugs I experienced were clearly shippable, and ought to be squashed within a few updates.
Now we get to the perennial question we address in every CGR review: is there anything of spiritual value? To the best of my knowledge, not really. At the time of writing I’ve only unlocked so many support conversations between the various characters, so I think there’s an opportunity for something deeper here. We even see a conversation where Eri says she was raised in a church! But…she left, because she was too free of a spirit. Perhaps there’s more in her locked heart-to-hearts for me to go on. In the main game however, there’s no such deeper level. Enemies are dispatched with pithy jokes, and the villains are cartoonishly evil. It wouldn’t gel in the main gameplay if war were taken too seriously. This is the rub of analyzing video games for spiritual themes; sometimes what’s fun is not what’s enlightening. And sometimes, if a game takes things seriously, it robs the fun out of the gameplay. It’s a tough tightrope to walk, balancing deeper themes while retaining engaging gameplay, so developers choose one to prioritize. It’s not a failing of Metal Slug that mature topics are less discussed. It just leaves me with less to analyze.
On the subject of hard pivots: I highly respect Dotemu for pivoting genres like this. Unlike my pivot, the execution was incredibly well-done – the more I played, the more I was convinced significant changes can be good for the health of a property. Maybe the genre switch won’t hit for hardcore fans of the series, but give it a shot: you might be surprised.
Morality/Parental Warnings
Violence: Guns, knives, and all manner of weapons make an appearance. Brief hints of blood are shown when attacked with a sword.
Language: the incidental dialogue can be coarse; while the ESRB doesn’t indicate any language, I vaguely recall Ralf either damning enemies or calling them bastards.
Design: Fio has a pretty sexualized design, as well as a suggestive victory pose.
Spiritual & Occult Elements: as per its pulpy atmosphere, there are mummies in the Egyptian-coded region and Aztec-adjacent idols in the South American-coded region.
Scoring: 85%
Art: 9/10
Music: 8/10
Story & Writing: 7.5/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Design: 9/10
