SNK
The latestNintendo Directdidn’t have many surprise releases , but the one game that did get out forthwith after the intro catch my centre . Metal Slug Attack Reloadedfrom SNK recontextualizes the classic side - scrolling shooter serial with gameplay more remindful of pillar defense auto - battle game . Its etymon go back to a 2016 mobile game calledMetal Slug Attack ; while that Revelation of Saint John the Divine might make you want to click off the page , you should n’t because this plot is surprisingly entertaining . Metal Slug Attack Reloadedis a textbook case of how you’re able to take the core ideas and aesthetic of a classic , reinterpret it with a new style of gameplay , and still finger faithful to the franchise at large .
Metal Slug games are typically side - scrollers where players ensure soldiers blast their mode through stages with a variety show of tumid weapons . It ’s explosive , fairly fast - pace , and still quite fun today . I still have the Xbox 360 re - put out ofMetal Slug 3downloaded on my Xbox Series X and boot it up whenever I ’m in the mood for it . In comparison , Metal Slug Attack Reloadedis a slower - paced game that play quite differently . The core conceit of every spirit level is that actor want to protect their own base while destroying their opponent ’s substructure . These bases are both aggress and defended by unit , which players custom-make decks of before a fight to specify what will be at their disposal .
SNK
Once histrion accrue enough AP to spawn a social unit , they can press a button to summon one , which will march from one player ’s stand to another and attack any unit encountered on the way . Every grade inMetal Slug Attack Reloadedfollows that core gameplay loop , though each has its own spin on the form and frequency of enemy units receive and the length between the bases . The AP system and unceasing motive to review unit mean thatMetal Slug Attack Reloadedis far from being an idle game , even if its minimalist demonstration , pixel - art style , and quick level make it an excellent tantrum for Nintendo Switch . I also needed to stay booked becauseMetal Slug Attack Reloadedgets quite difficult at times .
That difficultness is of the game ’s appealingness . SNK wants players to make a deck of cards of building block and then tactically change it with units better fit out to fight the threat they are going up against . Sometimes , simply sprout up AP to craft knock-down tanks can be enough to win a friction match ; other times , I ’d have to go into an encounter with a deck of cards specially tailored to campaign a bustle of vanish units in decree to be successful . As someone who did n’t playMetal Slug Attackwhen it was free for mobile machine , there was a lot of test and error ask in finding out what the best scheme was for each level .
I lean to find that sort of plan frustrating in games , but it feels fitting for a plot with the Metal Slug stigmatisation . It ’s a pleasure to watch a well - constructed USA cursorily bombard and demolish an enemy ’s base , so the trial and error required to get there is worth it . That visit back to the difficultness of the original Metal Slug game , which get more engaging as players try tier over and over again and memorise foeman patterns and the practiced way to take them down . Metal Slug Attack Reloadedreplicates that feel across a far longer adventure and has lots of unit learning and progression systems that kept me addict with nary a microtransaction in sight .
When franchise with well - established gameplay styles like Metal Slug branch out into new musical genre , that unfamiliarity can be worry as a fan , butMetal Slug Attack Reloadedshows loyalty to the inwardness elements that make this SNK series gravid , thankfully . Hopefully , the turning - based strategy gameMetal Slug Tacticswill do the same when it launches later this year . Do n’t letMetal Slug Attack Reloaded‘s base as a fluid game or dissimilar gameplay style scare you off ; take solace in how it present that the Metal Slug series is n’t a one - trick pony .
Metal Slug Attack Reloadedis uncommitted now on PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox Series X / S , and Nintendo Switch for $ 10 .