If there is one series that helped video games become the cinematic-style juggernauts of today, it was the Metal Gear series. Konami and auteur designer Hideo Kojima’s iconic series brought stealth action, government conspiracies, political espionage and more to a massive audience with its chronicles of the legendary soldiers Big Boss and Solid Snake. Over several games, beginning on the NES with Metal Gear and transitioning to the PlayStation with Metal Gear Solid, Kojima created an over-the-top series that featured incredible boss fights, high stakes and enough weirdness to make fans fall in love with the world and characters.
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Now, a new indie game hopes to go back to the beginning and to celebrate Metal Gear — by satirizing it in every way possible. UnMetal is an upcoming stealth action game that looks to combine humor with the classic Metal Gear gameplay that fans have known and loved for decades. UnMetal is both a parody and a love letter to Metal Gear, and it looks to be a promising stealth throwback on top of it all.
UnMetal stars grizzled antihero Jesse Fox, a soldier imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit — and who is plainly told so by his captors. Shortly thereafter, Jesse finds himself embroiled in a plot to attack NATO, and he must assault a military base to save the world using only his sneaking skills and equipment. UnMetal‘s setup should sound familiar to any Metal Gear fan, and if there’s one thing a Metal Gear parody needs for a story, it’s a plot to destroy the world. UnMetal gets that aspect completely right.
Despite UnMetal‘s name, it is decidedly Metal Gear in nature and design, albeit with much more of a non-sequitur style of humor. The trailer shows off UnMetal‘s dedication to taking the Metal Gear series (one that became absolutely ridiculous with its story) and the ’80s macho action films that it spawned from. The jokes fly left and right.
Even when UnMetal isn’t skewering Metal Gear‘s classic gameplay, it’s providing hilariously absurd jokes that sometimes are intertwined with gameplay itself. One example in the trailer is where Jesse knocks on a wall to distract a guard, only to have the guard question if someone is there. The player can then pick from a selection of choices including “cat,” where Jesse then simply tells the guard he’s a cat instead of meowing. UnMetal leans hard into the absurd, and it works so well.
Although UnMetal satirizes Metal Gear in its story and dialogue, gameplay-wise it is about as faithful to classic Metal Gear as a new game can get. UnMetal is played from a top-down perspective, and Jesse Fox must sneak his way around the military base, taking out video cameras with grenades, knocking out guards and blasting enemies when things inevitably go haywire.
Jesse has all manner of gadgets and period-appropriate weaponry at his disposal, including Metal Gear classics like night vision goggles, an arsenal of firearms and even a communication device that delivers dialogue through the iconic Metal Gear codec screen-style. UnMetal looks to be a treat for stealth action fans, especially those legions of diehard fans who don’t have many options due to Konami’s current drought of Metal Gear games after the disappointing Metal Gear Survive in 2018.
Visually, UnMetal is pitch-perfect as well, with its pixel-art recreation of the original NES Metal Gear gameplay, but updated to a modern style. UnMetal looks and runs much better than any game of this type could on ’80s hardware, but it succeeds at presenting the game how players think it used to look. Jesse’s blank-faced character model is simple pixel art, and looks like it was taken straight out of the original Metal Gear. By nailing the gameplay and look of Metal Gear, UnMetal succeeds in recreating a stealth game that feels the most accurate to the original series.
A demo of UnMetal is available now on Steam, and the full release is planned for sometime this year. Whether you’re a Metal Gear fans or just someone who enjoys a good satire, UnMetal seems to be a great stealth action game with a hilarious bend. Konami may be currently sitting on the Metal Gear license, but fans can turn to this promising indie game to get an experience that is just as enjoyable.
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