Solid metal experience that is dragged down by outstaying its welcome. Sorry, that was my review of any Metallica album after 1992.
Metal: Hellsinger is a game I enjoyed in small doses. It's a game that is pretty elegant in its simplicity. Using basic FPS combat, but paring every action with a rhythm based bonus, makes for a solid "gamefeel".
My issue is that is all that is going on here.
I know it isn't fair to compare this to a game released later. But Hi-Fi Rush is a game I loved, where it kept all the depth of a character-action game, then used rhythm mechanics to elevate that core, and set itself apart. Whereas Metal: Hellsinger is as basic of an FPS as it can get, with rhythm bonuses tied to it. So the former already had an engaging gameplay core with added rhythm mechanics, where the later only has the rhythm mechanics.
So after a level or two, I would feel the gameplay was pretty stagnant. To the point the game desperately needed gameplay/art/music switch ups far more rapidly to keep me interested. The challenge missions sort of achieve this, however they are extra game you would need to play, so it doesn't solve my issue with the core experience.
I feel like if each level in the game was split into multiple smaller levels (maybe even reworking them to have optional objectives, similar to the challenge levels main objectives), the game would have felt like less of a slog and maybe even be more replayable? (So each level was split into 2-3 standard levels of much shorter length, and the boss fight being its own level).
Ultimately if I wanted to play a shooter with similar art direction, where there are long stretches of the same song playing, I could just play the Doom reboots. Only I would be trading the rhythm timing with in-depth combat mechanics, which I think is a far better trade.
However if you reading this liked Doom (2016) far more than Doom Eternal, and would have liked it to be even simpler so you could focus on shooting a shotty and headbanging to music. Then Metal: Hellsinger might just be for you.
Metal: Hellsinger is a game I enjoyed in small doses. It's a game that is pretty elegant in its simplicity. Using basic FPS combat, but paring every action with a rhythm based bonus, makes for a solid "gamefeel".
My issue is that is all that is going on here.
I know it isn't fair to compare this to a game released later. But Hi-Fi Rush is a game I loved, where it kept all the depth of a character-action game, then used rhythm mechanics to elevate that core, and set itself apart. Whereas Metal: Hellsinger is as basic of an FPS as it can get, with rhythm bonuses tied to it. So the former already had an engaging gameplay core with added rhythm mechanics, where the later only has the rhythm mechanics.
So after a level or two, I would feel the gameplay was pretty stagnant. To the point the game desperately needed gameplay/art/music switch ups far more rapidly to keep me interested. The challenge missions sort of achieve this, however they are extra game you would need to play, so it doesn't solve my issue with the core experience.
I feel like if each level in the game was split into multiple smaller levels (maybe even reworking them to have optional objectives, similar to the challenge levels main objectives), the game would have felt like less of a slog and maybe even be more replayable? (So each level was split into 2-3 standard levels of much shorter length, and the boss fight being its own level).
Ultimately if I wanted to play a shooter with similar art direction, where there are long stretches of the same song playing, I could just play the Doom reboots. Only I would be trading the rhythm timing with in-depth combat mechanics, which I think is a far better trade.
However if you reading this liked Doom (2016) far more than Doom Eternal, and would have liked it to be even simpler so you could focus on shooting a shotty and headbanging to music. Then Metal: Hellsinger might just be for you.