Welcome to America!
FromSoftware, nowadays usually known for the Dark Soul series, and similar games such as Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice had an America-themed Xbox exclusive title that never made it outside of Japan. Metal Wolf Chaos was released on December 22nd, 2004 in Japan, but as years went by, it became a collectible game for video game collectors, especially as it became harder to find. Thankfully, thanks to Devolve Digital, this old title has been preserved and its now available on PS4 and PC via Steam. But what is worth it?
The game is a is a third-person shooter that puts the players in the shoes of fictional President of the United States Michael Wilson, who pilots a mech to battle the rebelling military led by fictional Vice President Richard Hawk. You can customize your mech with up to eight weapons selected from a set of over a hundred. In each mission, the player battles through destructible environments, destroying all enemies they come across.
Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One)
Developer: FromSoftware
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Released: August 6th, 2019
MSRP: $24.99
Despite the Japanese exclusivity, the game features English voiceovers, which makes sense as its American themed. The highlight of the game is that the references to American pop culture mixed with Japanese influences as well.
That’s as far as the game’s enjoyment goes, however. While the game isn’t bad by any means, the gameplay is generic, even for a game that originally released in 2004. I initially enjoyed it since it’s an easy game where you can cost destruction, but its something that got a bit stale the longer I’ve played the game.
The variety of weapons such as missiles, sniper riffles and more is what somewhat made the game feel less repetitive. A gripe I had was the random difficulty spikes, which felt like artificial difficulty and not the typical one from newer FromSoftware games.
It being a FromSoft game, and as a big fan of the Armored Core series, I expected the game to be up to part with those games. What made me play all the game through is the satire and references included in the game. While I’m thankful that Devolver Digital brought this game to the west and preserving it while at it, as it was already difficult to acquire, even by importing the game, the game is average and hard to recommend, even at the current price point.
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Metal Wolf Chaos XD reviewed by Christian Chiok
An exercise in apathy, neither solid nor liquid. Not exactly bad, but not very good either. Just a bit "meh," really.
How we score: The Japanator reviews guide