When Ruiner was released almost eight years ago, I instantly loved its gritty, edgy cyberpunk aesthetic. It took me some solid practice, but I eventually emerged victorious from my fictitious jaunt into Rengkok. But while Ruiner was a solid entry in the much-saturated twin-stick shooter genre, I’d have never imagined where developer Reikon Games would take things next. Their new game, announced this week, is called Metal Eden, and while it’s got the same punky attitude of Ruiner, it’s an entirely different beast and closer to modern DOOM games more than anything.
My preview saw me having hands-on experience with the first two missions of Metal Eden, and it wasted no time introducing the cold and clinical world in which it takes place. You play ASKA, who is referred to as an “infinitely reprintable” android designed for cyber warfare. ASKA herself has been imprinted with a digital copy of another human’s mind, as this is a world where humans have begun living beyond the confines of their boring fleshy bodies. Regardless, as ASKA, you’re sent by your creators to an artificially built planet on a mysterious mission. There, you’ll have to battle with all kinds of rogue cybernetics.
If I had to compare Metal Eden to anything else, it’d best be described as Doom Eternal meets Ghostrunner. ASKA herself is incredibly agile, able to dodge out of the way of attacks, wall run, and even grapple to certain points in each of the game’s many arenas. But the way she moves and the way enemies are thrown at you is incredibly reminiscent of both Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal with a splash of BioShock Infinite. It’s a fast and frenetic shooter that forces you to keep on your toes at all times as you make your way through multiple arenas completing objectives. Make no mistakes; it’s not a score attack game or time trial style experience, but a fully fledged narrative-driven single-player game.
In the past, I’ve referred to Doom Eternal as a bloody ballet, requiring the perfect dance of mechanics to pull off the ideal run. Metal Eden feels similar – you’ll have to expertly choreograph your way through an encounter to emerge victorious. Certain abilities will help you recover your ammo, and others will help you regain your health. You’ll have to leverage ASKA’s many skills to come out of the other end of a battle in decent shape. Those who found Doom Eternal too complicated need not fret; Metal Eden is ostensibly more straightforward in what it requires of the player. But it’s still just as fun.
The key difference with Metal Eden’s fast and frenetic combat system is in the cores system. Every enemy in Metal Eden has a core that can be telekinetically ripped using energy that ASKA regenerates slowly – though said energy regenerates quicker with every kill. When you rip a core out of an enemy, you can throw it back at enemies to deal explosive splash damage and earn extra ammo. Alternatively, you can absorb the core, which will recover health and enable ASKA to perform her Super Punch, which can shatter the armour of certain enemies too.
And, of course, there’s a nice slew of upgrades to access too. In my time with the game’s second missions, I unlocked the PIG Shop, which allowed me to upgrade all of my weapons with alternate fire and fairly typical perks, too. The game also employs a skill tree, which lets you invest in certain perks and improvements surrounding ASKA’s ability to improve how she handles the cores and her mobility during battle. It’s pretty tried-and-true stuff, but, having a peek at each of the trees, there is a nice degree of flexibility in allowing players to build ASKA based on their preferred style of play.
All of this comes together rather beautifully to offer up an action experience that’s familiar and yet fresh. While it’s early days, the first two missions I played did a great job of introducing me to the world and the abilities that ASKA can use during her mysterious mission on this artificial planet. Having finished what will ostensibly be a quarter of the final game, I have to wonder whether it’ll be able to feel like a substantial enough experience once the credits start rolling. I see this getting old fast if the enemy or encounter variety just isn’t there, so hopefully Reikon Games has a few surprises up their sleeve when Metal Eden releases later this year.
And while, so far, it’s fast, frenetic and endlessly satisfying, Metal Eden is quite the looker too. While the art direction is a little bit too familiar, especially to those well-versed in this style, the game has a look and feel that feels like Ruiner but doesn’t. It sounds strange, but there’s something so oddly satisfying seeing these clean sci-fi structures be splattered with blood during one of the games many battles. It’s early days, too, obviously, as I was playing an unfinished build of the game, but the game performs and flows beautifully even on a PC that’s almost five years old now.
And as my very brief time with Metal Eden came to an end, I can’t help but feel proud of the team at Reikon Games. Ruiner was an incredible experience that solely tapped on my brain stem in a way that not many games could, employing a strong combat loop and an atmosphere that was just dripping from the moment you press start. But Metal Eden feels so much more like a true evolution of what the team has already done with Ruiner, and while it’s familiar, I can’t help but be excited to experience the rest of it and just see what ASKA is up to.
Metal Eden releases on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on 6th May 2025.
