Metal Eden: Hands-on Preview
Apart from Doom, there doesn’t seem to be much in the fast-paced FPS space at the moment. Sure there are plenty of boomer shooters for those looking to scratch a late 90s itch, but as far as modern FPS titles are concerned, there just isn’t a big pile to choose from. Enter Metal Eden, a new Sci/Fi title from Reikon, (a dev team that features talent that made their name in Techland and CDPR) that hopes to fill the current market gap. After spending some time with a press demo, those hopes may become a reality.
First things first, Metal Eden wears its inspirations on its sleeve. Doom is obviously a big touch point here, especially Doom Eternal, with a highly mobile protagonist who can zip about the levels with ease. Double jumps, air dashes, hovers and wall-running is the order of the day, making this a fast-paced title where staying on the move is a must. I played with both a controller and my keyboard/mouse and I am pleased to say that this fast movement translates to the controller well, with a subtle auto-aim helping to keep the movement rolling. This is something I feel games like this have struggled with in the past, so it is nice to see that regardless of control method, players won’t be at a disadvantage.
Graphically the game is going for a future industrial vibe with shiny chrome factories and warehouses being the order of the day. Everything looks great, as to be expected in Unreal 5, and there feels like a firm artistic direction at play here. The enemies on the other hand felt a little bland and generic. Standard robot-type baddies that offer little in the way of distinguishing features. This isn’t such a big issue as the levels I played were early on in the game so I expect more variety as the game progresses and considering the pace of the game, I hardly had time to get a close look at them anyway. I hope there are some more environments to explore as the title progresses, simply to keep things fresh, but for now, I am more than happy with how the look of Metal Eden is shaping up.
Combat is where things get interesting. There is a range of weapons, each upgradeable and each featuring alternative fire modes. This creates a nice mix of ways to deal death and stay out of trouble. All of the weapons felt great to use and all had a speciality situation where they excelled. Pistol for small enemies, shotgun for close quarters, assault rifle for a bit more distance, you know the drill, but the important thing here is they have got the balance right and switching between the appropriate machine-killing method is an important part of the combat’s flow.
The other part of combat that really mixes things up is the ability to rip the core of an enemy out of the chest and use it in combat. It feels like a riff on Doom’s glory kills but it has its own twist. Players can rip the core of an enemy out of them and then use it like a grenade at other enemies, if it hits, it will leave ammo and shield pickups for the player. The other option is to absorb the core which will then give players the ability to perform a power punch, an essential tool for destroying the shields of bigger enemies. It is a nice mixup on a system we have seen before and once again helps to create an exciting combat loop in the game.
From my short time with Metal Eden it is clear to see that this is going to be a title that won’t change the world, but it will scratch a very particular itch, one that doesn’t get scratched all that often these days. I wouldn’t say Metal Eden is a AAA title, but it is certainly going to be a polished high-speed romp that should keep shooter fans happy. It puts me in the mind of titles like Doom, Titanfall and even the under-appreciated FPS version of Syndicate and with a list of inspirations like that, it is hard not to be at least a little excited by what the full version could bring.
Metal Eden is coming to PC, Xbox Series and PS5 on the 7th of May 2025.
