METAL EDEN- A cyberpunk-fueled indie shooter that blends Doom-style brutality with Ghostrunner-like speed.
Reikon Games, the company behind Ruiner, has come back with a new game that takes their signature style and adds a first-person field. The team is known for making brutal, fast-paced top-down shooters. Their newest project, METAL EDEN, takes their experience and bravely moves it into a new direction.
METAL EDEN was developed to be fast-paced and fun without being boring like some roguelikes can be. Instead, it has a tight, visually stunning campaign that focuses on speed, accuracy, and chaos. This is a big step forward for the team from their previous work for folks who like fast-paced indie shooters. It connects the old-school boomer shooter style with the new-school cyberpunk flair.
In METAL EDEN, you are in the Hyper unit Aska, and the team’s job is to sneak into the city of Mobius to fight the internal defense corps and save human cores who are looking for a new place to live and grow. There is a lot of cyberpunk slang in the story, which can make it feel like starting Game of Thrones in its fifth season.
There are instances when the game stops for cutscenes or conversations, but these usually happen during big fights, which makes the story feel a little hollow. The game’s dirty industrial settings still establish the universe, and even while the story isn’t always obvious, it sets the backdrop for the relentless action that is at the heart of the game. It’s not too much or too distracting; the story just appears, leaving the gameplay as the main focus.
METAL EDEN is a game with lightning-fast gameplay and excellent controls. There are many ways to move, such as wall-running, grappling, hovering with a jetpack, and using launch pads to make areas full of chaos and height differences. In contrast to Ghostrunner’s more punishing parkour systems, these ones are more like tools for getting around arenas than obstacles to learn.
This gives players more freedom without constantly being punished for small mistakes. Combat and mobility are closely linked, and players are encouraged to move and fight at the same time. Each arena is made up of a mix of open areas and dangerous areas that require players to be constantly alert and quick on their feet.
METAL EDEN‘s weapons are also very amazing. You can use more than six different guns, and each one has its own main fire mode and an upgradeable secondary fire mode. Limited ammo makes it more likely to switch between weapons quickly, which keeps things from getting boring and keeps battles unpredictable.
Upgrades to your suit make it easier to move around and fight, and the unique core-grabbing system lets you either use enemy cores as super punches or throw them like grenades. This adds a tactical element to battle and rewards careful, accurate play.
METAL EDEN‘s battles are both fast-paced and fun. Because enemies are aggressive, move quickly, and are plentiful, you have to make quick choices to stay alive. Encounters never feel like they’re the same because of the long and close-quarters weapons, as well as the ability to move around.
There are puzzle-like parts in the movement tasks, like balancing on platforms, timing wall runs, and using launch pads to get to good spots. Even though these parts aren’t very hard, they break up the flow of battle and make it easier to move around the arena, which keeps the game interesting.
The best parts of battle are the visceral feedback: when enemies are hit, they stumble, pieces of armor fly off, and biomechanical enemies explode in dramatic showers of gibs. Movie-like moments that reward mastery are made possible by slow-motion jumps, shotgun bursts, and combo strikes.
Minor mistakes happen, though, in smaller areas where it can be hard to avoid multiple enemies because of the cramped layout. Even though these things don’t happen very often, they show that METAL EDEN is best played in open, multi-path settings that let its combat systems shine.
Overall, the puzzle-fighting part of METAL EDEN works to keep players interested. The mix between being able to move freely and being attacked by enemies makes sure that high-stakes battles don’t feel unfair.
Beyond the core loop, the game doesn’t give a lot of different ways to fight, but the intense action and tactical depth that come from weapons, suit upgrades, and core-grabbing keep the game fun. Sometimes, difficulty spikes in crowded arenas slow things down a bit, but they’re not too bad when compared to the overall enjoyment of fluid, explosive fighting.
In METAL EDEN, progress is slow but important. Dust is METAL EDEN‘s currency. It can be used to improve weapons and other types of fire, making the game more fun without slowing it down. Suit upgrades, such as faster traversal and better core-grabbing efficiency, give players even more power, which encourages discovery and skillful play.
The game is pretty short—about seven hours—but these changes make it more fun to play again and again by adding new strategies and making it easier to survive tougher fights. The system never feels like a grind; instead, it adds to the main gameplay and gives you a sense of growth that fits with how crazy and fast-paced the game is.
METAL EDEN looks great because it was made with Unreal Engine 5. The industrial areas are well-detailed, and the cyberpunk look is improved by atmospheric lighting and particle effects. Some locations may feel a bit bland or empty, but the best scenes show off some really creative architecture and great environmental storytelling.
The enemy gibs, destructible effects, and dynamic lighting make the chaos even worse, making sure that every battle looks as intense as it is. High-end computers always have great performance, and even mid-range computers can play smoothly with a few small changes. The only big problem is the Steam Deck, which has uneven speed that makes it hard to play on the go until optimization gets better.
The fast-paced nature of the game is matched by its sound creation. When weapons hit something, they make loud, exciting sounds, and when enemies react, you can hear it clearly. Effects like explosions and the surrounding environment make the game more immersive without detracting from the gameplay.
The voice acting is good, and the story parts are delivered clearly. However, the soundtrack isn’t very interesting or memorable, more of a background feature than a main attraction. Overall, the sound design adds to the wild energy of the game and helps the player do what they’re doing.
METAL EDEN is an intense independent shooter that is fast-paced, interesting, and beautiful to look at. The story isn’t very clear, and the fighting can get in the way of the story sometimes, but that’s not a big deal when the gameplay is this fun.
With quick movement, a wide range of weapons, realistic combat feedback, and strategic core features, every fight feels satisfying. Minor pacing problems in small arenas and some uniformity in the surroundings don’t take away from the overall thrill. The seven-hour story is perfectly timed so that you’re energized instead of tired, and the progression system makes the game fun to play again and again without making players do a lot of work.
Reikon Games has learned a lot from Ruiner and applied those lessons to create a first-person experience that combines the brutality of Doom with the mobility of Ghostrunner. The result is a memorable, chaotic, and well-polished trip. METAL EDEN is one of the best independent shooters of the year if you’re looking for a game that focuses on speed, accuracy, and rapid action.
