Joining The Fight For Humanity: Metal Max Xeno Review

Player(s): 1
Platforms: PlayStation 4

We will be taking a look at Metal Max Xeno, developed by Kadokawa Games and published by NIS America. The series has not seen a U.S. release since Metal Saga for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It's a very colorful and fun entry into the series, but that's not to say it isn't without flaws or that it lacks content. It's a game that's set in an apocalyptic future where humanity is on the brink of extinction. There are tank battles, dungeon crawling, and lots of travel. You meet people along the way, forge a bond with your vehicles, and get to customize as you go along. Let's take a look at the latest in a series people have been hoping to get another American release, Metal Max Xeno.​

The city of Tokio, renamed from Tokyo, has become a wasteland known as Dystokia. Humanity is on the brink of destruction, with a few attempting to salvage what is left of it. As the protagonist, you go around the world of Dystokia trying to find remnants of life, camps people have set up, and possibly put an end to the monster menaces known as SoNs. You arrive at the Iron Base, a fortress that holds much of the newest technology which you will use to survive the wastelands. Talis, the main character, must do his best to go out and seek the last of humanity in an effort to repopulate and keep the human race alive. That is pretty much the whole story, but it works for this game. There is not much depth to it, and once you learn about WANTED SoNs you realize you must defeat them to continue your journey, most of them anyways. You find yourself not falling so much in love with the characters or story, but this feels like that nostalgic PS2 game where it didn't need a story to feel playable.

This leads us to the graphics. It's serviceable yet outdated, and for those growing up during the PS2-era of JRPGs you will get a feel for this game if you remember most JRPGs at the time. Even at the start, you search through a barrel and it essentially asks you if you feel nostalgic. The visual style of vehicles are really good, and there is a bit of fun to be had in the painting for each vehicle and weapons on those vehicles. The characters, while not amazing, they do the job. It would have been really nice if when you equipped different weapons or armor that they showed up on your character. The world they created is nothing special either, as you have no destructible environments and in fact some debris itself can even hinder you. Each building and bridge looks largely the same from each other, but at least they are distinguishable as such. Monsters look both a bit creative at times, while there were a few that missed the mark. Overall the graphics worked for what the game needs to showcase.

​What people tend to overlook is the music as it can be nice to listen to, and it just does its job in the right way. Every time you are being targeted by a random encounter, you know. Every time you attack, it sounds satisfying to the ears, especially when you win the battle. Every encounter has music to go with it, while a little bland, is still always energetic and nice to hear. Would have loved to see far more variety with the music, but it's fine. The real music is the sound of projectiles hitting your target from a good range away. It does the job, but you can skip it and mostly run with Spotify in the background. Although, the voice acting is alright and can be interesting to hear, yet misses the targeted audience for not being even remotely funny.

Tank controls are literal tank controls. Not even kidding. You can't reverse at all and are stuck using the left thumbstick to both steer and accelerate. It takes a bit to get used to and not a major drawback, but would be nice to get options to change out controls. More often than not, you find yourself going for a crate out behind a building or bridge with some difficult either getting to it in the first place or swinging back around to get out. It can be frustrating. Popping in and out of tank with a simple button press is almost instantaneously interchangeable both in and out of combat, which is nice. When you have to get out of your tank to explore a dungeon it's an okay experience, not great. It doesn't fit with the style of gameplay they were going for at all. It's like immersion just went out the window. Encounters are likely to make up most of your time in those dungeons. One thing when you're inside your tank is you're able to see most encounters before they happen, allowing you to either initiate it or drive around it. If you initiate combat, you're able to fire from afar and are able to damage that monster before you enter the fight. Most of the time you will defeat it in that first strike and quickly keep moving. There are also times when you are close to an encounter, but you cannot go around just because the monster or group of monsters takes up most the space between a narrow area of the map.

Another thing with the areas, most all of it is linear, with small corridors to pass through. You're able to fast travel from anywhere on point to a 'Bester Point' which is any general section or area on the map you have previously visited. This could include encampments, caverns, tunnels, or even narrow spaces near boss battles. The thing with death is that you're always brought back to the Iron Base, so it doesn't feel like any high risk is involved. You're given the general percentage of HP you dealt to the enemy and sent back to the very beginning. It helps with instant travel, but it winds up being more of an annoyance than anything else. There is a decent amount of parts you can craft for your various vehicles found throughout the game, but it's such a wasted opportunity not to go crazy with it. Each part on your vehicle also adds or subtracts the weight, with much more powerful weapons being of course the heaviest. Combat feels nicely balanced between both tank and machine, but the human characters feel too weak in desert combat.

For what it is, Metal Max Xeno does its job. It's a decent, if not fun, JRPG. It lacks a lot of features or a general amount of items and weapons, as well as not many characters to meet to fight alongside with. There are a few side missions to do, but that is very few and they usually become a part of the main story anyways. There is sadly to say, nothing that keeps you coming back. However, that being said, it is a game to go through and finish just on nostalgia alone. It takes you back to a more simple style of gameplay, to when JRPGs ruled the space of the PS2 console generation. It makes good use of the title and even though you know you might not want to finish it, you keep being compelled to want to try and find every last box of items on your radar. Forgot to mention, everything shows up on your radar, including enemies and items. It's a minor thing and makes things easier for younger kids to play. Cannot help but want to complete the game and place in the collection. It may have a ton of flaws easily fixable, but it's still a decent game for the player looking to at least try to beat it once. For $40, it's tough to say definitively buy it, but I say grab it if you see it dip below that price. It's a game worth trying. To rate it will be tough, but this is a game that deserved the U.S. release. We need more releases from Japan, keep them coming!

-JT

For More On Metal Max Xeno:
http://nisamerica.com/games/mmxeno

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Gameplay/Story: B-
Art/Graphics: B-
Music/Sound: B-
Value: C+

Overall: B-

Pros:
+Tank customization
+Option to avoid most combat
+Can preemptively strike most opponents
+Blast from the past

Cons:
-Tank controls
-Dungeon crawling a small chore
-Linear and usually narrow areas
-Lacks content

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Note: This item was provided to us by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This fact does not affect the outcome of the review in any way.