A year and a few months ago, the new creation of Spanish was launched on the market, both on Switch and on other platforms. Fran Tellez de Meneses, Unmetal. After marveling at his medieval role-playing game Unepic and the cyberpunk metroidvania Ghost 1.0, the indie developer wanted to delve into the stealth genre, not without abandoning pixel art and his unmistakable sense of humor.
The time has come for us to do the mini analysis that it deserves on Ruetir.com, also taking advantage of the fact that it is already in physical (Under petition).
80/90 stealth
Unmetal is a game of stealth and top down actionwhere the plot has a great role in the adventure.
We play Jesse Fox, a US military man who is arrested by his own army for a crime he insists he didn’t commit. The general will do an exhaustive interrogation to find out the whole truth, and this narration of our protagonist is the one that will serve to start the action.
Jesse will tell you that he was caught by a military group and imprisoned in one of their bases. The game will take us through all kinds of situations where we will have to get out of this great complex.
Our main ability at the beginning of the game will be to be able to hit our enemies and almost any element on the stage with our fists. Throughout the game we will not stop punching boxes, cabinets, walls, etc. in search of elements that are useful to us to continue advancing or to find bullets or first-aid kits. In addition, many of these elements that we find, we will have to mix them from the menu in an ingenious way to continue progressing.
As you can see in the images, the game takes place from an overhead perspective and we will move around static scenarios. By means of some indicators we will know where the enemies are on the next screen we go to, to be careful and not meet them suddenly.
Like a good stealth game, the player is rewarded for getting out of the different situations in a discreet wayfinishing off the enemies without the rest seeing it, and better leaving them unconscious, rather than killing them.
In fact, when we knock out enemies without being detected before, they will give us stars that will fill a bar. When this is complete, they will give us a choice between 2 abilities. These are, for example, higher movement speed or faster reloading of the weapon. Depending on our way of playing, we will prefer one option or another.
And it is that we will appreciate these skills throughout the adventure, because one of its strengths is how well the difficulty is. When an enemy hurts us, we will start to bleed and after a short time we will die if we do not apply a bandage or take a first-aid kit. It is very easy to die and that is why you will have to give a lot of importance to doing everything stealthily. It’s not a bed of roses, and it will gradually get more difficult to deal with enemies and bosses, but it never gets frustrating and it’s always done fairly.
Tribute to Metal Gear
the game is clearly inspired by Metal Gear on MSX and NES, although showing graphics closer to 16 bits than to 8 bits. Characters, enemies, settings, even the way we communicate codec-style, are very similar to those created by Hideo Kojima’s team in 1987. This, far from being something negative, is a nod to nostalgia that many fans will like. Also, as the developer made clear on occasion, this is not a parody of Metal Gear, but rather an homage with its own story and new ideas.
This technical decision plays with nostalgia but, as expected, limits both the graphic and playable possibilities. Due to the visual style, the limitations are evident, but in terms of gameplay, although it is handled perfectly, perhaps more animations and movements for our character could have been requested. For example, we will not be able to shoot diagonally or there is no way to walk slowly (if we want to go through an area without being heard, we must repeatedly press the directional button, as if simulating small steps). As I say, it is a technical and artistic decision that does not tarnish his good control in general.
ability to surprise
One of the strengths of the game is its story and above all how fun it is, always with a comical tone that will make us laugh and that will not stop surprising us over and over again. Also, this dubbed into Spanish in a spectacular way, with 3 or 4 dubbing actors/actresses who make it great. There are many moments of dialogues (not as long as in Kojima’s Metal Gear…) very well written (yes, an option to show subtitles is missing). In addition, there will be points at which the game will allow the player to decide which story to tell. For example, in some sewers, they will give us a choice of the type of enemy that we will find. To this is added the great variety of situations that we find ourselves in, which we are not going to tell you so as not to spoil the surprise.
The game lasts for a perfect 6-8 hours, and has a good number of achievements to get if you want to replay it.
Last but not least, special mention must be made of the extraordinary soundtrack composed by Jose Jaime Hidalgo de la Torre, always following the tone of the game and very fast-paced.
Conclution
UnMetal is a homage to Metal Gear on MSX and other 8-bit action games, with its own ideas. Surprise each step you take thanks to its well-told story, full of jokes and funny moments, and a wide variety of situations. In addition, the dubbing and its soundtrack are amazing.
