Axiom Verge - Switch

Also known as: Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition

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Also for: PS4
Viewed: 2D Side-on, Scrolling Genre:
Shoot 'Em Up
Media: Cartridge Arcade origin:No
Developer: BADLanD Games Soft. Co.: BADLanD Games
Publishers: BADLanD Games (GB/GB)
Released: 26 Jan 2018 (GB)
Ratings: PEGI 12+
Features: Handheld Mode, TV Mode, Tabletop Mode


It's been argued by some that 'metroidvania' isn't a very fair name for the subgenre it represents - Castlevania, they say, basically took Metroid and skinned it with some light RPG elements. Wherever you fall on this, you don't need to worry about Axiom Verge because it takes its inspiration squarely from the Metroid side of the equation.

Following a lab accident, Trace wakes in the mysterious alien world of Sudra. Unclear on whether he's awoken on an alien world of the far future or in an elaborate computer simulation, he sets about trying to defeat the being known as Athetos and dig out the secrets of Sudra.

What follows is an action platformer very much in the vein of Metroid. You'll jump, shoot and puzzle your way through an open sidescrolling environment, unlocking more and more of the world around you as you upgrade your equipment and open up ingenious routes to new areas.

The design is really the star of the show here. The levels are fiendishly challenging at the same time as being deeply rewarding, while the doomed, decayed world you inhabit oozes a retro techno-gothic vibe that could have been plucked from the mind of H.R. Giger.

If there's a Metroid shaped hole in your life Axiom Verge will fill it, and that's most definitely a good thing.