Metal Saga

We all know one of these days some government artificial intelligence program is going to going loco and blow the entire world to smithereens. We know this because it’s been the theme for countless books, movies, and of course video games. Metal Saga, the latest RPG from Atlus USA, is the latest game to cast players as survivors of a computer-generated apocalypse.

So is the Metal Saga world worth saving? If you’ve always wanted to play an RPG where your characters get to drive tanks and have a bazooka-equipped dog as a pet it sure is. We’ll get to that in a minute though. First let me tell you about the story. Metal Saga opens with the player-named main character being scolded by his mother for wanting to become a hunter. Hunters in Metal Saga are the brave men and woman who head into the wasteland in search of adventure and outlaws with a bounty on their head. Not the safest career choice for sure, so the main character’s mother suggests following the family tradition (on her side of the family anyway) and becoming a mechanic. So less than five minutes into the game you’re presented with your first choice. Thinking this hunting thing sounded a bit risky I decided I should be a mechanic. The game then told me I lived a dull, boring life with a steady income and then showed me the credits. So, a short reboot later I change my mind and leave home to be a hunter.

From that point on there really isn’t a linear story. The game is designed as a sort of post-apocalyptic sandbox (there’s a lot of deserts). The majority of your time you’ll be hunting down the various outlaws that you’ll find out about in the Hunter Office. Each once has a fairly sizeable bounty on their head. There’s no set order to them though and you don’t have to bag them all to get to the end either. In fact, there are even a few more ways to get to the credits without even catching a single evil-doer. Most of these have to do with various NPCs you’ll run into in the world. Everyone in Metal Saga has a story to tell it seems. A few of them actually piqued my interested, but most of the folks are just going to send you on fetch quests. As you explore further the “main” story unfolds and you will eventually find your way to a “final” battle or two, but only if that’s how you want it to end. I was kind of happy being a mechanic myself, but if you want to train a canine to use heavy artillery more power to you.

The AI that turned the world to ashes also took the time to do a little creative breeding while it was at it. Enemies in the game range from giant sharks that swim through sand to killer bees with chain guns and an array of missile launchers mounted on a pair of fishnet stocking wearing legs. While you can try to battle these on foot, you’re best bet is to find yourself a tank and slap a big gun on it. I’ve played other RPGs that tried to mix in vehicular combat and I must say that Metal Saga is the first one to get it right. The vehicles actually have more depth than the characters when it comes to customization. Tanks can be changed by adding new equipment or by modifying the existing equipment to make it better. You’ll have to constantly manage the load your engine can handle versus the weight of the armor and weapons to achieve the best balance of hit points and firepower. There’s also a built in paint program that lets you completely redesign the look of each piece of armor in your arsenal.

You can still try to conquer the world on foot if you want, but without a thick layer of armor between you and the enemy it will be a bit harder. While tanks may have the big guns your characters make up for their frailty with a wide array of skills that can decimate the enemy. The only problem though is that every time you use a skill it costs cold hard cash. In my very first battle I called in an orbital strike and promptly found myself $200 in the hole. This makes ordinary random battles quite dull because players will end up using the free basic attack or the inexpensive tank ammo instead of the pricey skills to build up a nest egg before taking on a boss. You can then unleash everything you have on the boss without ending up in the red, so at least every once in a while you get to see the special skill animations and effects.

Lastly, there are the dogs of war to unleash. Early in the game you can take your pick from a genetically engineered canine that has been trained in a wide variety of modern weaponry. While the dog does join your party as a fourth character you have no control over it in battle. It can be frustrating when you have the dog fitted with anti-air weapons and he insists on targeting ground troops before aircraft. There’s also a dog coliseum where you can battle your dog one-on-one with various enemies in the game. Again, you have no control over the mutt. If you’ve spent a lot of time leveling up it’s a quick way to make cash, but watching the game fight itself gets old real quick.

Gameplay: 7.1

Metal Saga’s gameplay is hit and miss. Tanks are a big hit! Finding, upgrading, modifying, and painting the various tanks was a blast. The inability to control my heavily armed pooch and getting charged an arm and a leg for special attacks are both big misses. Not being railroaded into doing everything in a specific order is a fun break from the handholding you expect in most RPGs though I was occasionally not quite sure where to go next at certain points in the game. Load times aren’t terribly long but they are terribly frequent. Every time you leave or enter a town, a building, or even a room the game has to load. Making your way through all the different shops in town takes longer than it does to make all the money you’re spending while in the shops. Lastly, the box touts the vast array of minigames. There are quite a few, but it’s a situation where quantity does not equal quality. I tried them all once and then headed right back to the real game real quick and never went back to the diversions.

Graphics: 5.6

I know it’s supposed to be a post-apocalyptic world but does everything have to be shades of brown and gray? While the limited palette may fit the world a bit the limited polygon count makes the landscapes and uninspired character design even duller. It’s unfortunate, but I guess small development studios like Success will forever be judged by Square-Enix’s graphics yardstick. Graphically, Metal Saga fails to measure up.

Sound: 6.2

There’s no voice acting so get your reading glasses out. Atlus USA has done a good job dubbing their recent games, so I’m guessing the Japanese version was speech free as well. So the aural experience comes down to the soundtrack and how much bass the big guns bring. The music is fairly mediocre, but the neat thing is that any time you find a jukebox in the game you can “illegally download” it to the main characters laptop. If there’s a track playing in a certain area that you don’t like you can pull up a “downloaded” song to play instead. Sound effects are also moderately well done and get the point across, but there wasn’t anything that really made me sit up take notice.

Difficulty: Medium

The difficulty in Metal Saga mostly stems from your ability to pretty much go anywhere right from the start of the game. If you’re not careful you’ll stumble into battles you have no hope of winning. Once you get your bearings, get some advice from the NPCs and upgrade all your equipment the game becomes fairly straightforward.

Concept: 7.7

Metal Saga takes the typical turn-based RPG and adds a heaping helping of quirkiness. The majority of the game is spent hunting outlaws and salvaging any equipment and vehicles you can get your hands on. The story is non linear from the get go, giving the player the opportunity to explore the world at their own pace and how they see fit.

Overall: 6.7

Boring graphics and irritating load times aside, Metal Saga is a half-way decent RPG. The charm lies in the bizarre enemies and the vehicular combat. It’s just fun to see the battle screen come up with a pair of tanks and bazooka-wielding dog sitting next to the usual guy with a giant sword. I also found the open-ended nature of the game to be appealing. Gamers used to a fixed storyline may find the open-ended gameplay takes a bit of getting used to, but once you start tinkering with your vehicle and scrounging around for that essential weapon component you’ll be hooked for at least a little while. It’s definitely not for everyone, but anyone looking for an RPG that strays a good bit from the beaten path may want to give it a look.