[Warning: Metalix RPG contains non-sexual nudity, and has a long initial load time. The following review was co-written by Dora and Psychotronic.]
Deep story? Pffft. Strong characters? Who needs 'em! We are the few, the proud, the roguelike fans. All we need is the promise of randomly generated enemies, loot, and dungeon layouts to draw us e'er onward with a song in our hearts! And thanks to Point Zero, (Metalix Tower Defense), we can once again delve into a world of unlimited replayability and merciless ambushes! Huzzah!
Metalix RPG replaces the swords and sorcery of the traditional roguelike with cybernetic alternatives. The setting: a high-tech maze full of METALIX, who are silvery robots of various shapes and sizes. You'll find walking eggs, killer penguins, marauding babies, vicious sea anemones, and treacherous squid just on the first 5 levels, and they all have a glowing evil red eye and a thirst for human blood. And, luckily for you, a tendency to leave a lot of really deadly treasure lying around.
Your job is to battle, avoid, and outwit the Metalix, steal their power source and anything else that isn't nailed down or on fire, and escape the labyrinth unkilled. Naturally, the best way to accomplish this is to descend into the depths completely unprepared, naked as the day you were born, and hope that the capricious Fates will randomly supply you with useful defenses.
At least, that's the plan the first time. One of your most important items is the "escaping device", a handy panic button for times when the squidbots overwhelm you and you don't want to lose your brand new laser sword. The escaping device teleports you back to the surface, ending the story for that particular character, but leaving their equipment intact. Choose the best bits (armor, bullets, and a hand weapon are good choices) for the next character to take into Killer Robot Sushi Central, and you might just have a better chance this time. Metalix RPG is less about developing a single character, and more about assembling a potent supply cabinet for a parade of sacrificial lambs.
Metalix RPG can be played entirely with the mouse. Click on a space to move there, click on an enemy to attack it, walk onto an item to pick it up. Press [space] (or click the Gun button) to fire any bullets you have equipped in the direction you're facing. You start as a level 1 character on the first floor, and gain experience points by defeating enemies. Equip weapons, armor, and ammunition as you find them using the menu at the bottom of the screen. Your inventory space is limited, so you'll soon find your pockets bulging with an assortment of bewildering goodies, trying to decide which one to toss to make room for your brand new laser sword plus one. Or putrefied food, always a favourite.
Since nothing in the game moves until you do, you can take your time and plot out your movements. While some players may lament the lack of furious, pulse-pounding action, it won't take long for you to appreciate it. Swarms of enemies can descend without warning, and being able to stop, take a breath, and look for an escape route can keep a bad situation from turning worse. Even if you do end up dying, don't give up. You can set right out again with a new naked adventurer.
About that: the nakedness here is about as explicit as a Barbie Doll, whether you choose a male or female character, and miniscule to boot, but if it really bothers you, you'll be glad to know that as soon as you find some armor you'll be wearing a classy black vinyl catsuit, just like mother would have wanted.
Metalix RPG does not have auto-save. Choose "Suspend" from the system menu to save your game in progress.
Analysis: The idea behind making a roguelike RPG is to ensure that each dungeon crawl is unique and interesting, not because of tight design or a thrilling story, but because the individual pieces of the world interact with each other creatively. Diablo is a popular modern action roguelike, and the classic (other than Rogue itself), complete with graphics made entirely from keyboard characters, is Nethack. Your first encounter with a good roguelike tends to stick with you, whether it be Azure Dreams or ADOM. It seems like an entirely new concept, and you can spend hours combing dungeon floors with the promise of potential new items just around the corner every time.
Metalix RPG has a bevy of such items to discover, ranging from lights you can fire magic-wand-style at enemies, to EMP devices that shut down all the conveniently electronic enemies in the room at once. Most items come with a helpful description, and the fairly common "identification device" can help you figure out the purpose of lights and the strength of new equipment, but the shortest road to discovery is to try things out on the nearest titanium daddy long-legs. Also important, but not as common, is the "sending device", which will zap one item of your choosing back to storage for the next character to claim.
Although Metalix RPG doesn't exactly feature a real story, you'll find yourself making up your own, like the time when the robo-mouse stole Psychotronic's catsuit and teleported away and he spent 20 minutes naked, hunting it down with a rocket launcher. Or the time when Dora zapped a sea-anemone-bot with an insanity ray, causing it to massacre its friends and level up into an acid-spitting nightmare horror. Good times. Good times.
Randomly generated loot can be both a good thing, and a very frustrating thing. During our early playtesting of Metalix RPG, Dora acquired roughly enough swords before the third floor to fashion a giant hedgehog suit, while Psychotronic hadn't seen a single one after several playthroughs. By contrast, as festooned with stabbing implements as Dora was, she was also sorely in need of food and healing potions, which cropped up roughly never in the first several games. It makes the experience challenging and different each time you play, but it isn't exactly what one might call "balanced".
Does Metalix RPG hold up in the long run? Well, yes and no. While hunting down bigger and better items will sustain you for a good long while à la hedgehog suit, eventually you're going to run out of things to do. There are four missions in the game, and they're all more or less identical except for length. The game is still in development, however, so in the future you can expect to see new updates to the content (bosses!) that will make your victories taste even sweeter. As it stands, Metalix RPG is still an addictive, fun dungeon romp that should satisfy the greed-fueled hack-and-slash enthusiast in you. Just don't get too cocky. The giant walking egg is always watching.
Walkthrough Guide
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The following is a list of all the items, weapons, armor, and monsters I've come across in the game, as well as general tips and information for playing through the first mission. Please remember that as the game is randomized, each experience is different, and you may find that I am missing a particular item or even a monster when I haven't come across it yet. Feel free to submit any items or monsters you find not on this list. It will be updated periodically.
Mission One
The item you're after is a large red gem located somewhere on the 12th floor of the base, so you'll have to fight your way down to it. Once you pick it up, you'll then have to fight your way back up through all previous levels. Even if you have an Escape Device, you won't be able to use it once you pick up the gem. Return all the way back to the first level's ladder to win the mission and unlock the next.
Levels and You
While levelling up doesn't affect much more than your HP, gaining you a +4 for every level you gain, those extra HP can mean the difference between sweet, sweet victory and crushing defeat. In general, you always want to aim for a level equal to the floor you are about to head down to. Since enemies periodically respawn, you can spend time grinding if you have the patience for it to push yourself higher. This has the added benefit of giving you a nice buffer of extra levels if you're forced to retreat to the next level early.
You may be tempted to avoid combat. Don't. Running away from battles only means that when you ultimately wind up cornered or forced to fight, you're weaker and much worse off.
Death
Death occurs, naturally, when your HP reach zero. You want to avoid this. Not only is it frustrating, it also loses all the items and gold you were carrying. When you return to the place you died with a new character, you can pick up a random item off your corpse. To minimize the chance of losing a really great item to death, try to keep a Sending Device on you for when things look grim. Even if you can't escape, you can use your last turn to send your weapon or armor back to storage for the next character to start out with.
Misc. Information
Enemy Floors
Randomly, the game will decide it doesn't like your face and spawn a level jam-packed with enemies. We're talking about two dozen, all of them awake, and headed for you. When this happens, if you don't think you can handle it, you can make a beeline for the exit. Or, hole up in a corridor and take them on one by one. (Just make sure nothing can come around to get you.) Even if they're relatively low level creatures, don't get cocky. A swarm of springs can overwhelm a high level adventurer in no time. Keep in mind that as with any other floor, more enemies will also be randomly spawning in.
Of course, if you have an Extermination Device, you can also rake in some easy EXP by activating it once a lot of enemies are in the room. Just be aware that it may not be enough to kill every type of enemy, and have an escape route planned.
Item Rooms
Like "Enemy Levels", this is completely random. You might find one every time you play, or never. They're small rooms that will be packed with a random number of items and money, and quite a bit at that. Of course, there's no guarantee that the items will be any better than what you already have, but there is almost always some food and potions to be had, so these places can be a blessing when you stumble across them.
Item Storage and Your Inventory
The amount of items that you can store whenever you return from a mission increases by one each time, and likewise the number of items your new character can take. I recommend always keeping a suit of armor and a potion in here, if you can. Weapons aren't nearly as important as being able to absorb damage and heal yourself early on if you run into trouble, since you can do a decent bit of damage with your fists.
Enemy Movement
If an enemy is awake, they will move towards you one space for every action you take. This includes using items, attacking, or moving. With the exception of one or two, most enemies cannot move and attack in the same round. You can lure an enemy in close to you to get in the first hit by tapping the [space] bar to attack without moving, even if there is nothing to attack. The enemy will move closer to you each time you do until it's within striking distance, in which case you'll be able to get a free hit in.
Enemies can also pick up items if they move over top of them. Once you kill them, they will drop whatever they had. Including whatever they may have stolen from you!
TRAPS
Notes: Some traps work more than once. Some traps don't work at all. It seems to be completely random, so even if you've already activated a trap, avoid stepping on it again. Traps are actually fairly infrequent, but when they do pop up, it's usually at the worst possible time. You can check for traps by "attacking" the square directly in front of you. If there is a trap, this will reveal it. (But not deactivate it.)
Damage Trap - Red circle. Deals random damage, anywhere from 4 - 15.
Zap Trap - White circle. Teleports you to a random location.
Slow Down Trap - Teal circle. Slows you down for a few rounds.
Paralyze Trap - Yellow circle. Paralyzes you for a few rounds.
Pit Trap - Black Circle. Drops you down to the next floor.
LIGHTS
Notes: Lights are always unidentified when you find them and thus are dangerous until you know what they are. The name of an unidentified light is random, so don't assume that two unidentified lights with the same name will necessarily do the same thing. Since you don't know what a light does until you use or identify it, you can potentially make a bad situation worse by using them on an incoming enemy out of desperation, only to find out the effect is more or less useless. Try any unidentified lights out first on weak enemies if you can't identify them with a Device.
Slow Light - Slows down enemy movements
Mad Light - Confuses enemies.
Seal Light - Seals an enemy's special attack.
FOOD
Delicious Food - Fully Restores Vitality
Unappetizing Food - Restores 50 Vitality
Putrefied Food - Restores 50 Vitality, but gives -1 to your power
POTIONS
Cure Drug - Restores 25 HP
Dextoxication Drug - Restores +1 to your power if it was reduced.
Strengthening Drug - Increases your max power by +1.
ARMOR
Notes: Unidentified armor will appear written in red, and equipping it will immediately identify it. Typically unidentified armor is armor that has some sort of bonus to it (+1 or higher) but occasionally will have no bonus at all. All of these can be increased beyond their base value by using an Armor Advancing Device. You can use multiple AADs to increase your armor far beyond its normal capabilities, but be careful. Some enemies have a chance to reduce your armor's effectiveness when they hit you.
Paper Suit - Armor 2
Cotton Suit - Armor 3
Polyester Suit - Armor 4
Leather Suit - Defends again Power Drain, Armor 5
WEAPONS
Notes: As with unidentified armor, unidentified weapons appear written in red and can be identified with either an Identification Device or by simply equipping it. And, again, unidentified armor can have a bonus to its attack, or simply be unidentified for giggles. It can be increased by using a Weapon Advancing Device, and you can use several of these on your currently equipped weapon to drastically increase its power.
Glass Sword - Has a chance to shatter, Weapon 2
Plastic Sword - Weapon 2
Crystal Sword - Weapon 3
Iron Sword - Weapon 4
AMMO
Notes: Along with your melee weapon, you can have one type of bullet equipped all the time, so don't forget to equip some even if you don't necessarily use them that often. Unlike other items, bullets stack in your inventory, so pick up any that you find. Bullets occasionally appear to "misfire", and will miss an enemy by falling short. If this happens, you can usually pick up the bullet afterwards so it isn't wasted.
Laser Bullets - 5-13 DAM, can travel through every enemy in a straight line. Fantastic for corridors.
Rocket Bullets - 10-13 DAM
Lead Bullets - Seem to misfire a lot. Are frequently dropped by anemones.
DEVICES
Notes: Unlike Lights, Devices are single-use items, and vanish once activated. They are arguably some of the most useful items in the game, and whenever you see one, you should investigate it to see if it's something you need. EMP Devices can make a bad situation manageable, while Enemy Sensors can help you avoid them altogether. The only downside is that even multiple Devices of the same type do not stack, so you can easily overcrowd your inventory with them.
Extermination Device - Does 10-13 DAM to every enemy in the room with you.
Sending Device - Transports one item back to storage for you to take with you next time.
Illumination Device - Reveals the entire map, so you can see items and enemies in adjacent areas, even those you haven't explored.
Armor Advancing Device - Gives +1 to your current equipped armor. Effect is stackable.
Weapon Advancing Device - Gives +1 to your current equipped weapon. Effect is stackable.
Acceleration Device - Increases your speed temporarily. (Gives you an extra attack or action.)
Identification Device - Reveals any special properties of an unidentified item. (Items written in red.)
Enemy Sensor - All enemies on the floor are revealed as red dots on the map.
Item Senor - All items on the floor are revealed as blue dots on the map.
EMP Device - Paralyses all enemies in the room with you.
Escaping Device - Aborts mission, teleports you out of dungeon.
Blasting Device - I have no freaking idea. Makes me waste a turn so the spider can pound on me some more?
ENEMIES
Notes: The amount of Gold an enemy has is determined by what level they are. The base amount is 10, multiplied by their level, so a level 3 monster will have 30 gold, and so on. This means nearly EVERY beast that comes your way will have a mere 10 gold. It seems that some enemies, if they're trying to get to you and have another enemy blocking their path, such as in a corridor, will attack the creature in front of them. If they kill it, they gain EXP the same way you would, and can level up. While this can be a great way to thin the herd, I don't really recommend it, since they seem to get ridiculously stronger as they progress. I have survived slimes to be whacked by a level 3 anemone doing 16 damage a hit in sturdy armor. Not fun.
Sleeping Enemies: Occasionally, an enemy will spawn "asleep", or inactive, but will wake up if you get within a few squares of it, or once it's been hit. You can use this to avoid it, or to get in a cheap shot from a distance. If a sleeping enemy is blocking the path of an incoming alert one, the alert enemy will always attack the sleeping one.
Egg - Occasionally tries to run away from you. 2 EXP, 10 Gold. 1-3 DAM.
Spring - Occasionally gets an extra move/attack. 6 HP, 2 EXP, 10 Gold.
Penguin - Penguin-shaped enemy. 9 HP, 5 EXP, 10 Gold.
Larva - Enemy that resembles a bug larva. 6 HP, 1 EXP, 10 Gold.
Squid - Can paralyse you. 19 HP, 12 EXP, 10 Gold.
Baby - Crawling humanoid enemy. 3 EXP, 10 Gold. 1-3 DAM.
Snake - Can drain your power by -1. 6 EXP, 10 Gold.
Anemone - Has ranged attack. If it is sleeping, it will wake up as soon as you step in front of it, no matter how far away. Usually drops a few lead bullets on defeat. 5 EXP, 10 Gold. 4-6 DAM.
Cockroach - Can multiply itself occasionally when hit. 5 EXP, 10 Gold.
Butterfly - Can teleport you to random spots. 15 EXP, 10 Gold.
Tadpole - Can steal whatever gold you were carrying, then teleport away. Usually drops a large amount of gold on defeat even if it didn't steal yours. 10 EXP, 10 Gold.
Spider - 16 EXP, 10 Gold.
Slime - Can lower your armor's defense, 25 EXP, 10 Gold.
Egg (Massive) - Sometimes drops a random item on defeat. 25 EXP, 10 Gold.
Mouse - Can steal your items. Teleports to a random location when cornered. ??
Crab - ??
Posted by: Dora
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August 25, 2009 6:28 PM