Three years after its initial announcement, Metal Slug Tactics has finally arrived. Developed by Leikir Studio and published by Dotemu, it’s not a side-scrolling action platformer as other earlier entries, but rather, as the name implies, a tactical turn-based strategy game. Can such a genre work for this series, or should Metal Slug stick to the fast-paced arcade-style action it’s known for? As you’ll find out in our Metal Slug Tactics review, it definitely works, and works well.

Familiar Faces, New Format

Graphically, Metal Slug Tactics looks great. Gorgeous pixel art is rendered in an isometric viewpoint. You fight on floating islands which are made up of tiles, chunks of which rotate in and out of the battlefield as turns progress. These environments look like they were ripped straight out of one of the SNK classics, but extended to be rendered in 3D. The game’s interface is a tad clunky, though, as the menus all use very small fonts for some reason. This is a complaint within the game’s community already, but hopefully it will be patched out in due time. The audio also sounds great for this kind of game, with a nice arcade-like soundtrack that leans into the chiptunes and synthesized sound effects popular back in the Metal Slug arcade heydays.

Metal Slug Tactics has a little bit of a plot for its campaign, and you don’t have to be deeply invested in the lore of the Metal Slug series to understand it. Some bad dude (General Morden) is amassing an army, and you’re sent in to stop him. Some of the cutscenes that play out between maps are entertaining. A playthrough of the campaign for an average player will hover around five hours, and the random nature of each campaign add to the game’s replayability. It’s also a roguelike, in that if during any mission all of your team members die, then you’ll have to restart the entire campaign. Though, you are able to level up characters in between runs, which means you’re going to be more likely to pass whatever mission gave you trouble the last runthrough.

Move It or Lose It

Movement is crucial in Metal Slug Tactics. The further a character moves during their turn, the more resources they collect. This includes health, as one of the best ways to recover HP is to simply move as far as possible. It’s a mechanic you don’t have to think too hard about in order to remember, because every time you go to move a unit, an indicator appears above the currently-targeted tile to inform you of just how much your unit will heal, and how many dodge points they’ll earn.

As characters level up, they can obtain new weapons and abilities. Each character has two weapons, along with abilities that use adrenaline, which is picked up by moving around the battlefield as mentioned earlier. The more you move, the more adrenaline you earn, which is a great design that keeps things moving in a genre that is notorious for being a much slower, plodding affair. Characters can also use moves called a sync attack, which is triggered whenever one unit attacks an enemy unit that is in the line of sight and attack range of a teammate. If so, then the teammate will follow up the currently-controlled unit’s attack with one of their own, in many cases resulting in at least twice the damage to be dealt to the enemy or object getting attacked. It’s essentially a way to execute more than one attack move per attack phase, and also helps to speed things along.

Learn by Doing

While this is explained somewhat in the game’s tutorial, Metal Slug Tactics does not do a whole lot in the way of hand-holding. Heck, I lost my very first campaign mission where I had to escort someone to safety. But by testing things out, and leveling up characters, eventually you should be able to reach the game’s later stages, culminating in a boss fight for an area. In an era where most games seem to have trouble with too much instruction in the beginning of their campaigns, it’s nice to see something on the other end of the tutorial spectrum, even if this is a genre that requires a lot of time and patience in order to master.

At a launch price of $24.99, Metal Slug Tactics is a unique take on a classic franchise. The roguelike nature of its roughly five-hour campaign begs to be replayed, so that new tactics can be devised or experimented with. In a genre known for being slow-paced, Leikir Studio has figured out how to speed things up with an emphasis on movement in a way that makes sense in the Metal Slug universe.

Verdict

Metal Slug Tactics is a robust turn-based strategy game. You don’t have to be a fan of the franchise to appreciate the tactical options it presents you. While it’s not exactly the most helpful to players who might be new to the genre, the type of person who would even want to try a strategy game is naturally inquisitive anyway, so the trial by fire method of simply experimenting with your units and moves works here. The launch price is fair considering the average campaign length of around five hours, and its roguelike mechanics keep things fresh for each run. If you want a faster-paced turn-based game, then this is one to check out.

Score: 8/10

Pros:

• Fantastic pixel art and style
• Movement-heavy combat keeps things faster paced
• Sync attacks are satisfying to pull off
• Roguelike campaign encourages replays

Cons:

• Harsh fail state rules might turn some off
• Menus can be hard to read

Metal Slug Tactics review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.