Metal Eden is the latest work from Polish Reikon Games, released in September 2025,
combining a first-person shooter with a cyberpunk theme, speed, and parkour. Polish Reikon
Games is an indie team that has previously released a game called Ruiner, which received
good reviews. Eight years after the release of Ruiner, the team released a new game full of
neon colors, Metal Eden. Based on the trailers and reviews given by the players themselves, it
was surprising that the game has not received more attention. This could also be because of
Hollow Knight: Silksong was released almost at the same time. Even if Metal Eden had
received all the attention, would it still have been a sales success? Probably not.
Overall, the game’s feel and atmosphere are really good. The game looks really good
graphically, the cyberpunk theme colors the world nicely which makes the game aesthetically
pleasing and the music fits these images well (although there are no very memorable songs or
tracks in the game). The main character has a lot of speed and the main way to advance in the
levels is by running. In addition to shooting and running, the character can also climb
(separately marked) walls and fly short distances. In addition to these, the levels have points
where, in addition to flying and running on walls, you have to shoot a rope at the right time,
which will propel the player forward in the level.
The game mechanisms work as they should and the combination of the above in the level
shows good game design and in these moments the game has a kind of platform game feeling
to it. In combat situations, it is good to utilize the gliding features and running along walls,
because sometimes they can save you, for example, from falling out of the game area.
However, the shooting is at the center of everything and is definitely the best part of the whole
game. It is not possible to aim the weapons more precisely in the game (meaning – most of
the shooters have a mechanism where by pressing the L2 or LT, Left 2 or left trigger, the
weapon zooms in), but the weapons remain in the lower right corner throughout the game.
There are a nice number of different weapons in the game and they are suitably different from
each other. You can upgrade them somewhat during the game, which makes shooting even
more enjoyable, because the difficulty level of the enemies also increases as the game
progresses.
The starting point of the story is interesting in itself. In the future, a certain Cyborg Aska is sent
on a suicide mission to a planet called Moebius, where robots have taken command and are
trying to steal the “cores” of the citizens. These “cores” are some kind of devices where
people can store their identities so that they can be resurrected in another body later. You
don’t need to know more about the story than this, and those who have played the game
won’t necessarily remember more about the story. Unfortunately, the story is completely
secondary in the end, even though it tries to be primary. It exists more just to give you a
reason to shoot. The main character’s friend is the mysterious Nexus, who whispers in her
ear, chatting with the main character and trying to keep the story important. The game’s
cutscenes are beautiful to watch and the animations look good. That’s why it’s a shame that
the story doesn’t really get going.
The game’s levels are straight pipelines, and there are hardly any alternative routes or
collectibles at all. Any minor collectibles (e.g., ammunition or extra lives) are easy to find.
However, the levels are surprisingly extensive for straight pipeline levels, and collectibles
could have been invented, but it’s a shame that you soon have to accept that the goal is just
to move forward and not stop to explore places.
Graphically, the levels look good and the game is pleasing to the eye in all respects. The
character’s movement is fast, which also means that the frame rate is high. Unfortunately, a
good-looking game and a fast-paced game don’t always run smoothly in this situation. The
screen refresh rate is quite choppy at times, which is not pleasant in an action-packed
shooter. The framerate never drops so low that the game becomes unplayable, but it is
certainly annoying after all that smooth movement.
Although the levels make good use of the previously mentioned wall climbing and other
techniques, the biggest problem with the levels and the entire game is their repetitiveness.
The levels unfortunately progress in the same way and although attempts have been made to
provide variety, e.g. with boss battles, the game no longer surprises the player in any way after
the beginning. The same enemies appear from the halfway point of the game at the latest, and
the situations in which the enemies appear are similar to each other.
But the biggest problem with the game is definitely its length. Just getting to this halfway point
takes a good 2 hours and the entire game is over in five hours. Since the game’s price tag is
normally almost 40 euros, I cannot recommend buying the game at full price. At this point,
the game has already been on sale a few times, e.g. for 20 euros, but even then the length of
the game will still annoy the player.
Based on a brief research, the game also contains some bugs, which I did not encounter very
many during my own playthrough. However, there are no game-breaking bugs. Sometimes,
during a tight shootout, enemies decided to just stand there and wait without attacking,
waiting for me to destroy them. Some players have even reported falling through the floor,
which I only encountered once in the game.
However, I am not going to end the review on a negative note because, as I said before, the
game has a good feel to it despite its negative aspects. Gameplay-wise, it is enjoyable to play
and it has excellent starting points for the Polish team’s next game. Its duration, replayability
and high price tag are its biggest problems that I hope will be solved in the team’s next game.
Developer: Reikon Games
Publisher: Deep Silver
Release date: September 2, 2025
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series S / X, PlayStation 5 (tested)
Genres: First-person shooter
Photos: Screenshots by the author of this article
