Having played every Wayforward Metroidvania, this is by far the worst one. It is repetitive, mind numbing, and takes up wayyy too much of the playtime with a redundant hacking mini game. I liked it just barely enough to finish (and 100% it), but I still can’t really recommend it.

Wayforward definitely aren’t the best Metroidvania developers out there. The games always have pretty mind numbing level design and challenges, but have just enough of a light hearted warmth to be fun and playable. Mummy Demastered is their anomaly game, with actually good level design and solid genre fundamentals.

But this game is such a step down. It’s I guess a Metroid-like with its sci-fi bent and ranged combat, but it feels so stiff. Your shot only shoots directly horizontal, the double jump only goes directly vertical, the dash has a fixed distance. The room designs generally echo the vania side of the genre, being flat and uninteresting with tons of enemies. But the combat and occasional platforming just aren’t that fun.

Then there’s the hacking mini game. I guess this was a cheeky way to give Atari a nod as the publisher, but it’s just a boring arcade game. Every secret you find and door you unlock requires a hacking minigame and it gets OLD.

So what’s good? Art design is pleasant. Map is very useful. And… that’s about it. But it was enough to keep me from getting too frustrated and just want to finish.

So ya, extremely underwhelming and not a game I could recommend unless you got nothing else to play.