Reviewed by Brandy Shaul
With so many games having been released in Metal Slug’s illustrious history, it might come as a bit of a surprise to know that I have never played a game in the franchise. Or, rather, I had never played a game in the franchise until I had the pleasure of taking on Metal Slug 7 on the Nintendo DS.
After doing a bit of research, I discovered that the events in Metal Slug 7 actually take place before those of Metal Slug 4. In 7, the story follows the Peregrine Falcon Strike Force and the SPARROWS as they try to defeat General Morden and his army. Very early on in the game, it seems that he has indeed been defeated until a robotic army from the future appears through a wormhole and rejuvenates not only Morden, but his entire army as well, leaving you to make your way through the game’s seven levels to stop Morden once and for all.
Gameplay is separated into two distinct areas, the first of which is the main mission mode, which allows you to take on the role of one of six familiar characters: Marco, Eri, Clark, Fio, Tarma, and Ralf, with each character having their own specialties, such as Marco’s love of the heavy machine gun, and Ralf’s expertise with close quarters combat. And while playing as Marco, the game’s default choice, throughout the entirety of gameplay is a viable option (and in fact, will give you one of the easiest run-throughs of the game), it’s certainly a nice touch to see five other characters as options.
After choosing your difficulty level and character, you are set lose in the first mission of the game with three lives and a variety of weapon types at your disposal. As you make your way through the side-scrolling environments, all of the action takes place on the top screen, with the touch screen being reserved for the game’s map feature that lets you drag your stylus to investigate the landscape ahead of you without running head first into a trap or barrage of soldiers.
This map feature also helps cement the game’s impromptu slogan of “slow and steady wins the race” (which is reported to you by the leader of the game’s Combat School, albeit not in such a clich??d way) as you will make little progress in the game by simply running and gunning, balls to the wall, with little forethought to back up your movements. Instead, slow and methodical advancement is best, as this not only gives you time to prepare between waves of soldiers, but also gives you a chance to spot many of the captured prisoners that you have the opportunity (but are not required) to rescue, thereby receiving generous gifts in the form of weapon upgrades and extra points.
Even though weapon upgrades are a nice touch, the nicest gift the game gives you are definitely the slugs, or vehicles, sent out to you at pre-determined intervals throughout missions. These slugs of course increase the damage your characters can dish out exponentially, and help in the overall bad ass feeling of the game. Luckily, you are not required to play in the main mission mode to use both slugs and your upgraded weapons, as most are available in specific instances in the Combat School.
Aside from the main mission itself, the Combat School is where you will undoubtedly spend the majority of your time. There, your instructor Cynthia will provide you with an assortment of smaller missions with specific requirements, goals and so on. Some of these missions ask you to rescue as many prisoners as possible, while others task you with completing a mission without losing a life. And while these missions are optional, they provide a much needed change of pace from the linear main mission, and are a great way to learn your way around the battlefield before taking on said main mission.
Other than the Main Mission and Combat School modes, there is a nice POW List feature which lists the names of all of the POW’s (prisoners of war) you have rescued throughout each mission and serves as a sort of mental checklist as to how many you have yet to rescue.
Unfortunately, the POW list is the most noteworthy extra in the game, since there is no multiplayer option available. And while the single-player mode offers plenty of fun on its own, the inability to attack friends via multiplayer (or make use of potential co-op) is one of the largest oversights I’ve ever come across in a game.
Another disappointing factor comes in the technical side of the game, specifically in missions where your progress in a level depends on the movement of a tram car or elevator, which can only continue to move when all of the enemies have been eliminated from the screen. While this task is simple on paper, in specific instances if you happen to find yourself stranded without a slug (that is, your slug has been damaged and you are now on your own), you lose your ability to shoot downward, and will immediately find yourself up a creek without a paddle.
While this seems like a specific occurrence, I actually found myself trapped on numerous instances, with my only option being to throw myself off of whatever platform I was standing on and shoot on my way down, not only killing myself but hopefully the enemy in the process.
One last disappointment with the game comes in the graphics themselves. While the foregrounds are presented decently, with a pallet mostly consisting of green, brown and gunmetal gray, and enough entertaining explosions and scattered blood pools to make even the meanest of sadists squeal with delight, the backgrounds themselves lack in detail. Specifically, certain platforms blend in so well with the rest of the environment that it is hard to tell which items you can jump on, and which ones you cannot, frequently causing you to plummet to your death.
Contrary to those factors, the game’s soundtrack is extraordinary, and makes even the Nintendo DS’s tiny speakers seem like a Bose stereo system. Likewise, the sound effects are very nicely done, with a multitude of satisfying guttural moans coming from your enemies as they take their last breaths.
In the end, I’ve heard a lot of people give Metal Slug 7 a hard time, thinking that it was too easy or overall incomplete and undeserving of the Metal Slug name. Of course it is understandable that in my having never played a game in the franchise before, that I would be easier to please than seasoned veterans, but no matter which side of the fence you stand on, if you are like me and find something mysteriously gratifying in watching little pixilated men go up in flames, then you will probably agree with me in thinking that Metal Slug 7 is definitely worth the purchase price.
Special thanks to Susan Hale and Ignition Entertainment for providing a copy of this title.