Axiom Verge marks a curious footnote in the ever-rotating cycle of video game development. In an age where huge 300-strong companies often squander vast amounts of investment on unnecessary frills and thrills, we've seen the consistent rise of the lowly independent team void of any contractual or...

Does the Metroidvania formula hold up See if it's up to snuff in our review.

Axiom Verge is, at its core, a retro-style indie game. That term gets thrown around a lot, used to cover a wide variety of games that involve 8-bit music, pixelated graphics and challenging 2D combat and platforming.

Brilliant ingenuity in world and map design; Surprisingly detailed lore and compelling story; Diverse arsenal of tools and weapons; Plenty of Metroid-esque exploration and hidden alcoves

Searching for new areas can get cumbersome without warps; Sometimes difficult to differentiate platforms in complex areas

Although they were a little over my head, I loved the action and exploration titles that were available on the original Nintendo when I was a child. Games such as Castlevania, Blaster Master, Metroid, and Rygar we the "epic" adventures that sucked me in while others got hooked into the RPG genre.

Due to a mixture of age and gaming ignorance, I missed early entries in both the Metroid and Castlevania series, only catching up with each when they entered the 3D-era. Despite this, I have come to appreciate the so-called Metroidvania genre in more recent times, spurred on by releases such as...

Positives Interesting, varied environments; Simple yet solid gameplay

Negatives Feelings of Déjà vu

It's just a shame that given the obvious talent and passion involved, it doesn't really have much of its own to add to the Metroidvania template. As charmed and delighted as I often was with its smartly paced escalation, its perpetually teasing construction, I kept waiting for some new element to...

It's hard to believe that it's been almost 30 years since Samus Aran first made an appearance in the enduringly popular Metroid series. The heavy emphasis on non-linear exploration, coupled with a compelling sci-fi setting has ensured that it's one of those franchises that Nintendo fans and critics...

Verging on greatness You are logged out. Login | Sign up Setting Trace aside, Sudra and its inhabitants are fascinating. Every part of the planet incorporates biomechanical technology in some way, and the environments pulse eerily with power.

Its inability to make me feel rewarded is really the core difference between Axiom Verge and the Metroid games it emulates so aggressively. On a moment-to-moment basis, exploring the alien hellscape of Axiom Verge can be awesome.

It spends too much time recreating the genius of Metroid rather than adding to it, but this is still one of the best examples of the genre in recent years.

Extremely well designed game world, and very good graphics considering the lack of manpower; The Address Disruptor and other gadgets are great, as are the boss battles

Only a few new ideas and a touch too similar to the real Metroid; Overbearing story adds little to the experience; Some minor control issues