Jumping into the demo of Morbid Metal with no idea what to expect allowed Screen Juice’s game to surprise more than most games get the chance to. It’s an action roguelike with definite hints of Warframe where movement is concerned, with a pretty if generic design aesthetic.
You’re kind of just thrown into the demo without a great deal of context. You’re a cyborg warrior called Flux, you’ve got a katana, and there’s a number of other cyborgs around who are sorely missing katanas through their stupid metal brain-pans who you’ve sworn a sacred oath to help. While I’m being facetious, there’s not much more to really go on.
Flux is super quick, and equipped with a couple of special attacks on cooldown. One launches you at distant enemies, another performs a Web of strikes, and there’s an ultimate that looks really cool and will one-shot most targets. In no time you’ll also unlock Ekku, a much bigger, hammer-wielding cyborg, and from then you can switch between them. Unsurprisingly, Ekku has a variety of AoE slam attacks and one big mega swing with a stylish warm-up. There are spaces for two more characters down the line, too.
Although they share a health pool, their play styles are very different, which lends immediate variety. Exploration doesn’t change between them, though, which is fine as exploration is a lot of fun. This is where Morbid Metal reminds me of Warframe. A tap of the dash button makes you sprint, and linked with a double jump and multiple dashes, the sprint lets you tear around environments. You’ve also got a grapple for using swing points to clear large gaps.
Interestingly, the dash has no cooldown, even in combat, and it can also be used at any time, even to cancel out of attacks. A perfect dodge allows for an instant counterattack, and with enemies leaping in or shooting at you from off-screen, you’ll be dodging an awful lot. While the action is super fast-paced, the dodge system encourages you to alternate between aggression and patience, as sometimes allowing the enemy to come to you is the better option.
It’s worth exploring the world, too, as I found secrets hidden behind breakable walls on a few occasions, suggesting that developer Screen Juice will pepper collectibles or currency throughout. Although the world design is nothing highly original, the overall atmosphere combined with the intense soundtrack creates a pretty immersive experience. You can’t help but get sucked in, and because it’s not overly difficult you won’t be constantly swearing and restarting runs. What isn’t present in the preview build is any sense of progression. Once Ekku is unlocked he’s available even from the start of the run, and nodes in the hub hint at character upgrades or even loadouts, but none of it is in this build. It’s very much a taste of raw gameplay to get a feel for the main loop.
Despite some bugs and a rough frame-rate (which they have time to fix), there’s something very moreish about Morbid Metal. The movement is a joy, and the combat, while pretty straightforward, is pretty satisfying. If anything, they need to ease up on the screen shake and slow-mo stuff when you do land a perfect dodge, because it’s just a little bit too try-hard and more than a little distracting.
A few quibbles aside, Morbid Metal is a pretty interesting roguelike that fits into the same category as last year’s 13Z: The Zodiac Trials. It’s fast, satisfying, and fun to play, so I’m hoping the developer adds some decent progression and more reasons to explore the world.
Morbid Metal is coming to Early Access on PC on August 20th, 2025.
