The shift between 2D games being sort of “meh” to being one of the most anticipated titles shows how the gaming industry has changed over the years. Surely, we started with 2D platform games with action elements in the 90s and it built the core genre of 2D shoot’ em ups or Metroidvanias to be relevant today. Just like how action roguelikes are popular today, some developers want to take the Metroid path, which is understandable.

The core gameplay of metroidvania helps people with memorizing map layouts, and enemy placements and using the right tools in the right places, so it is more advanced than a regular 2D platformer title. Combined with combat elements, metroidvanias became this go-to subgenre for many aspiring developers. We don’t blame them, it is very fun to connect all of the dots and open up new places by acquiring new techniques or weapons, metroidvania games are fun, full-stop.

But the overwhelming amount of interest can make the genre a bit dried out as everyone’s jumping onto the bandwagon of creating “the best” metroidvania, but in reality, all of them are equally good. Developers just need to space out their releases just in time to let players breathe and jump onto the next well-crafted metroidvania. I initially thought MARS 2120 was the same deal until I saw some potential hidden here and there.

To briefly explain, MARS 2120 is a take on the metroidvania genre, down to the details of a female character being stranded on Mars with a zombie breakout and demons to deal with. This does bring some similarities between the actual Metroid series and MARS 2120. Even the female is portrayed as a femme-fatale character. It might be just a nice reference to Metroid altogether but isn’t every Metroid-like game included a powerful female character anyway?

Focusing on MARS 2120, it has the basic rules of a metroidvania. Run around, fight some enemies, unlock a powerup, and use that powerup for the specific area to continue your adventure. It is a simple premise and I think hard about it, there is nothing else that MARS 2120 brings to the table that I could consider new. Sure, the new tech and line of codes do better than the original Metroid or Castlevania series, but with no proper advancement, it is hard to draw people who are interested in the subgenre.

The start of the game is a bit rough as they do not explain to you which button does what or what to even do after getting out of your crashed spaceship. After figuring out which buttons do what, you fight your flying enemy, which should have been a grounded type because, without no clear instructions, players won’t even understand how to jump and manually aim. Funnily enough, it took me some great time to understand there is a free aim to damage enemies with your weapon precisely.

After almost dying at the non-existent tutorial level, the game opens up to the main hub area, and then you can take linear paths. As you move along and kill enemies, open up doors, double jump - which I am MAD for not being taught at the pseudo tutorial level - you find new routes to take. But the game tells you that obviously lack a tech going through said blockade.

Combat takes one of the major parts of MARS 2120 and it’s confusing most of the time. Enemies lack a health bar and you do not know what sort of damage your weapon does. When you throw it into the equation in melee combat, you clearly have no idea how to deal with some enemies. MARS 2120 kindly lets you know if an enemy is immune or stunned via your attacks, but you aren’t sure if you can take them later on.

Considering combat is what you’ll be doing in MARS 2120, you would expect it to be at least readable. However, due to poor animations and lack of information, it becomes a hassle to put up with. The enjoyment of exploration and discoveries suddenly ends up being unfun due to enemies being hard to deal with as well as their erratic movements. The fact that you can also combine your weapon with melee attacks, enemies can be easily stunlocked right away, you can understand that easily when they are staring your dead in the eyes.

As I kept playing MARS 2120, something started clicking. It wasn’t the odd animations or the well-balanced level design. It was more of how I controlled the main character. I know it’s a bit late to do that, but our character’s name is Anna Charlotte, and she is a tough person to actually take control of. I meant that literally because the controls started to fight against my own will.

Anna has a free aim mode as I mentioned earlier. To initiate the free aim and properly aim for moving targets, you need to move your mouse or right analog stick. However, it takes a solid two or three seconds for free aim to take over, and sometimes it doesn’t so you end up getting hit, which happens quite often unfortunately.

Despite rough gameplay and difficulty getting used to controls, the level design in MARS 2120 is well done. The map system works spot-on with icons and navigation. Since every power-up and ability is color-coded, you can guess which abilities can be used on which sections of the maps. For example, purple identifies electricity, blue identifies ice, and red identifies fire. Power-ups for these elements can be scattered around the maps and you have to get them in order to pass certain sections.

One other convenience that MARS 2120 provides is being able to use a tram system built inside the Mars complex, meaning you do not need to walk or traverse between levels in order to get to a certain point. While it sounds very nice to have an instant teleportation between levels, MARS 2120 tells you to earn that reward, by getting to those secret parts of the levels and opening up the station of course.

Talking about secrets, MARS 2120 has a fair share of secrets within levels too. These can be found by inspecting secret doorways between piles of debris or attacking a broken wall with a melee. Usually, they have upgrade nodes, but sometimes they open up to secret paths that require the special element power up, so it is better if you take notes and check your map during the gameplay.

Metroidvanias often employ a boss fight before requiring an important arsenal or a power-up, MARS 2120 is no stranger to that formula. In the maps, you can often find exclamation points and these lead to which boss fight you should take next, if you happen to come across a boss that you shouldn’t take head-on, the game already lets you know by how weak you are towards the boss anyway. I have to mention that boss fights, if fought with the right element, can be extremely trivial.

MARS 2120 has been in Early Acces for the past few years now and they seem to have implemented more stable gameplay experiences for gamers who are interested in metroidvania genre. It is subtle and enjoyable to some degree, but it still requires some feedback in order to fully deliver its main goal.

Sadly, MARS 2120 is one of the odd titles that contradict itself with good promises but ultimately fails when it comes to execution, which happens to be controls and a sense of direction when it comes to later levels. However, it is still an enjoyable title, and as I mentioned, the developers are keen on listening to feedback. If you are interested in 2D metroidvanias with shoot ‘em up elements, MARS 2120 might be a title you should look up to get.

Atilla Turan (@burningarrow)
Editor, NoobFeed