Axiom Verge Review
Despite it releasing in 2015, Axiom Verge has an essence that harkens back to the nostalgic nineties. The art style, mechanics, game design, and sound effects are pulled straight from games of yesteryear. It’s an action adventure with retro stylings that give the game an atmosphere and a feeling that you don’t get in many other places. It’s a shame however, that I never found Axiom Verge even remotely compelling.
Axiom Verge was developed over the course of five years, almost entirely by one man. Petroglyph Games engineer Tom Happ - who has worked on NFL Street and Tiger Woods games - is the sole developer, artist, and musician on the game. The passionate nature of the project is instantly obvious - Happ has made the ultimate throwback to Metroid, Contra, Master Blaster, and other games in that ilk - and the attention to detail throughout the experience proves it.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and that adage is proudly on display throughout. Just the like the Metroid games that Axiom Verge takes it’s cues from, the progression of the main character delivers most of the satisfaction. As you traverse the environment you’ll be discovering new upgrades and new weapons to help your progression around the strange alien world. Upgrades, including drills, grappling hooks, and teleports, add to the gratification when you realise you can head back to the start of the game and open up entire new areas with your new-found skills. But you should have known that if your into all these Metroidvanias.
Similarly, seeing your character start out with an underpowered shooter and end up a superpowered killing machine with pockets full of interesting and unique weapons is very fulfilling. Drones, beams and a glitch gun give you so much freedom in how to tackle each enemy. Mastering the weapons and tactics is most important when fighting the games numerous bosses. They will have you dying over and over until you figure out their weaknesses, a process that is never frustrating thanks to the quick loads, numerous checkpoints and tight controls. Once you nail the pattern and defeat, it’s a proper old-school thrill.
As you can tell from any shot of the title, Axiom Verge evokes an 8-bit and 16-bit soul. However, it is just more than just retro looking, chiptune soundtrack offering shooter. The aesthetic ties the old-school gameplay together, even adding to the experience with effects like sprite flicker and purposefully glitch out graphics.
And there you have it, Tom Happ has made what I can only assume is an homage to the games he grew up with. Because Axiom Verge is such a great game from top to bottom, Mr Happ has 100% succeeded. The game could have been released 20 years and could have fit right alongside the games that inspired it. However, despite the fact that i’ve been singing it’s praises, I just couldn’t get into it. That Metroidvania game style is one missing from my history with games. You need to have played the precursors to really appreciate the successors, especially in a nostalgic way. It's that reason why Tom Happ's stellar creation just does not strike a chord with me. As cliche, and as reductive, as the words fans of the genre will enjoy this, there is no truer way of describing Axiom Verge
