Metaverse Keeper
By Sparks Games
Metaverse Keeper is a dungeon crawler/rogue indie game developed and published by Sparks Games. In the game, you play as a group of heroes (who have previously saved many different worlds) who come together to save the universe. The games art style is very cartoon like and reminds me of Nintendo's Paper Mario series.
I always like to mention tutorials in my reviews as a real pet-peeve of mine is when games leave it up to you to figure out what's going on and what the controls are. Metaverse Keeper, fortunately, comes with a handy set of tutorials at the start of the game, covering things from basic controls to using items and powerups.
Let's talk about the characters. This is one of the most interesting and colourful games I've come across in quite a while, the cartoon style adds extra charm to these characters but their unique abilities and style on their own make them stand out as well. When you start the game you don't have the option of all the characters being playable yet, they unlock the once you do certain things within missions, It's a nice little challenge, however you can still view all of the characters when you're not on a misson. The character you start off within the tutorial is Wong. He seems the most normal of the four unlockable characters but that doesn't mean he's not fun to play as! Then there's Brooks, who looks like someone from an 80s metal band. He carries a guitar and rocks an awesome red bandana. Unfortunately Brooks does not keep his guitar as a weapon when you play as him during a level/mission, instead, he carries what seems to be a DIY gun/knife combo. A very interesting choice...
The other two characters are Zoe, she seems to be some sort of pilot and the only playable female character in the game, and then Howard, who seems to be some sort of robot, or possibly a man wearing a scuba diving suit. I'm not 100% sure but he looks brilliant.
The game offers three different hardness settings for you to play. The first one is the standard 'Normal' mode. Then 'Hard' and then, 'Out Of Control'. The normal mode seems quite challenging enough but if you really want to go hardcore i'd recommend 'Out Of Control' as it's a lot of fun. Don't be deceived by the more 'cute' art style, this game isn't as easy as you think it is!
There is also a local co-op mode and online co-op mode for you to play with your friends. I wasn't expecting these options as it seems like quite a story driven game. However, when I tried to find someone online to play with there was no one available at that time, so I didn't try that mode out.
In the game, there are a lot of retro themes and items you can collect and see. For example, you can collect cassette tapes that you can use to buy new upgrades from the upgrade depot. The upgrades increase certain stats or help you. There are also items lying around your base that would give any video-games fan a smile of their face. A Dreamcast lies on the floor near where the characters stand. The Dreamcast was SEGAs last home console, quite an unusual choice to put in a game but I think it's brilliant.
The soundtrack has a very Daft Punk, Electronica feel to it. Very 80s, which makes sense because of the cassette tapes and some of the characters have old-school looks.
Overall, Metaverse Keeper is a game that has created a very charming art style that I've not seen from many titles in this genre. The gameplay is smooth and you can really get ingrossed into this world. If you're a fan of dungeon crawlers, this is a game for you.
Here's a summary of the features I really liked in the game:
- Interesting bosses for the dungeons
-A range of different weapons to use/pick up
-Unique art style
- Little hidden objects for die-hard gaming fans (Dreamcast)
Metaverse Keeper is available to buy now on Steam .
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