MetalCore

Introduction

In order for web3 games to move forward, more and more traditional game developers need to make the jump into blockchain, and MetalCore’s studio is one of them. Studio 369 made the transition in early November 2021, known for their work on World of Mechs and their future title. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. We got the opportunity to participate in MetalCore’s alpha test, and to say we enjoyed it is an understatement.

MetalCore offers a first-person mechanized combat game set in an expansive open world where an all-out war breaks out in a dystopian future on an alien planet. The game allows you to enjoy it cooperatively in its PvE mode as well as online PvP 50v50 mega-battles. In between battles you can roam freely as a lone wolf or cooperatively with others in an expanding sandbox map.

Gameplay

MetalCore does a terrific job at hand holding you throughout its various game mechanics, essentially teaching you gradually how to control your weaponized mech from the basics all the way to being one of the best pilots in the world. MetalCore starts with you gaining experience as a ground trooper against PvE enemies in the game’s open-world. Once you have grasped the basic concepts, took down a few enemies, and made it to Level 4, you can then enter into Faction Wars.

Faction Wars is where the game shines because its PvP mechanics and features make for incredibly exciting battles. All of your PvP missions have a purpose, and that’s world domination. You will be prompted to choose one of the three available factions: Metal Punks, Gearbreakers, and The Holy Corporation.

However, if you own an Infantry NFT, these come preset with their own faction as a trait. Each one of them comes with a pre-assigned or an Earther. Earther Infantry can play for any faction so keep that in mind when you buy one. At the same time, each faction grants passive bonuses.

The issue here lies in the game feeling a little tedious throughout those 4 levels. The game’s map is pretty large to accommodate the massive size of these mechs, and the amount of players in the PvP modes. However, during our alpha playtest windows, we found ourselves spending more time counting down the respawn timer waiting for the gray screen to go away than actual gameplay. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t really end there, because the amount of time it takes you to get from the spawn point back into the midst of battle can be rather anticlimactic and take away from the pace of the battle you were in before you died. The only thing that makes it worthwhile is how intense the fights get with multiple mechs using all their abilities and bullets flying everywhere. The incredible visuals of the game as well adds a tremendous amount of enjoyment to the overall experience.

Review

It is always a positive sign when you see traditional game developers adopting blockchain technology and delivering a game that you would have played regardless of the web3 label or not. Studio 369 have managed to achieve that with MetalCore. The game pulls you in with its incredible visuals, well-written lore, and massive scale PvP battles. These elements alone and the gameplay snippets shared can easily be labelled as an upcoming web2 game and no one would think twice but rather ask "when is it out?"

Taking into considering the opportunity to play the game at its current stage of development and be involved in its improvement from very early on makes us put aside the existing shortcomings of the massively multiplayer shooter title. These are primarily resembled in its prolonged respawn timers, tiresome walking from the respawn points to where all the action is, on top of the occasional hiccup here and there.