There’s a thriving Indie scene on Xbox One right now, and while they usually appear on other platforms, the ID Xbox program is a huge deal for Microsoft and the many gamers that invest their hard earned cash on the games that regularly flow through to Microsoft’s flagship console. Some are bad, and some are very good. Today’s game falls into the latter, and Cellar Door Games can be proud of their hard work on their second entry into Xbox, Full Metal Furies which follows the highly rated Rogue Legacy. Featuring up to 4 player cooperative gameplay with 4 distinct and unique characters and their respective classes, Full Metal Furies casts 4 female warriors each with their own skill trees, weapons and personalities as they take on all forms of enemies. The game isn’t voice acted, and all dialogue is through text based cut scenes, which is thankfully well written to allow their personas to shine through during encounters with enemies and boss fights.
All of the characters have their own class, which brings in advantages and disadvantages during battle. Prefer sniping, or maybe being the tank? You’re covered. What’s even better, is that the more you use a skill and weapon, the better it becomes the more you play. So by the time you finish the game, if you’ve only been playing with 2 characters, they will be pretty much unstoppable. Just make sure that you’ve been earning enough coins to purchase them One thing I’d like to highlight, is that Cellar Door Games have included an option to cater for people who have colour blindness. Not something I have personally, but for those who struggle with colours, this is a fantastic inclusion. If you’re playing solo, you are able to pick 2 of the 4 available characters, and can swap on the fly when needed. Each has a colour specific to them, as do enemies with shields. Meaning that you will get to use both during a level. Speaking of levels, they’re on the short side, and won’t present much of a problem in terms of difficulty until you happen upon a boss fight. These are more a test of patience than actual skill, as their health bars take a while to chip away at, and will summon smaller henchmen to thwart you in your attempt to overthrow them.
Other aspects of the game such as graphics, audio and gameplay are all worthy of praise. It seems as though Cellar Door Games have gone all out to make a point that they do indeed have enough talent on board to make the game stand out in each department. Only playable characters and NPC’s are in pixelated form, with some beautiful scenery looking far more detailed. That’s not to say that animation is only a few frames, because it’s not. Gameplay is smooth and flows freely with no input lag in sight and the audio fits the billing without overpowering the senses. To say that Full Metal Furies is damn near perfect is a statement that many will agree with, and the game will keep you coming back for more. Whether that be replaying levels or teaming up with a friend for some cooperative gameplay. In the hub, or camp for your team of female warriors is enough content to keep you working away at unlocking. From weapon blueprints, to trophies and even stone fragments that are deviously hidden away in the world. There’s also a shop to upgrade your skills and health for some light RPG mechanics implemented in the game, and let’s not forget Go-Cat who you can pet to your gears delight whenever you’re visiting.
It’s not often that an Indie developer gets every important factor of their game nailed down right, but when it is right, then you’ll come back and play time and time again. Naturally, the more people involved the better. I did encounter some connectivity issues when trying to join games, although I’m sure that once aware, the developer will attempt to rectify this with a patch. Overall, there’s plenty to do in Full Metal Furies with 4 characters to level up, plenty of stone fragments to collect and decipher the resulting puzzles and hidden areas to discover and explore along with cooperative gameplay. A fantastic soundtrack, great gameplay and off beat humour from the protagonists. The price is fully justified, as the quality the game exudes will prove and you’ll not regret spending your hard earned cash on Full Metal Furies. Overall Score 9/10 Developer: Cellar Door Games Publisher: Cellar Door Games Release Date: 17th January 2018 Price: £16.74 File Size: 663MB Xbox One copy provided for review purpose Available on Xbox One & Steam