Second Verse: Metal Dead Now On Steam

I last chatted about Metal Dead a year ago, giving it the nod for a funny script and for overcoming its low art budget with grace. Now it's available on Steam, and currently discounted to £1.35, which prompted me to return to it last night. It's a game of stereotypes and clichés but backed up with line after line of jokes, many tagged onto entirely optional background interaction. It succeeds in making me laugh and grossing me out, much like most of my favourite comics. You can still grab the demo over on Desura or read on for what I thought returning to the game.

I think it's main character Malcolm's eyes that do it. His neutral state is a wide-eyed stare of equal parts bemusement and horror, a constant glare of "oh fuck" at his surroundings. It's funny as both an over-the-top reaction to the human characters he meets and an underplayed response to the game's more gruesome moments. With the slight smile that spreads across his face when moving, he looks like he's properly on a mission: blissfully unaware of the trouble he is in but ready to face it head on regardless.

I still found it funny, though specific jokes were now familiar so it was more the general atmosphere that was still amusing. From what I could see in the hour or so I played, not much has changed between the demo from last year and the full Steam release other than the inclusion of achievements. My favourite feature is still the lo-fi metal that chugs along in the background of every scene, particularly the title track featured in the trailer.

A sequel, Metal Dead: Encore, is in the works and has also been Greenlit with a planned release of 2015. It seems to contain an undead shark with robotic spider legs so, you know, day one purchase.