METAL EDEN Review – A Brutal, Beautiful Sci-Fi FPS with Intense Cybernetic Combat

Sometimes you want a game that hurls you into the maelstrom and lets you blast your way out. METAL EDEN does exactly that.

You play as the HYPER UNIT ASKA, a super-soldier brought in to end the threat of MOEBIUS, an orbital mechanized phase-shifting city projecting its own warped view of the real onto your former home, PANGAEA.The citizens were to be evacuated; once saved, now trapped.

The formula is straightforward: clear waves of enemy mechs, turn off shields, steal back the cores and find out just what really went wrong for Project EDEN.

The Story – Simple but Intriguing

The story is overall pretty simple, but just mysterious enough to keep you hooked. You’ll enter MOEBIUS – a large, brutalist mega-city; before descending down to the planet surface of VULCAN, an alien world with ancient secrets buried in its soil.

The characters you meet along the way are cryptic and adding a nice layer of mystery. It’s a story-driven, linear affair, so there isn’t much open-world exploring to do. But if you dig games like Ghost in the Shell or The Matrix, you’ll be stoked on the vibe.

Gameplay

Core Metal Eden Loop

Let’s be real here: the tale isn’t what you’ll stick around for — it’s the fighting.

METAL EDEN all feels like if DOOM Eternal and Ghostrunner had a lovechild — with some Titanfall style wall running/mobility thrown in for good measure. The shooting feels snappy, the enemy mix is diverse enough to heat up fights and there’s a continuing goad to stay aggressive.

I also liked how the game values momentum. Most of the time, you’re zipping through levels by wall-running, sliding and mowing down foes.

One player put it perfectly:

“Ghostrunner, and Cyberpunk, and Ghost in the Shell, a little bit of Matrix — so many influences here. There’s such an visually art directed and their core game play is modern boomer shooter for real.”

That's it, really — it's messy, pretty and intensely satisfying when you're in the groove.

Visuals & Atmosphere

This game is beautiful in a savage sort of way. It has dark, monolithic, oppressive art and that works perfectly with what it’s representing. The soundtrack is hard-hitting and the sound design makes each gunshot or explosion resonate.

It’s plain that the developers wanted to make a world that felt heavy and harsh, and they succeeded.

Performance

Better Than the Demo (But Not Perfect)

I played a demo months ago, and — well, it wasn’t in the best shape: audio bugs, weird stutters and crashes. The good news is that the entirety of that has been swept aside in the full release.

The bad news? Some are still encountering performance issues as well, with many speaking of stutters on more high-end cards. A small minority have also noted DLSS frame generation was cut from the full game, which is a head-scratcher considering that worked in the demo.

Your own mileage is likely to vary, though I had a largely smooth ride—just bear the above in mind if you’re sensitive to frame pacing problems.

Game Length

Short but Intense

This is likely where a few people will be disappointed. METAL EDEN is short. Most players complete it in 4–6 hours, even on harder levels.

One player review captured it:

“Game so good I finished it in one go — wish it were longer!”

If you’re looking for a 20-hour campaign, this isn’t going to be it. But if you’re looking for an a no-nonsense FPS experience that isn’t padded out, METAL EDEN certainly delivers.

Final Verdict

Should You Play METAL EDEN?

If you enjoy locked and loaded, single-player FPS games – then yes: METAL EDEN is definitely something you don’t want to miss.

It’s far from perfect and certainly not long, but it is one of the most focused adrenaline thrills I’ve played all year. The gunplay on offer here, combined with the game’s sense of movement and place, makes it a ride worth experiencing.

If you liked DOOM Eternal, Ghostrunner or Titanfall 2, this game is going to scratch that itch. Just prepare for a shorter journey — and hold off if you’re concerned about value for money.