Back in June retro game developer and publisher Dotemu revealed Metal Slug Tactics, a modern take on the classic run ‘n’ gun arcade franchise that turns the series into a grid and turn-based strategy game, and now we get to see a little more of it.
The reveal trailer was mostly an animation with small snippets of gameplay thrown in, but the newest video released by the company is based entirely on the game itself.
Firstly, of course, we need to talk about the art. The Metal Slug series is famous for its immaculate pixel art and Tactics delivers that in spades. The 2D sprites of old have been impressively adapted to the isometric grid by developer Leikir Studio.
There’s some interesting bits of gameplay revealed such as destructible environments, news areas being added to the map as you play, and something called “Sync” where two characters work together.
“Paired with gorgeous pixel art and fluid animation which faithfully channels the series’ timeless aesthetic, this new footage of frontline powerhouses Marco, Eri, Fio, and Tarma rolling out to battle from a headquarters packed with nods to the long-running series’ history. The team returns with their signature arsenal – including the reliable heavy machine gun and devastating SVX-15D Slugnoid mech – as they face down fresh tactical fights,” the description for the new gameplay reads.
The Slugnoid mech is featured in the gameplay reveal – embedded at the bottom of this post – at the 13 second mark. This is one of the drivable vehicles called Super Vehicles (SVs) or Slugs which are a big part of the series. The Metal Slug tank that the games are named after is one of these Super Vehicles.
It will be interesting to see how the SVs function in Metal Slug Tactics. In the other games they act as powerups giving players extra firepower and health until they are destroyed.
Metal Slug Tactics was revealed initially only for PC but, following an Indie World Showcase, it has also been announced for Nintendo Switch. Both ports of the game will unfortunately not be available this year with a nebulous “2022” date provided for release.
Store pages for the game are live both on Steam and the Nintendo eShop.
