Metal Garden Review

This came at the exact right time for me. All I needed this week was a short, sweet, and simple first-person shooter. It doesn't take long to beat Metal Garden in a single sitting and hit 100% completion in a second. As I neared the end, I wished it would go on just a bit more, but I appreciate that it doesn't outstay its welcome.

You come to in a clearing — nothing to comfort you but thin wisps of cigarette smoke and a broken-down machine. You're a nomad, and your primary mode of transport just bit the bullet. With nothing left to do but make your way out on foot, you grab some supplies and take off. From the very beginning, this game is drenched in bleak and apocalyptic vibes.

Metal Garden is set inside a mega-structure that has cut the inhabitants off from the outside world. Monolithic industrial structures and brooding storms brew over ruinous infrastructure. It is all at once evocative and wonderfully grim. It has the fidelity of a mid-budget 2000s shooter like Chrome or Chaser but with the style and atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

The game runs very well. It looked like a Source engine game at first; the menu system looked eerily familiar. However, the credits list it as being made in Unreal Engine 5. I am delighted to report that Metal Garden lacks the signature stuttering plaguing many UE5 titles. Besides some small collision issues, the game is bug-free in my experience.

For such a short game, Metal Garden delivered so many "wow" moments. Cresting a hill to find some mysterious landscape, or emerging from a vent to find an underground ruin lost for centuries. This game captures the wonder of exploration so elegantly with its level design. Each chapter has side areas to discover, something new to see, or another angle on something you've already found.

A shooter can be as pretty and atmospheric as it likes — what matters is the shooting. Metal Garden delivers in this regard too. Guns feel weighty and because this game gets it, enemies will ragdoll with some velocity when shot. This means a well-aimed shotgun blast will send an enemy flying out a window — the hallmark of a good shooter.

Projectiles are slow enough to see them coming most of the time, letting you dodge most of them. In general, the combat was easy, even on the hardest difficulty. There are additional difficulty modifiers that you can apply to make it more challenging if you're a masochist (I won't judge). While it is easy to evade enemies, they are smart enough to keep moving and will charge you with their own super-human jumps.

Enemy variety is limited to two ranged types and one terrifying melee type which does a great deal of damage when they get in range. When you get hurt, there's a chance you'll suffer an injury. An injury results in a negative effect on whichever part of you was injured. This makes encounters a lot more interesting — with an injured leg, you have a chance of stumbling while sprinting for example. Movement takes a bit of getting used to — you're not as quick and nimble as the heroes of modern shooters.

You do get a double jump, which means we've got platforming to do. It's usually a toss-up whether or not FPS games have decent platforming or are totally shit. Metal Garden is no Titanfall 2, but the platforming was good enough that any screw-ups felt like my fault, not the game's. The double jump is forgiving, and some of the platforming setpieces are genuinely exhilarating.

What strikes me most is how much fun it was getting lost in this strange world. The atmosphere drew me in and the tense but fun shooting kept my attention. There are logs and diaries around the levels which depict more of the world, but they aren't necessary. It's more than enough to wander for wandering's sake; not knowing what lies beyond the horizon except for more evermore horizon. Metal Garden is an outstandingly odd little game, where you push onward because it's all you know to do.

The Verdict

A dreamlike trek through a forgotten world. Great shooting and immaculate vibes push you to see yourself past the endless wanderer's horizon.

Get Metal Garden on Steam