DOOMBLADE, published by Iceberg Interactive and developed by Muro Studios, is a 2D platformer with fast paced action that forces the player to improve and hone their skills as a gamer. The feel of the game is very retro inspired as there are clear signs in the overall gameplay and build of the game. This ties into another important aspect of the game such as the soundtrack, that is necessary in making the player be fully immersed in the world the developers envisioned. While having good gameplay and music is necessary for a game the mystic of a story can often entice those who are looking for a more story driven story with some mystery. Muro Studios have crafted a work of love and passion when making DOOMBLADE from the gameplay, music, with the story entwining it all together to show their love for those retro games.
The game itself is heavily inspired from the Metroidvania genre established by Koji Igarashi as stated by developers in a short video regarding the game. By making DOOMBLADE a Metroidvania, exploration is a key part in the game’s identity where the player will need to power ups and revisit older areas to progress through the game. DOOMBLADE’s gameplay loop can be broken down as explore, defeat boss, gain new powers, progress, and repeat creating an enjoyable experience that does not grow stale over time. Moreover, this can be attributed to building the game’s frame on a well-established genre that has been dormant for some time due to a lack of focus in the market. DOOMBLADE shakes it up by making the game fast paced in its action and a unique approach to exploration allowing the player to have more freedom of movement. In regard to boss fights, the game punishes the player by not studying the attack patterns of bosses in order to advance with each boss scaling in difficulty at a linear rate. By allowing the player to learn their mistakes and improve upon them each clear of a boss truly feels rewarding as opposed to the victory being easily obtainable, similar to bosses fought in the Dark Souls series. Furthermore, this allows each boss to feel impactful to the player and important to the overall experience of the game, enhancing the quality of the game.
This ensures that the player is continuously having an enjoyable experience from fighting bosses, exploring, and using new powers to solve puzzles. While having good gameplay is, great overall it can be further enhanced by music and this game’s soundtrack does exactly what it needs to do.
As for the soundtrack of the game it strikes a good balance of when the music needs to be intense versus a more relaxed atmosphere. It takes awhile to find what kind of music themes for various situations when making a game. An example of the music perfectly matching the setting of a video game can be seen in the tutorial boss fight of critically acclaimed game, Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, by Platinum Games. DOOMBLADE’s base being a Metroidvania allows for some musical creativity allowing for dynamic and heavy music for boss fights. The music for boss fights can be described as that feeling of being in a constant state of danger where anything can go wrong. Furthermore, the music takes some cues from 2016’s DOOM focusing on heavy metal which creates this enjoyable phenomenon where the player can feel a sudden ush of excitement that is then amplified by defeating the boss. If they player does not defeat the boss the music for the fight can be taken as an uphill battle where it becomes a test of skill and a way to keep to player focused on the fight. While the boss fights are these energetic musical themes, the soundtracks for exploration are based on the surrounding environments allowing for a more relaxed and somber atmosphere. There are certain leitmotifs from Dark Souls with fire link shrine having some influence in a certain area of the game designed for fast travel which has this somber and mysterious atmosphere. This creates a musical contradiction that works for this game and emphasizes the subgenre that it focuses on. Moreover, by having such a contrast shows that the developers really love making the game and want others to experience the joys they had when playing the genre. The love they have is then extended into the story using various themes from other popular games they enjoy dearly.
The story is something to ground the player into the world, it is what can drive a player to explore the world presented to them from the developers. While the story in the game takes precedence it at times feels like it is taking a seat in the back allowing the player to think upon the world’s lore. Doing this can allow the player to become engrossed in the story allowing them to think about the story more in-depth or distance the player from the game focusing more on the gameplay itself. The narrative presented to the player can come in various ways from in game dialogue, item descriptions, and environmental details that allow for more creative ways of telling the tale in different ways. This ensures that the player is given bits and pieces as well as see how well they notice small environmental details allowing the player to draw their own conclusions as they get to the ending.
Muro Studios put their feelings into making DOOMBLADE and it shows in the quality of the game they have provided to players. The love for the Metroidvania genre is put on display in the game as the core for DOOMBLADE, while making the experience unique as they changed up how the player interacts with the environment as a whole. It is from that uniqueness that influences the soundtrack where there are influences from DOOM, and Dark Souls that balances the two. The story itself is quite grim as it focuses on the player being the last of their kind on a quest for revenge alongside a talking sword. With the game itself strikes a good balance ensuring a breath-taking experience for the Metroidvania experience pushing the genre to new heights.
DOOMBLADE is a game to look out for as the player can really feel the love for the game in the gameplay, soundtrack, and story allowing the game to be an easy 9/10 game.
DOOMBLADE releases today for PC via Steam.
Related: Reviews by Kyle Manila
I would describe myself when interacting with games as a strategist with a pension for stealth and loud explosions.
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