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Axiom Verge 2 review: a more sedate but enthralling MetroidvaniaOut of this world
Out of this world
Stumbling across different dimensions will always be a rich vein for video game plotlines, but rarely are they as stylish and fiendishly conceived as Thomas Happ’sAxiom Vergegames. The solo dev’s first entry in the series was a breakout retro hit back in 2015, harking back to the 16-bit Metroid and Castlevania games of yore with its detailed pixel art and retro sensibilities. It turned heads with its dizzying array of guns and tough bosses, but it was its planet full of glitches that sealed the deal, as it felt like you weren’t just playing a great Metroidvania, but you were also getting to peek behind the curtain to see what made it tick.
Axiom Verge 2, a semi-sequel that’s set in the same universe as Axiom Verge 1 but can be played standalone without any knowledge of what went down beforehand, is a more sedate affair than its predecessor, but Happ’s fascination with portals, overlapping worlds and seeing beyond the veil has only grown stronger in the intervening six years. What it lacks in finger-tapping firepower, it more than makes up for with clever puzzles, a more meaningful skillset, and a very,veryneat grappling hook.
The Axiom Verge 2 Drone And Its Grappling Hook Are Ace | My Fav Thing In… (Axiom Verge 2 Review)Watch on YouTube
The Axiom Verge 2 Drone And Its Grappling Hook Are Ace | My Fav Thing In… (Axiom Verge 2 Review)
The grappling hook is arguably the secret star of Axiom Verge 2 - or more precisely, it’s the robot drone it’s attached to. Much like in Axiom Verge 1, new protagonist Indra acquires the ability to launch a small, remote metallic pal pretty early on in the game, allowing you to crawl through small passageways and reach new areas that are inaccessible to you as a human. So far, so Samus' morph ball. Eventually, though (for reasons I won’t spoil here), this little drone becomes the most important bit of kit in Indra’s hastily put together toolbag, giving you new satisfying freedoms in the way you move through the world, and how you engage with it. Whereas its predecessor threw more guns at you than you knew what to do with, Axiom Verge 2 shows a much keener sense of focus in the way it doles out its (still plentiful) supply of upgrades, giving you the time and space to really invest in your equipment instead of instantly discarding it for a newer, shinier trinket.
The same can be said of Indra herself. While her default ice pick can be swapped out for a handful of more powerful weapons over the course of the game (provided you seek them out), most of her upgrades revolve around her ability to traverse her new surroundings. As a scientist, Indra’s physical abilities are very much lacking at the start of the game, but dotted around this futuristic yet ancient, Assyrian-infused world are special urns with AI spirits known as Arms inside them, a kind of technological take on djinn that grant Indra special powers. As the game progresses, she becomes a lot more capable.
The pixel art in Axiom Verge 2 continues to astound and amaze. This particular robo beast is friendly, giving you plenty of time to drink in all the details.
In fairness, some players may end up wondering what it’s all for.As previously stated, while Axiom Verge 2 does have some striking boss fights, you don’t actually need to engage with them at all to finish the game. Instead of hoarding crucial upgrades, your reward is simply more skill point canisters that Indra can guzzle down to improve her or her drone’s attack power, range and health. They’re worth taking on for the spectacle alone - one particularly standout boss sees you having to fight it with your tiny drone, making for an impressive David and Goliath moment when you finally take it down - but the meat of your ice pick slinging will be against much smaller robotic foes that can usually be taken down with a rush of button taps.
Into The BreachIn addition to the game’s overworld, you’ll also be spending a fair amount of time in The Breach, a parallel universe that’s only accessible to your little drone. These portals are a feast for the senses, with pulsing pixel matrixes in the background, an amped up chiptune soundtrack, and bright, vibrant colours. It’s a glimpse of the overworld in its natural state, before all the other drones moved in, and its organic foes means you can’t use your hacking powers here. Still, there are some great platforming challenges to be found, and once you gain the ability to shift between worlds at will, some truly brilliant collectible puzzles, too. It’s a shame most of the game’s best Breach powers only come around two hours before the end, and even then they’re mostly for collectible hunting rather than the critical mission path.
Other scientists have fallen through this portal before, making base camps to record their findings. Your mission objectives are often to find more of these ansible computers to follow the trail of the woman seemingly behind all this.
Again, though, once I’d grown acclimatised to what the game was asking of me, I did find myself warming to this approach over time, and learned to enjoy poking around new parts of the map I didn’t really have much business being in. There’s a surprising amount to discover here, and working out how to proceed, making mental notes of where to return to later and using my powers to open up new paths and possibilities (some of which were proper lightbulb moments) all scratched my favourite Metroidvania itches. Go in with this kind of mindset, and you’ll almost certainly have a cracking time with it.
Axiom Verge 2 isn’t the most straightforward sequel, then, and some of its mechanical mutations are more successful than others. If you adored the guns and boss fights of the first game, then its sequel may be something of a disappointment. However, if you’re into the puzzles and exploration side of Metroidvanias, Axiom Verge 2 shows a level of sophistication in its design that I haven’t seen from this genre in quite some time, even if the end result can sometimes be a little obtuse. It’s familiar, yet different; the kind of game the first Axiom Verge might have been in an alternate timeline, which feels fitting given its obsession with portals and shifting realities. With the door left open for even further forays into this kaleidoscope of different dimensions, you can bet I’ll be back for more when Axiom Verge 3 rolls around.
