Matterfall Review (PS4)

Eliminate the alien threat.

This is a new game developed by Housemarque, which is a side-scrolling, shooting, and platforming game.

The story takes place in a very futuristic setting, where there is an alien infestation happening in a city. You will control Avalon, who uses a battle suit to combat against the alien enemies. Unfortunately, it is a simplistic plot, and rather generic. You will literally play the game for it's gameplay only.

The game controls is simple. You will use the Left Analog Stick to move, and Right Analog Stick to shoot your gun. You can also jump, dash, and use different weapons to fight off your enemies. You also have access to a powerful ability called the Overcharge, which allows you to slow time for a short period of time as well as able to attain higher score multipliers.

The progression is pretty much linear, as you have to traverse different areas and proceed to the next room. There are total of 12 levels, with 3 levels being boss fights. This game plays more like the older Mega Man and Mega Man X games, except having a bit more replay value thanks to the leaderboard and different difficulty options.

You may also customise your character with different Augmentations and different Weapons, which can be obtained by saving civilians. Some civilians may be hidden well, so you have to scour each level thoroughly.

Different difficulty options present different challenges, such as harder difficulty options will reduce your maximum health count. This means you must be more careful when progressing and fighting enemies in harder difficulty options. In combat, you will encounter different types of enemies, such as enemies resistant to regular gunfire and must be stunned using the dash ability before shooting it. Different enemies may require different strategies to overcome.

The gameplay is decent, with arcade-styled gameplay, decent amount of replay value, and appropriate completion time. My first complaint is the lack of boss fights, where some of them are well-designed yet too few of them. The other complaint is the unusual and non-customisable game controls. Regardless, the gameplay is decent enough.

The graphics are amazing, with good framerate performance and visually good environments. No bugs and glitches encountered so far.

The soundtrack is pretty good, with some catchy tunes playing during each levels. However, they are not quite memorable to listen outside of the game unlike any other 2D styled games like Mega Man X games. The sound effects are generally good as well, and minimal voice acting as well.

This game has moderate replay value. You can play the game again in harder difficulties, save all Civilians, or obtain all Trophies.

This game is good, but not great. I like the 2D styled gameplay, but the game's story is pretty much barebones and does not have interesting lore. It is a simple save-the-city kind of plot. The graphics are pretty good, and surprisingly run well. I do recommend get this game if you like side-scrolling shooter games like Mega Man & Mega Man X games, but do not expect this game to be easy. Decent game with good gameplay and graphics.

Score

Story: 5/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 7/10

Final Score: 7.0/10.0 or 28/40

Pros and Cons

Pros

- Fun gameplay.
- Useful weapons and abilities.
- Good variety of regular enemies.
- Great graphics.
- No bugs and glitches.
- Decent soundtrack.

Cons

- Throwaway story.
- Lack of boss fights.
- Non-cusomisable game controls.

**Images are from official PlayStation game page.