Platform: PC
Genre: Action, Roguelite, Hack-and-slash, Sci-fi

The roguelite genre of games -replayable action and/or strategy titles where you run through stages with one life and get random stages and powerups to beat a run- are in a good spot right now. So good and bountiful that it’s hard to stand out if your second half of the game you’re pushing isn’t up to snuff.

That is the inverse case for developer SCREEN JUICE with their new early access action roguelite title Morbid Metal. It’s not the best roguelite, but its metal bones are more than solid.

Climbing Out From The Scrap Heap

You play as a robot trying to escape the a slew of prisons and levels in a dystopian future ruled by other oppressive bots and AIs. As you go through different runs with their set paths, hacking and slashing robots in the way coming in waves, you get to acquire different forms and shapeshift between three styles -Flux, Ekku, Vekta- each with their own playstyles.

Changing forms is the equivalent of switching between Dante, Nero, and V/Vergil on the fly, albeit with less the movesets but still the same efficient principle. Each character has two abilities and a Super move, so it’s imperative to switch between them while dealing with threats coming from all angles. Flux is better with one-on-one fights, while Ekku has armour when doing his special moves meaning he isn’t easily interrupted, and has crowd control. Vekta can control the battlefield from a distance with magnetic pulls, kinetic blasts, and shurikens. Each of them have their uses against different mobs; if there are more airborne mechas, Vekta is better. If there are boss characters with no mobs? Flux is your bot. Simple in layout, but better in execution and controls.

Honestly, Morbid Metal is a de facto 2026 example of an action game that has the sauce and oomph factor, with its spotless and tight controls as well as its generous cooldown for skills and dodge/evade invincibility frames. The game could use a better indicator when you’re close to death, but everything else from its backdrops to its mechas and bad guys are golden.

A shame, considering that the other half of the game could use work. The roguelite bonus offerings and level randomness just feels standard and shallow. There are a good amount of modifiers and some interesting options to pull off in your runs, like Devil’s Bargain, but these take a while to unlock and doesn’t change the fact that your earlier bouts won’t be completely mind-blowing on a power creep aspect.

Titles like the Hades series and Binding of Isaac (and even this year’s Mewgenics) all thrive with their roguelite settings because of the crazy possibly overpowered nonsense you can perform and combine with diligence and replayability. You’ll be done with Morbid Metal’s roguelite shenanigans in an hour or two.

Metal Health Will Make You Mad

In spite of its subpar roguelite mechanics that just feel a bit less hectic than it should, Morbid Metal a very solid and well-made action game. Perhaps the game being in Early Access is a boon, as it has a year or so to spruce up the randomness, rewards, and thrills befitting of the other genre half. As for now, just take solace that the devs have you sorted with its Devil May Cry-esque hack-and-slash combat that is elevated with its three classes and pretty aesthetics.

Not-So-Final Score: 70/100

Review copy provided by publisher.