At the Summer Game Fest 2024, there was again a barrage of trailers. Some could get lost in the mix. One game has stayed in the memory of MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus, even though it was shown between two absolute highlights: Tears of Metal. The game looks like exactly what he – and all of you – would enjoy.
“WTF, is this Asterix as a game done well?” That was the reaction of colleague Sophia Weiß to the trailer of Tears of Metal. At that time, I was in the ticker, formulating all the information about the Summer Game Fest properly, and my thought was immediately: “No idea what this is, but I have to have it.”
Tears of Metal completely convinced me with its trailer. After a huge disappointment with Batman: Arkham Shadow, the indie game pulled all the right strings for me:
- Action battles reminiscent of Hades and similar games
- Roguelite, a genre I love as much as I hate
- And all of this set in a medieval world where we play a Scottish clan defending its land against invaders – Alba gu bràth!
The game is not graphically a highlight, but the focus is completely on the combat and troop aspect. The trailer shows bloody battles, soldier and city management, and is accompanied by pure metal.
What makes Tears of Metal even better: It all comes in coop! I don’t have to march against the enemies alone as a single Highlander but have friends supporting me. Wonderful!
Tears of Metal has the 2 things a good game needs: Looting and Leveling
Currently, the Steam page for Tears of Metal is online and shows a few more details about the game. Among them are details about the actual gameplay. At its core, it’s a roguelite, meaning: You face new runs repeatedly, fight as long as you can, and then have a meta-progression with upgrades for the next run.
Based on the information available so far, it goes something like this:
- We play as one of several unique heroes and can learn skills.
- Soldiers are recruited as companions and can gain new abilities if they survive long enough. However, if they die, they are permanently gone (permadeath).
- Upgrades and “over a hundred artifacts” allow for unique builds – that at least sounds like loot.
- Between campaigns, settlements can be expanded to build new buildings and gain access to new content.
Unlockable items include new heroes, upgrades, cosmetics, and more. The only really important detail still missing is the release. The planned release date will be in a “forthcoming announcement”.
Squeezed between 2 highlights
Tears of Metal could easily be overlooked – or more accurately: forgotten. The placement could hardly have been worse for such a grand game:
- Right before it came Street Fighter, where the hall was absolutely shaking, as editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski tells us.
- Right after it came Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, which alone with the visage of Son Goku already caused cheers.
The trailer came out of nowhere, without announcement from Geoff Keighley, without information about the game. Just the raw gameplay with the note “Wishlist now”. As a result, there is little information about the game, but one thing I know: I’m waiting for it to come, and I will play it!
The new roguelite was framed by two of the highlights of the evening, which could only be surpassed shortly after by Dune – the game that was personally the highlight of the evening for me, even though much of it is already known. But the new trailer just had it all: The new MMO about Dune shows in the trailer why everything is different from the movies
