![]() That final item is particularly amazing, as even the most powerful enemy can be blasted through a wall until it has been glitched into a state of extreme vulnerability. Somewhere in there, he acquires a drone that allows for nigh-invincible exploration (drones can die, but Trace doesn’t suffer any consequences), a grappling hook that improves traversal immensely, and something that could best be described as a “glitch gun”. Trace starts with a basic peashooter, but it quickly graduates to something that can fire “bullets” that handle any situation. Over and over again, it is reinforced that Trace has no control over his own existence.īut Trace has seemingly unlimited control over everything else in his life. There is even one “boss” that is just a soggy mess of altruistic protoplasm, but it’s gotta go, because it is in the way of a powerup. Throughout the adventure, Trace attempts to show autonomy by resisting the violent nature of being a videogame protagonist, but, save one boss that forgot to lock the doors, Trace is forced to murder every mutant between his pod and freedom. When Trace wins the day, he is immediately betrayed by his Rusalki friend, and can only helplessly watch as promises are broken. But… that does not seem to be reinforced by Trace’s circumstances. Maybe that is the purpose of the exercise for Trace: absolute power corrupts, and absolute gun grants absolute power. Trace is destined to become an unstoppable monster of a man, and maybe it was the Axiom Disrupter that got him there. Look, maybe I’m confused, and that is the point here. Like many of the best metroidvania titles available, Axiom Verge has created a world where you feel alone not just because you’re stuck with only jumpy bugs for company, but because anything that can communicate in something other than screams is likely trying to kill you, too.Įxcept it is a little undercut by the fact that Axiom Verge seems to transform Trace into a friggin’ god. It creates tension from all sides of this tale, and the fact that the Rusalki are fond of reminding you that they can literally kill you at any time with a thought does not exactly engender a trust that you are on the right side of this conflict. Young Trace must now find and stop Old Trace, aka Athetos, and learn along the way that his own allies, the Rusalki, are maybe not the most reliable giant mechanoids in the omniverse. ![]() “Your” Trace is a clone of a young man that would eventually become an interdimensional despot that conquered an entire planet and is at least partially responsible for releasing a plague that is wholly responsible for a genocide or two. But he’s fine now! Because he was revived on an alien planet for the express purpose of committing the most complicated suicide known to man. You are Trace, a friendly scientist that was crippled in a lab accident a few years back. If Axiom Verge was just a dedicated metroidvania, it would be excellent, but its own unique flavor elevates it to something extraordinary.Īnd, hey, as a special bonus, Axiom Verge has an interesting plot, too. Axiom Verge is not the only game to utilize “glitches” and the shorthand of the medium itself to create memorable moments, but it might be the game that does so the most seamlessly and wittily. It takes what was already a pretty great planet explore ‘em up and transforms it into something simultaneously new and nostalgic. Axiom Verge uses this concept to create “intended glitches” in the form of breach blocks, unique areas, and even enemies that all rely on the visual shorthand of “oh, this area is fudged”. Mario had one minus world, Metroid had an entire planet’s worth of areas that could be discovered if you jumped off of a doorway the “wrong” way. Metroid was amazing and arguably kicked off the metroidvania (hey, it’s right there in the title) genre, but it was also a glitchy mess. But its place in time is important, as much of Axiom Verge relies on an understanding from both the author and the audience of many games that have come before. For that matter, it is one of the best games, period, of all time. Having an unstoppable magic gun that allows you to function as a God.Īxiom Verge is easily one of the best metroidvania titles of the last decade. Learning that you may be becoming a threat to yourself and others. That said, if you want to go into either game “clean”, you have been warned…įear. We go hard on Axiom Verge, but Axiom Verge 2 spoilers are considered to be “light”. ![]() This article contains spoilers for Axiom Verge and Axiom Verge 2.
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