Time to fix the world.
(Editor’s Note: ZTGD is currently affiliated with members of the publisher of this game. None of that was considered in this editorial)
Before going into this review of Iconoclasts, I must first preface this review with a full disclosure – the owner of the ZTGD parent site, N4G, is part of the publisher who helped publish this game. I am in no way influenced by this and the following review is of my own personal opinion of Iconoclasts.
I’m actually a pretty big fan of Metroidvania style games. Sure, that term is used way too much nowadays, but when I say it, you know exactly the type of game I’m talking about, games where the player character receives upgrades and abilities that allow them to traverse the environment more as well as explore new areas, all the while filling out a large, connected map while taking on boss fights and enemies, usually with some sort of melee or ranged attacks. See? Simple. Iconoclasts is that style of game, but what sets it apart from many of the others in the genre is the precise controls, great look, and interesting story and premise.
Platforms: PC, PS4, Vita
MSRP: $19.99
Price I’d pay: $19.99
Players control Robin, daughter of a mechanic who takes up her father’s wrench. There’s an issue with that – mechanics are outlawed by the government of the world calling them heretics. Why exactly? Well, many people of this world believe god’s wrath will bestowed upon them for certain things and in order to make sure everyone is not smited, the government has came up with The Concern – an agency that cracks down on heresy much like mechanics repairing things. Robin and a few others don’t really like how The Concern is handling things, so they decide to rebel against the government. I know, it sounds strange, and it is, but the way the cutscenes and dialog are handled, it’s actually compelling.
Robin has a few tricks up her mechanic’s sleeves when it comes to both traversal and combat. Her first weapon is the main stun gun. Much like The Blue Bomber, Mega Man, she can fire off quick shots that have a mid range to them or she can hold down the attack to charge up a shot that does more damage. The trade off here is that her gun takes a few seconds to cool down after these big blasts. It can also be equipped with other modifiers like a grenade launcher. Her melee weapon of choice is her wrench. This can be swung and spun directly in front of her for a short period of time that can both damage enemies as well as reflect some projectiles back to her enemies. The wrench has another purpose as well, it allows for opening doors and traversal using nuts found around the environment. She can swing from nut to nut in some cases as well as travel between connected ones a little later on in the game. This is both for traversal and puzzle solving, and players will be using the wrench throughout in some pretty interesting and intelligent ways.
Along the way, she will find chests that contain materials that can be used to craft Tweaks. Tweaks are passive upgrades that can be equipped to Robin that can do multiple things like better attack damage with the wrench or being able to hold her breath for a longer time. It adds just a bit more progression to the game, and seeing a chest and figuring out how exactly to get to it adds to the fun of the exploration.
Robin will meet some other characters through story beats that will accompany her. They will even help out in certain boss fights, some of which allow the player to switch back and forth between them to set up attacks and sequences from the boss fights.
There are some minor issues I had with the game overall. There were a few times I had no idea where I was going or what I needed to do. Direction in this game is usually through dialog and sometimes, I feel like it wasn’t explained properly. The other thing, and it is the nature of the beast, is the fact that backtracking is going to happen. For some, this is a non-issue, for me, it got a bit annoying, especially when I didn’t know where I was going.
The look and animations are stellar, and the fact that this was all made by one person really impressed me. Everything is so fluid and colorful. It actually reminded me a lot of Metal Slug’s art and animation style.
Iconoclasts is a pretty fantastic game. The story is fun and interesting, the controls are tight and near perfect, the art and animation is beautiful, and many of the puzzles and traversal are both fun and challenging at the same time. If you’re into the Metroidvania style games and don’t mind a bit of backtracking, this is the game for you. I can’t suggest it enough to fans of the classic SNES side scrolling shooters and action puzzle fans.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.