For fans of the Metal Slug franchise, this spin off is not only a surprise but a welcome one. Known for its run ’n’ gun action, explosive weaponry, and chaotic side-scrolling gameplay, Metal Slug has now made a bold leap into the world of tactical strategy. Developed by Leikir Studio and published by Dotemu, Metal Slug Tactics takes everything you love about the series and drops it into a grid-based RPG.
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A Fresh Take on a Cult Classic
At first glance, you’ll recognise the unmistakable Metal Slug charm. The iconic pixel art, violence and the sense of humour all carry over seamlessly. The game retains the series’ exceptional visual flair, with explosions, vibrant environments, and characters like Marco, Eri, Fio, and Tarma leading the charge. This isn’t just another Metal Slug game, though — it’s a shift to tactical combat, and that’s where things start to get interesting.
Tactical Combat, Metal Slug Style
Metal Slug Tactics can be described as a tactical rogue-lite at its core. Before each run, you select a squad of three characters from across the Metal Slug franchise. Once your squad is ready, you’re off to complete various missions, each with objectives like surviving a set number of turns or wiping out all enemies.
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These missions take place across three distinct biomes, each offering different challenges and rewards. At the end of each biome, you’ll face off against a massive mech boss — a classic Metal Slug moment — and after defeating it, you can choose whether to move on to another biome or head straight to the final city to take on General Morden himself. After each boss fight you can also spend coins for weapon and skill upgrades.
Defeating Morden ends the run, so before you take him on, you need to decide whether to wrap things up quickly or tackle all available biomes. Completing more biomes earns you more meta-currency at the end. This creates a nice balance of risk versus reward, encouraging you to weigh your options and plan your runs carefully.
Don’t Stop Moving!
The core gameplay of Metal Slug Tactics focuses on strategic planning and smart positioning. As a character moves during a turn, they acquire more ‘Dodge’, enabling them to absorb more damage. The developers cleverly incorporate the run ’n’ gun style of gameplay that Metal Slug is known for into this tactical spin-off. Keeping on the move is key!
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The game employs a turn-based system, which proves surprisingly deep for a Metal Slug title. Each character possesses unique abilities and weapons, and as you progress through the game, you unlock new skills and loadouts to keep runs fresh.
You earn passive skills and special skills as rewards from missions or by leveling up during a run, similar to gaining a new ability or item in other rogue-lites. You unlock skills and loadouts using the meta-currency or by completing specific trophies during runs, offering you more options and starting points to work with.
The tactical combat also relies heavily on synchronisation kills. This system is triggered when an enemy is within range of more than one character when attacked, resulting in all characters within range attacking the same enemy.
Attacks are triggered even if a character has already taken their turn and used their actions, meaning abusing this system is key to max damage output during runs. A lot of characters’ abilities also trigger off of sync kills.
A Fun Challenge, But Not Without Its Frustrations
Metal Slug Tactics is not an easy game, and while the difficulty is fair for the most part, there are moments where the game can feel downright punishing. The difficulty spikes come out of nowhere, and you might find yourself replaying sections a few times to get things just right. After the first few runs you unlock more systems which assist in easing the difficulty, such as being able to revive characters and call in powerful stratagems. These stratagems allow you to, for example, call in the iconic Metal Slug!
For tactical RPG veterans, the difficulty will feel right at home, but if you’re newer to the genre, it could be a bit of a wall. Figuring out how to best utilise all the games mechanics is key to success and takes some learning.
That said, there are moments where Metal Slug Tactics suffers from some frustrating technical issues. I personally had two run ending bugs which crashed the game causing me to have to restart. These bugs, while not common, derailed an otherwise solid session. It’s a shame, as it can spoil the flow of the game and add unnecessary frustration. Given the high stakes of the tactical battles, losing progress due to a crash can be a huge setback.
A Sense of Humour That Never Gets Old
No Metal Slug game would be complete without its signature humour, and Tactics does not disappoint. The banter between characters is light-hearted and often silly, which keeps things from getting too serious. Completing certain challenges during runs with specific character combos unlocks further conversations, which play out in-between runs. The humour is especially effective in breaking up the more strategic, thought-heavy moments, offering a bit of levity before diving back into the chaos.
Metal Slug Tactics, does it work?
Metal Slug Tactics is a strong, if unexpected, entry in the Metal Slug franchise. It’s a game that manages to blend the series’ signature explosive action with the strategic depth of turn based tactical-rouglites. While it may not appeal to everyone, it offers a solid tactical experience that fans of the genre will appreciate. The balance between strategy and the familiar quirkiness of Metal Slug is what makes it stand out.
If you’re a fan of tactical games and have a soft spot for Metal Slug’s unique style, this one’s worth checking out. While it’s not perfect and could benefit from a little smoother difficulty pacing and a fix for its technical issues, the combination of strategy, humour, and action make it a worthwhile play.
Metal Slug Tactics is available now on PC via Steam, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Xbox (it’s also on Game Pass). It starts from around $25 AUD — impressive!
Quest Daily Score Metal Slug Tactics:
8/10
A review copy of Metal Slug Tactics was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
