If there were a fusion of Ghostrunner and Doom, it would result in Metal Eden, a forthcoming sci-fi first-person shooter that has released a new demo. Players have an opportunity to earn a share of a $1,000 prize pool by completing it quickly.
Having tried out the demo during my lunch break, I can’t shake the feeling that Metal Eden closely resembles both Doom and Ghostrunner. Much like its inspirations, the game emphasizes rapid gameplay and stylized action. The levels are primarily constructed of futuristic cyberpunk hallways filled with adversaries and parkour opportunities, and players gain additional health pickups for executing melee kills. At this stage, it doesn’t bring anything particularly innovative to the table.
It appears I’m not alone in my observations; many users on Twitter are also drawing parallels to these dynamic titles.
One standout feature of Metal Eden is the ability to extract and use an opponent’s core, which contains their consciousness, hurling it at them like a grenade. It’s quite impressive, reminiscent of the cortical stacks from Altered Carbon going off.
The game’s visuals are stunning, and I find the character you play engaging. Aska, known as a hyper unit, gets rebuilt akin to Major from Ghost in the Shell every time she perishes, allowing her to embark on her next mission shortly after being revived.
If you have an affinity for sci-fi shooters set in a cyberpunk universe, you can access the free demo on Steam, PS5, and Xbox. For those who don’t want to play but fancy a cash prize, there’s a speedrun competition where you can score a portion of a $1,000 pot by completing the demo swiftly enough.
As per Speedrun.com, the current target time is an impressive 17 minutes and 33 seconds. I took just over 16 minutes to finish the tutorial level, so I’ve got some practicing to do. Thankfully, you have a week to try your hand at it, so get to it, speedsters!
In the meantime, take a look at our curated list of the top sci-fi games.