BioMech

I was kind of enjoying this very retro metroidvania. Felt like a DOS game. Unfortunately it commits a sin that is one of my pet peeves; Unavoidable damage. The problem arises because enemies only fire their guns at you when you are within range. You are forced into this range multiple times, often resulting in being forced to take a bullet in the process. You can play through this problem, but it's annoying. There are plenty of other irks in the game as well. Sometimes the game doesn't recognise button inputs intuitively, like if you go to shoot then want to run to the left for instance, you won't move until you release the fire button and then depress and repress to go left. Weird things like that. Also, when I got the high jump upgrade, you'd think that would be pretty helpful right? Yes and No. It's cursed me into jumping higher which means now I bang my head against the ceiling of platforms that were previously trivial to get by. It's amateur rough edges like this that caused me to drop this game, a game I was only lukewarm enjoying at best in the first place.

BioMech is a compact, back-to-basics Metroidvania for genre purists. Despite some minor glitches and control issues, this is an underrated title that deserves a look. There are no objective markers or in-game dialogues; you're dropped into an enemy facility and left to find your way through it. This hands-off approach is the core of the game's appeal. The only assistance you get is an automap with a count of how many items remain in each area, though it's fairly easy to find them all. The standard ending is a bit strange and rather abrupt; you'll have to explore everywhere to move on to the true final boss and true ending. Progress is rapid, and I found it hard to put down when another previously inaccessible item or area was always just a few screens away. At about 4-5 hours for a full run, it's easily replayable for a quick Metroidvania fix. Downsides are mostly around controls. They're generally fine, but you move somewhat slowly and cannot perform long or shallow jumps; this is not a big deal on its own, aside from a few tricky jumps, but some enemies will fire as soon as you enter their horizontal line of sight. This can make it difficult to engage enemies from steep…

BioMech, developed by ERMedia and published by Plug In Digital, is a 2D action-adventure game that immerses players in a meticulously crafted Metroidvania-style world. Released in 2019, the game offers a blend of exploration, combat, and character progression, combining the charm of retro-inspired pixel art with modern gameplay mechanics. It stands out for its tightly designed levels, rewarding exploration, and the way it integrates narrative into the environment, allowing players to uncover the story organically rather than through heavy-handed exposition. The game follows Tatiana Rocheva, a Russian soldier who, after being captured and subjected to brutal experimentation, receives cybernetic enhancements that grant her extraordinary abilities. Players take control of Tatiana as she navigates a secret research facility hidden deep within a Siberian forest, unraveling its dark secrets and confronting deadly threats. The narrative unfolds subtly, with environmental storytelling and sparse dialogue emphasizing immersion and allowing players to piece together the backstory at their own pace. This approach gives the game a haunting, atmospheric tone that reinforces the stakes of Tatia…

Irritating. Hard -- not challenging, just hard. This game wants to kill you, and I want to kill this game.

It is okay when it works. For me it glitched out completely to the point doing everything in the game was not enough to trigger any progress.

Biomech was another game that I picked up on a whim this month. It was part of a bundle. It sounded interesting and I like Metroidvanias. So how does it stack up? The TL:DR version: It's a D+ level product. The long version is that it has good ideas, just poorly implement. The story of Biomech is based upon the developer's webcomic of the same name. It is hidden online and you can read it if you wish. Regardless, a cyborg by the name Tatiana is sent to an abandoned facility to figure out what's going on there. Past that, there's no plot. Nothing to help you understand her or the history of the place. Gameplay, as noted, is very much a standard Metroidvania. It says on the box that backtracking isn't "a dirty word." It never ways. Tatiana fires out a gust of air (and later fire and then a stronger bolt) like Samus did in the original Metroid. The more powerful weapons have an ammo count, though I never ran out even with the most basic level. The developer seems to understand the concepts necessary / elements of what makes a good game in the genre. However, it frequently feels like they were checking off boxes: Power slide, an explosion (that's useless), a downward strike (that onl…