Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal

Moby ID: 9650

[ All ] [ DOS ] [ PlayStation ] [ SEGA Saturn ]

Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 48% (based on 9 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 11 ratings with 1 reviews)

A Decent Side-Scrolling Platformer

The Good
Heavy Metal Wars is an early game in the lifespan of the PlayStation 1. As superhero games go, it's not as groundbreaking as, say, Spider-Man. However, it is better than the Fantastic Four and Incredible Hulk games that were released on the system.

Up to two players can play at once, and the basic gameplay mechanics are familiar. Both Iron Man and X-O Manowar walk, run, jump, duck, punch, shoot (upgradable) unlimited laser beam projectiles, fire a big (limited ammo) chest laser projectile, and fire your lasers at certain background objects or enemies.

Both superheroes can also fly/hover (which depletes an energy bar). Killed enemies drop the usual set of icons and powerups.

It's pretty easy to pick up the game's mechanics and the game features some nice (early) 32-bit era graphics and some nice "to the extreme" 1990s rock music.

Basically, the game is trying to be like, say, "Turtles in Time", but with Marvel Comics characters. I found Heavy Metal to be a fun, but not terribly innovative, game to play.

The Bad
Heavy Metal Wars has a story, but it's poorly developed. You are given quite a lot of drab (even hard to read) text to read before levels. These intermission sequences could have been better done, especially when dealing with locations or supervillains from the comics.

Frankly, I generally ignored the text and it doesn't make the game unplayable. It does make it difficult for the game to stand out or even connect with comic book fans.

The Bottom Line
Heavy Metal Wars is a fun game, but it doesn't bring anything new to the 2D platforming genre. Iron Man and X-O Manowar look good and are fairly responsive, playable characters. But the PlayStation hardware ain't being taxed, and you can replace these comic book stars with just about any 2D action hero from the 1990s. It's a good, solid platformer that won't tax your brain.

PlayStation · by Shamal Jifan (20) · 2017

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by Patrick Bregger, Big John WV, nyccrg, Apogee IV, Scaryfun, sayewonn wisseh, Tim Janssen.