Mega Metroid with a hint of Finnish

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It is not very difficult to see the sources of inspiration for Matterfall. The main character is a female price hunter, dressed in a robot suit and with a gun attached to one arm. Her job is to explore an abandoned town to find survivors and neutralize lots of enemies. Enemies that seem to be directly downloaded from the Metroid series.

The level design is more Mega Man-inspired with linear levels that offer fast-paced platform jumping. However, some alternative routes and areas that could become available as new features are unlocked do not exist, so there is no real exploration taking place in this game.

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A Finnish version of the Metroid arm-cannon.

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Another aspect of this game is the controlled chaos of exploding particles and the point-chase that has become a hallmark of Housemarque. There are not many quiet moments and your weapons go warm from the very first second- to the last moment. The main character can not withstand many hits and the fact that the long courses contains quite few checkpoints does not make things any easier.

Jump, boost, shoot - all at the same time

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Something else that possesses some concern is a bit of an outdated movement pattern. In addition to standard weapons and double jump, the protagonist also has access to a special beam and an explosive boost. The booster does not only push you forward but also freezes enemies and protects against incoming fire. The special beam is used to create platforms and walls in specific locations, as well as to detonate bombs that defeated enemies leave behind.

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There is no shortage of colorful explosions.

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To be successful in the game it requires all of these features to be mastered, which is easier said than done when all of these aspects are to be used at a rapid rate closely after each other with precision. Since it is only the back shoulder buttons and two joysticks that are being used, it is often difficult to keep track of your fingers in the most pressured gaming situations. Initially, it was all too common for my motor-skills to fail completely - usually with an inglorious death as a result.

However, when the controls are done being mastered, it is a great pleasure to push through the levels and blow enemies into colorful explosions, while creating platforms and neutralizing missiles one after the other. After all, the feeling of being rewarded is huge and it is quite easy to feel invincible at certain points of the game.

Customize your arsenal

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You'll have many different explosive weapons at your disposal, make sure you choose the right ones for each mission.

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In addition to the large amount of enemies in every level, each track also contains a pair of semi-sheltered rooms that either hold scoring bonuses or encapsulated people to be rescued. When released, the protagonist is sometimes rewarded with special weapons or character enhancements, such as more health, faster & better special weapons that can deploy larger and more effective explosions.

The special weapons and character improvements are more important than they can first appear to be. It is only possible to carry one special weapon and two extra abilities at any one time - and especially the bosses can variate in anything from invincible nightmares to challenging, but fair, battles depending on the main character's equipment.

Points Hunting with problems

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You'll stack up your high score by slaying swarms of enemies while taking as little damage as possible.

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With nine levels, three bosses and four difficulty levels, Matterfall is a rather contentious adventure. A playtrough is over after just a few hours - depending on how long it takes to defeat the ridiculously difficult end boss. When, or even if, you manage to defeat it, there is unfortunately no other game modes to tackle afterwards. Instead, it is thought that the courses should be replayed in any order in the pursuit of high scores. A layout that unfortunately does not work fully.

The basic basis for collecting points is there; The more enemies you kill without taking damage, the faster your score will increase. The problem is the control and level design is not sufficiently well-adjusted, which makes it far too easy to lose lots of points on trivial problems.

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The level-design has its cool moments, but still its far to much to be desired.

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To clear a track with a point amount as high as possible requires not only skill, we also need some luck. This, in turn, leads to the fact that there is no big "carrot" for playing tracks repeatedly and to conquer them with perfection.

Stylish high score chase which does not reach all the way

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After a number of excellent arcade experiences, Housemarque does not really break any records with Matterfall. It's still a terribly enjoyable game and action-packed experience, but neither control nor level-design is enough finely polished for being one of the top games out there.

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MATTERFALL - PS4 Gameplay Trailer | E3 2017

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MatterFall may be the weakest title Housemarque has released for the PlayStation 4, but it is still sometimes a brilliant mix of platform and action. I enjoy the controlled chaos - and wish it was a bit more polished and far longer.

Sources

1. http://www.housemarque.com/games/matterfall/
2. http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2017/08/15/matterfall-tips-get-high-scores-survive/#/slide/1

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