Can you DEFEAT…THE…MEAT?!? I mean…one of the better taglines for a run-and-gun shoot ’em up, right? Iron Meat is high-octane badassery that makes me want to lift weights and chug energy drinks. An indie title developed by Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov and Retroware, there’s no doubt Iron Meat is an ode to classic video games of the past and it’s worthy of your time.
Iron Meat is high-octane badassery that makes me want to lift weights and chug energy drinks.
Gameplay Elements
Iron Meat feels like a love letter to run-and-gun video games. Contra is the first that comes to mind and its probably the most fitting. There’s big guns, enormous enemies, explosions, and a high body count. You play as a one man wrecking crew (there’s also couch co-op) with a basic set of movements and attacks: There’s buttons for jumping, firing, stopping & firing in place, and switching weapons. That’s it; the classics. As far as a health bar, it’s just…one. Meaning, one hit and you’re on your way to Valhalla. No need for a Konami code this time around because you start with 16 lives. You’re gonna need them too.
The general combat feels very Contra-esque in that it’s side scrolling with a copious amount of enemies in your path and appearing from each side of the screen. To cope with this onslaught, you are given two weapon slots to switch to on the fly. In the demo, each weapon you equip seems to be able to be upgraded at least once if you are fortunate enough to come across an upgrade drop of it somewhere in the level. The upgrades feel substantial and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want even more upgrades just for the pure epicness of it all. Some of these upgrades can be short lived, though, as any death makes you lose the currently equipped weapon and its upgrades.
The setting is that of a cyberpunk dystopian war with aerial vehicles and backgrounds bringing the futuristic world to life. As you’re traversing each stage, you occasionally will see some of your comrades in the background engaging in the conflict and throwing you upgrades, which is great for storytelling, pumping you up, and giving your character an additional reason to fight. The enemies are of alien origin, parasitic perversions that take over their hosts and create something entirely otherworldly and grotesque. They create a sense of menacing dread in this cyberpunk dystopian war.
This leads to some truly epic and magical moments, one of which is in the second stage of the demo, where one of your comrades is hopelessly attached to an alien parasite but still conscious of his surroundings. So what does he do? Well, that badass throws you one last weapon upgrade before double fisting two grenades and blowing everything to hell. **Chef’s Kiss**
At the end of each stage, you are greeted with a “Level Clear” neon sign…that is very satisfying to shoot at, I might add. Then there is a point tally and some ranking leveling system at the end of each level. I’m not quite sure what it does, but my hope was that there were some upgrade trees to pursue with leveling. Not sure on that, though. It may just simply be a scoring system.
Graphics & Sound
The graphics look great. I’m a sucker for good-looking pixel art and Iron Meat has plenty of that. Gargantuan enemies, explosions, characters, backgrounds, and vehicles all look and sound superb. You couple that with a hard hitting soundtrack with boom booms to shake the room and you’re in for a treat. The music coupled with the explosions (and train sparks) really pushes you forward and gives a satisfying adrenaline rush of creating carnage for funsies. Just over the top.
Conclusion
Iron Meat is stupid fun, easy to pick up, and sometimes that’s all a game needs to be. There’s a lot to love here. The difficulty is there but feels reasonable. The controls feel responsive and offer a very satisfying gameplay loop. Even the demo is generous with two stages. From what I’m seeing and feeling, Iron Meat is a spectacular addition to the run-and-gun genre of video games and should definitely be on your short list of games to play.
