Axiom Verge

A failed scientist is crippled in an accident, only to awaken in a mysterious, alien world. Where is he? How did he get here? And why do the fundamental laws of reality appear broken?

Life. Afterlife. Real. Virtual. Dream. Nightmare. It's a thin line.

Axiom Verge is a 2D retro-styled metroidvania action-adventure game inspired by classics such as Rygar, Contra, Castlevania, Bionic Commando, Blaster Master, and Metroid. It was created, developed, stylized and composed by Tom Happ. He worked during the day as a developer for Petroglyph Games but worked on his own game during his off hours. Sony contacted Tom Happ and offered funding through one of their programs and Tom was able to work on the game full time. Five years later, the project was finished and made ready for the public. Thanks to the exposure from Sony, the game has already grown in popularity and was GameSpot's Best of E3 in 2014. 

The game was released on March 31st, 2015 for the PS4. Initial release included a 10% discount off the $19.99 price for PS+ subscribers.

The PS Vita version was initially delayed due to technical complications with the porting process (as well as Paternity Leave), but was eventually released on April 19, 2016.

Purchasing the game for PS4 also includes a download of the Vita version and purchases made prior to the Vita release will grant a retroactive cross-buy download.

Features

• Expansive, non-linear exploration of 9 labyrinthine, interlocking areas.
• Unique tools and abilities, lots of weapons, and tons of health/power/attribute upgrades.
• Combat with dozens of unique creatures and bosses.
• Glitches allowing players to break past the boundaries of normal gameplay.
• Speedrun Mode – Play with a streamlined interface and additional features to facilitate speedrunning.
• Randomizer Mode - Play with randomized item placements depending on the seed the player uses.

Gameplay

Players play as Trace, a scientist who awoke after a lab explosion only to find himself in a strange new environment. It will be up to players to uncover the truth about this new world as well as Trace's role in it. One of the features that is unique to this game compared to other metroidvania games is the use of glitches. Anyone who has played older 2D platform type games remembers the feeling they get when they find a way to glitch something out in the game and go into areas or do things they weren't expected to be able to do. In this game, the developer made sure those possibilities not only existed but hopes that players will discover and use them. His hope is to bring back the "magical feeling" of discovering a glitch. It could be anything from an unexplored secret area not shown on the map, an item with bizarre stats, or character glitches. It is up to the players to find them.

To help players along, the developer has also provided Powerups, which he describes as the "lifeblood of an exploration based game". Some Powerups give players access to areas they were unable to get to before and open up new sections of the game. Others include weapons like the Nova, which unlike the basic weapon players start with, can be shot in two different ways. The basic way is to shoot it like a normal weapon, which is slow. The other ways is to detonate it while it's mid-air and make it split into 6 pieces. Players can use this to hit targets that are not in a direct line of sight. Another powerup is the Drill. Players acquire this after defeating the first boss and will need it to destroy rocks to progress through certain areas. Another is the Address Disruptor, which acts as a type of glitch ray that will corrupt reality around the player and cause unique things to happen. 

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Reception

Axiom Verge received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic getting a metascore of 80/100 on PC, 84/100 on PS4, 85/100 on Xbox One, 78/100 on PS Vita, 89/100 on Wii U, and 87/100 on Nintendo Switch.