If youâve been eagerly awaiting a new Titanfall gameâŠwell, I donât bring any news of that (but know that Iâm as sad as you are). What I am here to tell you about, however, is this neat little side-scrolling, mech-based indie game that just hit Steam. It looks like it takes inspiration from more than a few hit games, chief among those being Titanfall and Metroid. If that premise has you interested, keep reading.
Steelborn hit Steam yesterday courtesy of developer Vega Horizon Studio and publisher Take Aim Games. First impressions reveal the obvious: With a big ass mech you can hop in and out of with the push of a button, the name Titanfall is simply reflexive. But on the ground? Where thatâs where things kinda feel like a side-scrolly, twin-sticky, beat-up-the-weird-alien-life platformer that gives me some serious Metroid vibes, at least aesthetically. I canât say whether or not it slots into the Metroidvania sub-genre just yet, but the gameâs Steam page does promise âmany mysteries and secrets hidden in hard-to-reach placesâ on its hostile alien world.
Steelborn looks like a âTitanfall Demakeâ
With the obvious comparisons to the much-loved yet frustratingly elusive Titanfall series, itâs no secret why the game has caught some attention on Reddit, becoming a top post on a forum with over 36M members. Aside from referring to it as a âTitanfall Demake,â other comparisons from folks include Blaster Master, Metal Mech, Starbound, and Metal Slug. Two of those are directly referenced, along with Contra and Ranger-X on the gameâs official Steam page, so itâs not afraid to wear its inspiration on its sleeve.
Surprisingly, there were a few other neat things I spotted in the gameâs opening moments that felt like fitting tributes to other classics: The opening space scene looks straight out of Halo: Combat Evolvedâs opening, which transitions to a neat No Manâs Sky-esque travel sequence over a planet. The synth basses used in the soundtrack also scream Mass Effect (which transitions to a very fitting and groovy fusion of metal). And an enemy type that reaches down and grabs you straight up reminds me of Half-Life 2âs barnaclesâyou can even sort of use them as a quasi movement technique (though you will take damage).
As a game, Steelborn is a little tough on first impressions. The first boss took me a little while to get my head around as I was still learning the jetpack moves, and it doesnât help that the game likes to throw a lot of enemies at you while youâre trying to dodge and attack the big bad. But once I got into its flow, it felt like thereâs a good, fun, speedy action game here. You can also, of course, move around in your big-ass mech, which makes you mostly impervious to minor hostiles. Aside from some combat utility, the mech also plays an essential role in clearing out inaccessible areas, allowing for more platforming and exploration.
On a gamepad, youâll aim with the right analog stick and move around with the left, so thereâs a twin-stick feel to the side-scrolling action and platforming. And while it isnât verified on Steam Deck, I was able to get it to work reasonably well, though it did fire up the SMPTE-esque color bars on first launch. It booted up the game a short while after; this is a common Steam Deck quirk with games that arenât directly supported but will still work.
Steelborn is currently on sale on Steam for just over 13 bucks. Though itâs a little challenging at first, itâs got quite a few things going for it, particularly the great music and pretty art design. And I love a game that isnât afraid to be honest about its influencesâwhich in this case are some pretty awesome games.
