METAL MAX Xeno from Kadokawa Games and NIS America is an excellent RPG you have to play on PlayStation 4. Find out why in our METAL MAX Xeno review!

 

50 years ago a computer known as NOA became sentient and almost wiped out humanity – NOA reduced the planet to a wasteland. You play as Talis who is on the lookout for allies to help turn the tides of war in their favour. In a war waged against machines, is victory even possible? Why not follow Talis on her journey through this rich story-driven RPG? The game offers some interesting mechanics, so let’s dig in and find out more about this very addictive game.

Now we know Talis has a beef with machines, and he obviously can’t fight machines with regular weapons right? That’s where tanks come in! He gets a starter one called Red Rev, and you can change the name of the tank to your liking, I went with the default name for the purposes of this review. There are other tanks you can ride as you progress in the game, and you can also tinker with and upgrade them too. Tank combat is really fun and very easy to learn. You enter a tank with the action button and fire with the action button, and move with the left thumb stick – it’s as easy as that. Combat is turn-based, and even though using a tank is optional, battles can be tough, and the machines are very strong, so it’s not advisable to fight outside the tank.

Tank combat works in two ways. You can attack enemies, and if a hit is not successful, then the combat will turn into an encounter, where you and your enemies take turns in shooting each other. If you take down your enemy successfully, it might drop some items, which could be anything from healing items to customization parts for your tank. Enemy battles are random, and they are not always visible on the map until you go into shooting mode. Something to consider is that your tank does not

Beware though since your tank’s cannon does not have an unlimited supply of ammo, so you will need to resupply often – keep an eye on your ammo! Naturally, the more you fight and win battles, the more you will level up, and as you level up, you will get to learn new skills. Not only that, but Talis will also learn new job ranks which will help you on your quest.

 

Once you finish the tutorial section of the game, you will end up at Iron Base. If you need to repair your tank, do some customization, and more, so this is the definitely the place to be. Along with that, you will be free to explore your surroundings in your tank. If you look in the left bottom corner of the screen, you can see flashing white squares, those are kind of like treasure chests with various items such as healing items, customization components and many more. They are dotted all over the map, seek them out, you never know what you might find.

There are many classes available for you to try. Talis will start out with the Hunter class, but there are others you can make the most off, including the Sniper, Decoy, Mechanic and Survivor classes. Talis will have a number of members joining his party, and all will have different classes so you can pick and choose what is needed and build a party that just feels right and balance things out.

 

Ace Challenges will become available after playing for a while, so you should take on them as you can. When you clear challenges you will earn Ace Points, and you can use these points to make the main character’s abilities stronger. If you think you have made a mistake with the points distribution or simply want to put the points somewhere else, there is a particular item that you can use that will allow you to reallocate those points so that you can tailor your character to the situation at hand.

METAL MAX Xeno is a great RPG on PlayStation 4 that you should definitely check out. The game is quite big, and there are lots of locales to visit, each feeling very different from the next. This isn’t a game you’ll be playing over a weekend, especially if you want to grab the game’s Platinum trophy! I had a lot of fun reviewing METAL MAX Xeno, especially thanks on how the combat is handled, so I highly recommend you get this one!

Disclaimer
This METAL MAX Zeno review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by NIS America.