Slave Zero X is a stylish 2.5D character action game set in the biopunk world of Slave Zero (1999). Run & Slash your way through a dystopian future in this character action game which will resonate with fans of Devil May Cry, Strider, and Guilty Gear.
Released on
Genres
Reviews View More
if you’re good you’ll like the game
Slave Zero X is, with no hyperbole, one of the sickest games I've played in years.
Gorgeous spritework, on top of badass 3d environments, with a kickass soundtrack, and some of the most visually stunning character portraits I have ever seen.
And the game is fun to play too, which is nice.
Shou feels great to control, large combo strings are relatively easy to pull off, and the sheer amount of stuff you can do is crazy
Grounded combo, into launcher, into an air combo, into a mid air grab that causes splash damage when you land it
There's a taunt that can be used as a launcher, a taunt that can be used for pushing enemies away from you, a divekick, three different grenade types, a shuriken, a super meter, and a burst that can refill your super meter. And that's only scratching the surface really.
Even after you beat the game there's more to do, because after you finish, you unlock a (seemingly) endless mode, where round by round more and more enemies spawn in, leading to boss rematches.
I say seemingly, because I didn't make it that far! Only to the round after the first boss rematch. Also the announcer in this mode makes little fighting game references by saying stuff like "Live and let die!" And "Can't escape from crossing fate!" So that's kinda cute.
But with the good, there has to be some bad, and unfortunately there is a a bit of bad.
Too many sprites on the screen at once cause the game to lag
A lot
In the later stages you could see anywhere from 10 to maybe even 20 enemies on the screen at once, some of which have projectiles and other flashy effects like flaming swords and it can get to be a bit excessive.
While the game overall feels fairly balanced in terms of challenge, it also at times feels a bit unfair in its difficulty. This is less a criticism with the game, and more just me complaining about how I'm bad at it.
Enemies can easily combo you into the attacks of other enemies. For example, an enemy can stun lock you with an assault rifle, which gives another guy the opportunity to smash your skull in with a hammer, which gives another guy the chance to charge tackle you into the wall. It's just a bit much sometimes. But again, I'm bad! This might not be a problem for you, especially if you're good at nailing down the parry mechanic.
The game is, incredibly unfortunately, riddled with bugs. Bugs which, a lot of the time, cause the game to crash. It crashes so much, to the point where I took a two month long break from the game while I waited for a patch. And after the patch I experienced more crashes than I originally had back in February. At the time of writing this (April 15, 2024) there is not a second patch out, but one is rapidly being worked on by the dev team, and will be out the door as soon as possible. And I'm really happy about that, it shows that the team cares a lot. They're very clearly passionate about this project.
I experienced the crashes while playing on PS4
Maybe the other versions of this game aren't as bad, I have no idea.
I cannot, in good faith, give Slave Zero X a full recommendation. Not in it's current state. Give ithe team some time to patch out the bugs, and yes, I think SZX will be fully worth buying and playing all the way through. As it stands right now though, I say wait. It's a fantastic game, truly a masterclass in its genre, and a Game of the Year contender for me. It's something that will stick with me for a long time, and something I want other people to experience, but not in it's current state.
I give Slave Zero X an 8/10
Game is actually a 10/10 though, it's so fucking cool dude, my God.
Gorgeous spritework, on top of badass 3d environments, with a kickass soundtrack, and some of the most visually stunning character portraits I have ever seen.
And the game is fun to play too, which is nice.
Shou feels great to control, large combo strings are relatively easy to pull off, and the sheer amount of stuff you can do is crazy
Grounded combo, into launcher, into an air combo, into a mid air grab that causes splash damage when you land it
There's a taunt that can be used as a launcher, a taunt that can be used for pushing enemies away from you, a divekick, three different grenade types, a shuriken, a super meter, and a burst that can refill your super meter. And that's only scratching the surface really.
Even after you beat the game there's more to do, because after you finish, you unlock a (seemingly) endless mode, where round by round more and more enemies spawn in, leading to boss rematches.
I say seemingly, because I didn't make it that far! Only to the round after the first boss rematch. Also the announcer in this mode makes little fighting game references by saying stuff like "Live and let die!" And "Can't escape from crossing fate!" So that's kinda cute.
But with the good, there has to be some bad, and unfortunately there is a a bit of bad.
Too many sprites on the screen at once cause the game to lag
A lot
In the later stages you could see anywhere from 10 to maybe even 20 enemies on the screen at once, some of which have projectiles and other flashy effects like flaming swords and it can get to be a bit excessive.
While the game overall feels fairly balanced in terms of challenge, it also at times feels a bit unfair in its difficulty. This is less a criticism with the game, and more just me complaining about how I'm bad at it.
Enemies can easily combo you into the attacks of other enemies. For example, an enemy can stun lock you with an assault rifle, which gives another guy the opportunity to smash your skull in with a hammer, which gives another guy the chance to charge tackle you into the wall. It's just a bit much sometimes. But again, I'm bad! This might not be a problem for you, especially if you're good at nailing down the parry mechanic.
The game is, incredibly unfortunately, riddled with bugs. Bugs which, a lot of the time, cause the game to crash. It crashes so much, to the point where I took a two month long break from the game while I waited for a patch. And after the patch I experienced more crashes than I originally had back in February. At the time of writing this (April 15, 2024) there is not a second patch out, but one is rapidly being worked on by the dev team, and will be out the door as soon as possible. And I'm really happy about that, it shows that the team cares a lot. They're very clearly passionate about this project.
I experienced the crashes while playing on PS4
Maybe the other versions of this game aren't as bad, I have no idea.
I cannot, in good faith, give Slave Zero X a full recommendation. Not in it's current state. Give ithe team some time to patch out the bugs, and yes, I think SZX will be fully worth buying and playing all the way through. As it stands right now though, I say wait. It's a fantastic game, truly a masterclass in its genre, and a Game of the Year contender for me. It's something that will stick with me for a long time, and something I want other people to experience, but not in it's current state.
I give Slave Zero X an 8/10
Game is actually a 10/10 though, it's so fucking cool dude, my God.
Started off with potential and by the end it was still a lot of fun I just personally think stages are way too gimmicky and enemies start becoming way too spongy. Hopefully a patch or sequel can iterate on both of these
Above all else this game succeeds on an aesthetic level. Detailed pixel art on 3D backgrounds that have change angles is a late 90s look that not a lot of modern games follow. The character designs are also great, committing to that biomechanical look the original had to move away from.
On the gameplay side, the initial impression is pretty positive, enemies and player alike have no invincibility frames until they hit the floor so you can get into lengthy combos, as can enemies. Unfortunately throwing more enemies at you so they can stunlock you is where most of the difficulty comes in. You can escape this with a burst mechanic straight like Guilty Gear, but the fact that most fights increase the difficulty by piling more enemies on rather than increasing complexity is unfrotunate, I feel the game could've benefited from more enemies/enemies having more abilities. On the defensive side, you get a brief invincibility dash and a SF3 style parry. The dash doesn't function so strongly as other invincible dodges in modern action games so that's nice, some attacks have long enough reach that you'll just dodge into them if you're not careful. The individual zones associated with each boss do feel like they set themselves apart enough that they stand out, as do each of the bosses.
On the gameplay side, the initial impression is pretty positive, enemies and player alike have no invincibility frames until they hit the floor so you can get into lengthy combos, as can enemies. Unfortunately throwing more enemies at you so they can stunlock you is where most of the difficulty comes in. You can escape this with a burst mechanic straight like Guilty Gear, but the fact that most fights increase the difficulty by piling more enemies on rather than increasing complexity is unfrotunate, I feel the game could've benefited from more enemies/enemies having more abilities. On the defensive side, you get a brief invincibility dash and a SF3 style parry. The dash doesn't function so strongly as other invincible dodges in modern action games so that's nice, some attacks have long enough reach that you'll just dodge into them if you're not careful. The individual zones associated with each boss do feel like they set themselves apart enough that they stand out, as do each of the bosses.
Genuinely one of if not the most frustrating action game i have ever played. I will just say now that i am fucking ass at this game so take what i am gonna say with a massive chunk of salt. But, this game is just filled with shit that feels like its designed to piss you off while having both not enough tools to feel like you can deal with the easily or the guidance to teach a struggling player if the tools are actually there. Sorry man i can't recreate evo moment 37 while fighting 100 enemies on a 2d plain so they all stack on top of each other so its not easy to see incoming attacks while an off screen sniper is shooting at me creating a massive blinking red reticle which obscures more of the immediate enemies i am fighting. Only to then introduce enemies with super armor.
This game feels like it has an incomplete movelist and certain moves and movement are weirdly stiff and don't flow into each other. Ex: Up+Y. Jumping feels like ass in this game and there are tons of situations where enemies are falling in the air but i can't catch them to juggle for some reason and the game has no made a clear distinction why. Sorry i am too stupid to break down the finer intricacies of the game and its mechanics and its too niche to have other people explain it because the game does a terrible job at this itself.
Incredible art direction that is truly inspired but i wish it was tied to a game that i found more fun to play
Will try again when they inevitably make more patches to tone down some of the shit that is a massive turn off.
This game feels like it has an incomplete movelist and certain moves and movement are weirdly stiff and don't flow into each other. Ex: Up+Y. Jumping feels like ass in this game and there are tons of situations where enemies are falling in the air but i can't catch them to juggle for some reason and the game has no made a clear distinction why. Sorry i am too stupid to break down the finer intricacies of the game and its mechanics and its too niche to have other people explain it because the game does a terrible job at this itself.
Incredible art direction that is truly inspired but i wish it was tied to a game that i found more fun to play
Will try again when they inevitably make more patches to tone down some of the shit that is a massive turn off.
Even for someone who doesn't do the hack and slash spectacle fighting game thing all that much, I could feel like something was missing. It's not bad, but the lack of a reliable way to keep tabs on your moves and combos, and just how much the game loves spamming enemies and repeating them made me feel like I had seen enough. It's not bad, but you need to be a real 2D hack-and-slash fan to love it.