METAL MAX Xeno Reborn Reviews
While it might seem like our gripes outnumber the improvements in Xeno Reborn, this is still a weird, unique, and overall enjoyable entry point into the Metal Max world. Squad-based, single-player tank-centric games (set in a post apocalyptic world) are few and far between, to put it mildly, so this is still worth your time. And to their credit, instead of simply moving on to a sequel (which they're doing as well in Metal Max: Wild West), Cattle Call and 24Frame took the time to improve on the foundation laid by Metal Max Xeno, to ambitious if flawed results in Xeno Reborn. You can't fault the teams for the effort made, and whether they were totally successful or not, the whole of Metal Max Xeno Reborn is still greater than the sum of its parts.
A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage.
A reworking of Metal Max Xeno doesn't get patched up enough to make life worth living in Dystokio.
While it lacks some polish here and there, and its main story leaves a lot to be desired, the pure absurdity behind Metal Max Xeno Reborn helps make it greater than the sum of its parts. The vehicular combat is fun, and the optional boss fights are an all-round great time.
Metal Max Xeno: Reborn is a highly enjoyable and entertaining JRPG that is stuffed with ideas that mostly work, even if some come at the cost of logic. The story and characters lack presence and it is due to the after thought presentation. The protagonist is borderline mute, and it is jarring when he suddenly speaks and everyone acts normal.
Metal Max Xeno Reborn manages to commit one of the most serious crimes a game can do: being boring. Its story, gameplay, visuals and soundtrack all combine to deliver an unremarkable and totally uninteresting title, making it an almost impossible game to recommend.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Metal Max Xeno Reborn feels like a wasted effort. There is a lot of potential that Reborn brings to the surface, but ultimately, it's not the game that it needs to be. If you're a Metal Max fan hoping for an improvement over Xeno classic, then you'll technically get what you're looking for, but it's still not as good as earlier games in the franchise. If the idea really appeals to you, then you'll get some fun out of it, but otherwise, it's just tough to justify a purchase.
I know that whenever I've contemplated survival in the desolate wastes of a post-Apocalyptic world I've thought, "You know what would be really handy right now, a frickin tank!"...
While some gamers will find themselves engrossed with monster hunting, others will find themselves frustrated by how Metal Max Xeno: Reborn is still unable to get things right, even after being fully reconstructed. A campy sense of humor can only carry a game so far. Unfortunately, this second chance at life is inexplicably held back by the same quality issues that plagued its progenitor.
Do you like tanks? Do you like lasers? Do you like the idea of those two things together? You should play this game.
Metal Max Xeno Reborn is a totally fine game with awesome tank tinkering and a cool dog that straps a machine gun to its back and draws power from its bodily fluids. But if you’ve played the original Metal Max Xeno, you might be more confused than hyped. It’s more of the cool tank stuff, but a dramatic shift in style and tone that just makes the weird low budget JRPG feel like a weird low budget JRPG in a different way.
Overall, I have to say I really like Metal Max Xeno Reborn. While the gutted storyline and a few design choices are a little questionable, I found the combat system to be immensely enjoyable. Nothing quite like spotting an enemy over a hill and massacring them with a 100 ton cannon dropped by the last boss.
So it goes with Metal Max Xeno Reborn, where yesteryear’s vehicles of war and destruction are the future-present’s platforms of hope. One could also say the same for the game itself, salvaged over the course of years and redeveloped into something quite different — and much better – than before.
Metal Max Xeno Reborn is a fun RPG to explore a post-apocalyptic world with a slightly rudimentary design. However, it doesn't manage to offer an experience of special note beyond the pleasant gameplay. With disposable dialogues and characters, the shallow story development in every aspect and a consistently bad translation make it a journey that doesn't shine. Even so, if the idea of exploring a vast desert with your tank is enough to make you want an RPG, this can be a fun adventure.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
It’ll scratch an itch for a niche subset of JRPG fans, but its almost complete lack of an engaging narrative or characters, alongside repetitive areas, means Metal Max Xeno Reborn left me very underwhelmed. If not for its systems-heavy combat mechanics and solid Monster Hunter-esque gameplay loop, there would be very little here for me to recommend.
While METAL MAX Xeno Reborn had its share of what I see as issues, it was still a reasonably good game. The gameplay is relatively smooth, and there were no hiccups. It’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of anime-inspired titles.
Metal Max Xeno Reborn is unsatisfying. It tries to reinvent itself from its original release but ends up retreading the same systems, only now with shinier paint. My hopes were high when I came into it but with each minute spent playing, it all plummeted. It got to the point that I’d dread having to continue.
There’s a lot of enjoyment to be had with Metal Max Xeno Reborn in the long run, but it’ll take a long while before you get there. The moment you’ve established your base of operations, recruited all your survivors, and maxed out your tanks, there’s a real cathartic way that the post-apocalyptic world of Dystokyo comes to life with its intense bounty hunting and fetch quests. However, the game terribly suffers in its early to mid-game, which can be a bit of a disappointment due to its rushed tutorials and unforgiving difficulty spikes. As a longtime JRPG fan, it really reminds me of old-school JRPGs that had a bit of jank but had their unique charm. As with classic JRPGs, it also comes with its quirks that make the game frustrating, especially when starting out and getting lost in the process. It gets better in the endgame if you last that long.