Slave Zero X
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Slave Zero X
Slave Zero X is an incredibly frustrating release, because it could have so easily been a slam dunk. It's a great game - it really is - with stylish combat mechanics, beautiful 2D sprites combined with 3D environments, and an awesome, cyberpunk-esque storyline. Unfortunately, though patches may eventually turn this lump of coal into a diamond, the game as it stands is a hot mess on Switch, with a wildly inconsistent frame rate that makes the complex, methodical gameplay feel like a chore to play.
If you really like your punishing hack and slash platformers, then Slave Zero X might be for you, but it doesn't feel as rewarding as it should when progress is made. You hardly feel like the killing machine you are as you run into difficulty spikes, and the near constant swarms of enemies just gets a bit dull when you are not learning any new techniques to fight them.
I said this on the podcast, Slave Zero X is a weird game. On the surface it appears to have little to do with the original, but the story does reveal some threads The bad thing is the combat and levels just feel so frustrating and difficult that most players will never even get to see any of it. This game didn’t make me feel like a “killing machine” with its clunky combat and constant difficulty spikes. I don’t know who this one is for, I just know it isn’t me.
In the end, though, the repetitiveness makes it difficult to fully recommend Slave Zero X, especially at its retail asking price of $24.99. Aside from just enjoying the story, replay value is restricted to high-score hunters (who themselves will have to deal with an arguably unpredictable grading system), and anyone not completely smitten with the presentation will find themselves looking for an excuse to persevere, even with its relatively short campaign. For the right player, Slave Zero X will seem like a custom-made surprise, but it’s a little too short to box with the beat ‘em up gods.
Slave Zero In fact, this is what the project bases its roots on: the player's learning to strengthen themselves and improve their skills. It's a shame for the absence of an endgame, which could have really brought the score you see further down even higher.
Review in Italian | Read full review
It's a shame the combat is quite so tough, because it can be discouragingly unforgiving, and there are no difficulty settings to toy with either. However, we definitely get the sense this is a game that masochistic players will love to master. From where we're sitting, Slave Zero X is slightly too hard-edged for its own good, but there's undoubtedly depth to be plumbed if you're so willing.
Slave Zero X is an old school game that is great to look at, thrilling to play at times with excellent animations and a feedback loop to the combat that makes smashing enemies into a bloody mess amazingly fun, but it's difficulty spikes and how those spikes are escalated only work to wear you down. By the end of the game those things you might've enjoyed about Slave Zero X are being crushed under a pile of frustrations as high as the body count you'll rack up across a full playthrough. When the wins no longer provide any feeling of satisfaction, it's easy to be left wondering what you continue for. But all the things that are so well executed in Slave Zero X still make it worth checking out, especially if you're already intrigued by the difficulty barrier-to-entry to cross the line into 'enjoying Slave Zero X, even if it makes you want to throw something.'
After this experience, I've re-established that love for short and simple games. Slave Zero X is the kind of video game that offers value because of what it seeks to represent and what it manages to do to differentiate itself from everything else. You don't always expect hack and slash side-scrolling games with retro touches and originality.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
