Developer: Ivan Suvarov Publisher: Retroware Release: 09/26/24 Genre: Action Also on: Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PS4, PS5
This one kind of crept up on me. The run and gun action genre has undergone a renaissance thanks to the indie scene and those of us that adore games like Contra and Gunstar Heroes could not be happier. But it is literally impossible to keep up with everything releasing nowadays. But I will make time for an awesome action game like Iron Meat any day of the week. Iron Meat wears its inspiration on its sleeve and that is a good thing. As a homage to Contra and action games in general this one is excellent and well worth your time.
You are Vadim, a soldier in the Russian army. On a research base on the moon Yuri Markov conducts experiments on an unidentified monster called the Meat. The Meat breaks free, takes over his mind, and begins using him to infect everything in its path. The Meat uses a teleporter infect the Earth on a mass scale as part of its invasion. Now it is up to you to fight back against the Meat before they overrun the Earth.
The aesthetic in Iron Meat is decidedly grotesque. Rather than aliens the enemy forces are objects infected by the Meat. They are trains with spider legs, windows that have grown teeth and spit fire, and of course humans in various states of infection. Everything explodes in a beautiful and gross shower of blood and guts and while it is disgusting the pixel work is simply fantastic. Everything boasts an exquisite level of minute detail that reminds me of titles like Slain and Valfaris. The environments are so beautiful with copious layers of parallax scrolling they practically beg to be admired. And the soundtrack is fantastic to match the art. Iron Meat is the real deal.
From its weapons to pacing Iron Meat proudly takes its cues from Contra III: the Alien Wars. The controls are near identical: you can fire in eight directions, move and shoot, and lock in place while firing. You can carry two weapons simultaneously and switch as well. Collecting the same weapon twice powers it up and the abundance of power-ups makes this a common feature. There is no screen clearing bomb; the most you get is a “barrier” that fires bullets in twelve directions briefly. Many of the weapons are similar, from the laser and machine gun to the spread gun although here it is not as wide. There are a few unique armaments however. The heavy capsule launcher is slow but the most powerful while the grenade launcher might be my favorite as it has both power and speed. There is even rapid fire too!
Iron Meat nails one of the most important aspects of an action game, the pacing. This is a game that has studied the classics and avoids most of their pitfalls. The action moves at a measured pace with equal moments of heavy action and down time to recover. Power-ups drop at a fair clip as if the developers expect you to die in specific spots. Gotcha moments are rare and I had only a few deaths due to visibility issues with the lush pixel art. The game’s nine levels take you on a wild ride that not only get the adrenaline pumping but show the continuing devastation of the Meat around the world. The set pieces may seem familiar but they add their own spin on it. The level length is also perfect, an aspect I think it betters Contra: Operation Galuga, its closest contemporary.
One area Iron Meat betters its inspiration is its difficulty. The game is very accommodating when it comes to lives. On Easy you have thirty lives (a nod to the Konami code), Normal mode has 16 while Hard has 8. The large stock of lives it two fold; they allow you to make mistakes without being a detriment while allowing a buffer as you lose your current weapon upon death. Usually this starts a death spiral but here you can probably bum rush it. I can honestly say that I died it was my fault and I could see why to improve next time. Extra lives even reset between levels too. You will earn two or three more per level through scoring without realizing it. They want you to succeed and I applaud that.
Personally I think Iron Meat is too generous. Aside from bullets blending in to the background the pacing is excellent and attacks are almost always obvious. Boss attacks are telegraphed and you can easily one shot them with a modicum of skill. It also helps that they are not bullet sponges and the default rapid fire gun is pretty effective. The first time on each level I died a few times learning there layout. But the second round I could easily play the game like an old school Contra where death was rare. An arcade mode that limits the game’s accessibility for an old school challenge would have been cool. But that is nitpicking.
The only “problem” if you can call it that is no huge incentive to replay the game multiple times. There are around thirty skins to unlock and nabbing all of them will take some time without optimizing your gameplay. You can mix and match pieces to create custom characters too. But they are just that, skins. It would have been cool if they had other abilities to incentivize unlocking and using them like Contra: Operation Galuga. Some of the designs are really out there and that would have been a great bonus. I do feel the game is priced appropriately for what you will get out of it however. And honestly the campaign is so well done you will probably run through it a few times just because.
In Closing
Iron Meat nails it in every category, from its buttery smooth controls, pacing, and lavish pixel art to the soundtrack and measured challenge. This is a game that has studied every nuance that made Konami’s series great and avoids some of its pitfalls and is better for it. Although Iron Meat is patterned after Contra it is good enough to stand on its own and provide fans of classic run and gun action yet another reason to celebrate the vibrant indie game scene. This is the caliber of 2d game I was expecting on the Saturn and PlayStation but alas, the genre fell by the wayside. We only get a few of these a year, luckily they usually turn out great as is the case here.
