Metal Slug Tactics News

I am a very casual enjoyer of Metal Slug games. I've never actually paid for one of these side-scrolling shoot 'em ups, except for all the countless coins I happily pumped into arcade machines as a child. To this day, if I see a rare glittering cabinet running one of these crunchy shmups, I will go ham for twenty or thirty minutes, and walk away satisfied that I have seen a lot of very good pixels. These games, I am convinced, were never really designed to be completed, but to be played exactly like this, as a coin-gobbling invitation to become a bandana-wearing sisyphus, a tiny Rambo pushing a bouncy, juddering tank up a hill occupied by cartoon nazis. You die a bunch and say: "ah, that was good."

So what happens when you rearrange the molecules of this run and/or gun 'em up into an isometric turn-based strategy game? You get Metal Slug Tactics, an off-kilter nod to Into The Breach and other grid-based turn-takers, but secretly housing the aggressive notions of an unhinged pyromaniac. You still die a lot. And you still walk away feeling fairly happy about it.

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[h3]UI:[/h3]

• Increased font size for:
  
• All popups
  
• Tooltips
  
• Character reactions
  
• Mission UI: cancel move button, objectives, deploy units…
  
• Rewards Legend
  
• Level Up
  
• Turn order popup shows Rumi's order
  
• Nadia’s Mine tooltip
  
  [h3]Optimizations:[/h3]
  
• First Blood damage modifier optimized
  
• Controller memory leaks optimized
  
  [h3]Audio:[/h3]
  
• Missing SFX for Paqar’s Totem swap now should appear correctly
  
  [h3]Debug:[/h3]
  
• Fixed equipped weapon glitch that could happen after exiting a vehicle
  
• Fixed the Metal Slug main cannon attack animation
  
• Node Superposition tooltip: the mouse icon should now appear correctly
  
• Optimized Save Profiles management
  
• Frags made by invocations (Alice, Gunbot, Iron Lizard, After Image) now count as frags for their invoker
  
• Frags made from a vehicle now count for objectives
  
• Frags made with a Crane now count for objectives
  
• Credits: "Compositor" role corrected to "Composer"
  
• End Turn now doesn't require holding on the keyboard
  
• The game now ensures that all achievements validated ingame are validated on the platform as well
  
• Rumi’s name is now displayed
  
• Alice's status now has a description
  
• Alice’s SFX now does not play indefinitely after going back to the menu
  
• Outpost: fixed Rumi's name that could be hidden behind the reroll button
  
• The green color should no longer stick to the tile after reviving a character.
  
• Characters should no longer keep the mummy attacks after being killed as a mummy and revived.
  
• Leona's afterimages can now be walked through by other units
  
• Nadia can no longer sync with her handgun while gunbot is spawned
  
• Fio's Field Dressing passive skill now triggers correctly on Acupuncture Boost
  
• Gunbot can no longer gain infinite XP and coins for saving prisoners
  
• Tesla Ammo should now activate after undoing a move
  
• Quitting to the Main Menu then Continue'ing decremented the number of turns left before a destination room reveals by 1
  
• Corrected a crash that happened when a berserker retribution hit killed Leona
  
• Dragon Nosuke can now be correctly targeted
  
• The menu font should now correctly adapt to Turkish language
  
• Instigator II & III weapon mods now correctly add sync damage
  
• The description for Gunbot Self Destruct should now be correctly displayed
  
• The description for Rage ability and status (Natives) should now be correctly displayed
  

• Grenade-type weapons sometimes can’t hit enemies standing on different elevations despite being in range
  
• Kills caused by cranes, barrel explosions, metal slugs, or any non-character damage) do not count towards “kill X enemies” mission objectives.
  
• When playing Trevor and previewing an attack with his secondary weapon Laser, using the Turn Reset feature will cause a softlock.
  Workaround: back out of attack previews before using a Turn Reset.
  
• Profile creation is not currently possible while using a gamepad. Using the mouse to complete profile creation is enough to play the rest of the game with a controller.
  
• If you manage to reach the final biome “City” without unlocking a Strategic Asset during your run, some missions may not offer primary arsenal rewards.
  
• Characters killed in unusual conditions (boss phase transitions, while mummified, in a vehicle…) might reappear with missing arms. The issue is purely visual : the character still counts as dead for all experience and gameplay purposes.
  
• The game does not pause on loss of focus. Sound, and animations will continue when tabbed out
  
• The Rebind keys option is currently not implemented
  
• Controller rumble has not yet been implemented
  
• Dragon Nosuke boss sometimes becomes untargetable after room transition: When Nosuke “breaks the ground” and changes the room, the boss sometimes spawns out of reach.
  Workaround: Using Turn Reset will fix the issue. Quitting the game and reloading the fight might also work.
  
• There is no currently no tutorial explaining how to free a prisoner: This does not cost an action. To free a prisoner, simply move a character near a prisoner and interact with them. Note that if the character begins their turn near a prisoner, interacting with the prisoner will still consume the movement as if using an action to interact with a lever.
  

I don't know about you but I've never associated the Metal Slug series with strategy. The legendary run and gun games have always had more in common with Contra, Shootas, Blood & Teef, and Broforce rather than slower, more cerebral offerings like Final Fantasy Tactics, Triangle Strategy, or Fire Emblem. That's all changed now, as Metal Slug Tactics is here to serve up a side order of strategy along with the series' trademark explosive action.

Read the rest of the story...

I would never have predicted there'd be an isometric tactics game based on run-and-gun series Metal Slug, yet here Metal Slug Tactics is, and I am here for it. We've been following its development for a while but it's out now on Steam, and seemingly as strong as its demo suggested.

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