Is there life on Mars?
MARS 2120 is a metroidvania with engaging melee combat inspired by classics like Super Metroid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, or Guacamelee! With the use of special abilities tied to elements like ice, fire, and electricity help Sgt. Anna “Thirteen” Charlotte navigate the colony and battle her way through the secrets of Mars. Why do humans dream of space exploration? What if that dream goes wrong? Follow Sgt. Anna “Thirteen” Charlotte on a space mission to the first human colony on Mars.
MARS 2120 doesn’t shy away from the fact that it’s a Metroidvania game that leans more into the sci-fi Metroid setting. It begins strongly with a nice opening section that proceeds to feeling like it needed a bit longer in development. It honestly feels like an Early Access game at this point, it’s a shame because I can see the potential here with the controls handling well and I like the different elemental abilities, but it just feels unbalanced at this point.
Some enemies will literally stand still, and let you shoot them without even firing if you’re far away enough, which is hilarious but also shows the broken AI. You get that but then the bosses can be damn right brutal, even early on and you haven’t had a lot to explore or had access to any or many upgrades at this point. Like I said, it feels unbalanced.
It’s frustrating because the game looks impressive, it just needs a few updates to balance out issues and polish out any other problems. The audio is also impressive with a nice soundtrack that captures the atmosphere well. The PS5 version runs a lot better than the PS4 version, but both have the same issues overall.
The Verdict
MARS 2120 feels like it needed longer in development before release. It has the fundamentals of a Metroidvania, but it feels unbalanced and lacks that polish you would expect from a game of the genre. Hopefully with updates, it can achieve that. Until then, it’s pretty hard to recommend.