Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes Review

If you’ve read or watched Mobile Monday at any point, then you’ll know that there are a hell of a lot of infinite runner games on the iOS App Store. Some of them are relatively famous, such as Temple Run (and its sequel) and Subway Surfers, as well as the recently released Minion Run. However, some of them are more obscure, relying heavily on their origins, the names involved in their creation and – in the case of Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes – the soundtrack.

Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes is an infinite runner where you have to fight your way to the gates of hell by smashing through the slew of demons in your way. The main character will automatically run from the left of the screen to the right in a diagonal direction and it’s your job to bash through the enemies as they approach. You do this by utilising one of two weapons in your arsenal. Tapping the screen will swing your axe (a guitar, for those uninitiated in the ways of metal) directly in front of you, while tapping on the icon in the bottom left-hand corner will swing the axe upwards to take out any sneaky demons who are trying to attack from above.

In order to make things a little bit easier while you’re attempting to take down the various legions of Hell, there are pick-ups dotted around the game world (no, not guitar pick-ups; actual video game pick-ups) which summon the titular “Heavy Metal Heroes”. These heroes do various different things to the main character: some heal him while he’s chopping through the enemies, while others directly attack the enemies themselves. Whatever they’re doing, it’s cool to see these heavy metal artists, who a lot of us will have grown up listening to, recreated in a digital world; weird, yes, but still cool.

As well as the Heavy Metal Heroes helping you out, there are also others – such as Wayne Static – that you’ll have to face off against as a kind of boss battle. These aren’t as easy as you’d find in other games of this ilk: not knowing what you’re supposed to do to begin with, coupled with the limited amount of lives, means you can expect to die a lot before you manage to get past each boss. This does give you a sense of accomplishment when you finally manage it, but it can also be annoying.

The main problem with Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes comes from the fact that the game doesn’t seem to respond to the user’s input quickly enough, considering it throws enemies at you relentlessly. Even on the iPod Touch 5th Gen that I was using for review, the game appeared clunky and with huge amounts of slowdown. It’s fun to play when it’s working properly, there’s no doubt about that, but these technical issues will see most people switch off long before they get the chance to truly enjoy it, which is a shame.

VERDICT: The music is what will really sell Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes, as well as the appearances from the artists of the genre. The game itself isn’t as good as many other infinite runners and, while the art does look appealing – staying true to its comic book roots – there’s no denying that the sluggish gameplay and repetitive nature take a lot away from what could have been a rather enjoyable gaming experience –  particularly for heavy metal fans.

AVERAGE. The epitome of a 50/50 game, this title will be unspectacular but inoffensive, charmless but amiable. We aren’t condemning a game by scoring it a 5, but we certainly aren’t championing it, either.

Our Scoring Policy