Metal Wolf Chaos XD was a remaster that literally no on expected. The incredibly campy and absurd original title was such a strange take on the mecha genre that most people don’t even know it existed. So it was quite the surprise to see that Devolver was bringing a full remaster of the game to the PC, seemingly because they wanted to share its insanity with a new generation.
So with that in mind, let’s talk about this weird specimen of 2004 awesomeness. The title is a mech-battler at its core, but it wraps that simple premise with one of the most intriguing and strange storylines ever seen in an action game. The President of the USA has been the victim of a malicious coup attempt, led by his own Vice President, and he needs to use a giant robot to break the coup-de-tat forces, for some reason. Maybe the huge black budget expense of a war robot had something to do with the coup, but this president doesn’t concern himself with that.
Over the course of the game, you will be exposed to plenty of shooting action and explosions, but that’s not the real draw of this title. Sure, it’s cool to pilot giant war machines, but you stick around to see just how weird things are going to get. From classic overacting and terrible voice acting, to an impressive mix of bad level and mission design, one would think this a game you would never want to play. But it’s just so charming in its strangeness that the whole thing is like a train wreck that you can’t help but stare at.
Even the character names are some of the most stereotypical anime campiness. The President Michael Wilson must lead a war effort against the vice president, Richard Hawk, who of course has developed his own giant mech suit.
Check out the launch trailer for the remastered title down below. Metal Wolf Chaos XD releases on PC tomorrow, August 6. It’s also dropping for PS4 and Xbox One on the same day.
