Morbid Metal hands-on preview: Promising new roguelite is pure adrenaline

Morbid Metal, the action roguelite from indie studio SCREEN JUICE, just dropped its demo. As Ubisoft granted me early access to it, I went for numerous runs. The first thing that came to mind was that the project offers a unique interpretation of Genshin Impact, Hades, and Devil May Cry, among other prominent titles.

While there's still a lot riding on the final release, based on the major things I've experienced during my playthrough, Morbid Metal could end up being one of the standout indie roguelites this year.

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Morbid Metal offers a thrilling shape-shifting combat system

Timely utilize different abilities to execute great combos (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming // SCREEN JUICE)

While the full game will feature more characters to utilize, the demo has only two playable characters: Flux and Ekku. Both have different sets of skills, containing two standard abilities and one ultimate.

The main objective is to advance through expeditions and defeating enemies until the end. The best part is you can switch between playable characters without any cooldown, which really elevates the battle system.

For instance, I enjoyed employing Ekku's Ground Cleave ability to launch an enemy into the air. Following this, I utilized Flux's Blink Strike to close the distance and subsequently executed the combo with the Nano Blades.

Overall, merging Flux's flurry of light attacks with Ekku's heavy strikes provides an exceptionally smooth and rewarding combat experience.

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Dodging is satisfying, and extremely crucial to progress

Dodge at the correct moment to inflict bonus damage (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming // SCREEN JUICE)

As Morbid Metal is categorized as a roguelite, each run ends whenever the player dies. While there are multiple characters to use, they collectively share a single health bar.

Initially, I was button-mashing and wasn't really focusing on dodging that much. Consequently, the health bar diminished rapidly, leading to frequent failures in my attempts.

It took me a few runs (and several beatdowns) to realize how important dodging really was. Once I started reading the enemy telegraphs, it completely flipped how I approached each fight.

There are several types of enemies, both in the air and in the ground. Recognizing their attack patterns, dodging them, and effectively employing the abilities felt somewhat challenging to master. However, once I grasped the concept, combat pace and defeating the robots became exhilarating overall.

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Carve your own unique path in Morbid Metal

Choose the preferred buff (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming // SCREEN JUICE)

After commencing a run, you must go through various stages of enemy confrontations in Morbid Metal. Following each successful stage, you can choose one specific buff to add to your arsenal. These enhancements can amplify character abilities, provide specific rewards for vanquishing foes, and much more.

As the runs are short (10-12 minutes on average) on the Morbid Metal demo, I was able to complete a few of them. However, my approach to progressing through each run was different.

At times, I concentrated primarily on augmenting a particular type of damage capability to improve my combos. This strategy effectively dispatched the robots. However, I also focused solely on getting healing buffs on some runs. These buffs include life-stealing after using a particular ability, getting HP after eliminating an enemy with an ultimate ability, and more.

I was also exploring the side areas while running to the next battle stage to find additional buffs from Deal with the Devil. These areas let me choose to upgrade a specific type of buff that I added earlier.

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Visual aspects and performance

Morbid Metal is visually pleasing (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming // SCREEN JUICE)

No matter how good a game feels, performance hiccups can ruin the flow. Thankfully, Morbid Metal runs surprisingly well. On my RTX 3060 Ti, it held stable framerates—even when I was recording footage.

Importantly, if you're playing the game and the visuals are not up to the mark, try changing the Render Resolution to 100%. It enhanced the overall visual quality and screen tearing issues for me.

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Level design in Morbid Metal

The remarkable environment incorporates sci-fi elements (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming // SCREEN JUICE)

The game's opening felt like being dropped inside a living circuit—glowing wires, blue tech corridors, and pulsing energy everywhere. Nevertheless, shortly after initiating an iteration, the entire sci-fi elements merged with nature, creating an otherworldly landscape.

While the final version of the game is expected to feature many more biomes, the area in the demo is truly remarkable as well. Although the level design can feel linear, the sci-fi wasteland, with hidden buffs, offers an enjoyable journey on each run.

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Final thoughts

There's certainly still more to be added in Morbid Metal, but what's already here is extremely impressive. From the combat flow to the level design, the game feels like it's on the right track to stand out in the roguelite space.

The full version will include a dedicated inventory and allow players to unlock permanent upgrades through various segments. All in all, I have a positive feeling that Felix Schade, the founder of SCREEN JUICE, will launch the full game with great features and polish to stand apart in the ever-growing roguelite genre.

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Morbid Metal is now available to add to the Steam wishlist, and the early access will be available on August 20, 2025.