A tale of revenge set in the Norse wilderness. You’ll come head-to-head with all manners of beasts and men in your climb up the mountain in Song of Iron. The title is an intense action -adventure, side-scroller game created by solo developer Joe Winter for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
The story of Song of Iron is told in a very subtle way. The protagonist does not speak, or atA tale of revenge set in the Norse wilderness. You’ll come head-to-head with all manners of beasts and men in your climb up the mountain in Song of Iron. The title is an intense action -adventure, side-scroller game created by solo developer Joe Winter for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
The story of Song of Iron is told in a very subtle way. The protagonist does not speak, or at least we do not hear or see the words that they say. Instead, details are revealed through interactions with the boss like enemies found throughout the journey.
Your main goal, however, is to seek revenge for the elimination of your people by forces led by a man known as Wolfric. Otherwise, the greater details of the struggle our protagonist faces isn’t fully revealed until closer to the end of the game.
The way the story is told reminds me heavily of Samurai Jack; very little dialogue, subtle details and clues alluding to the greater image; a heavy emphasis on emotion and tone. This is all perfectly embodied by the structure of Song of Iron.
Without revealing too much, there is a twist towards the end of the game that threw me for a bit of a loop. It did a superb job of subverting expectations, but the drastically change in tone was a smidge jarring and even disappointing to a degree. Although it was still executed well, it makes me wonder what other directions the game could have gone in.
The gameplay in Song of Iron is packed with mechanical depth; a side-scroller is inherently a bit restricted in what it can accomplish - at least traditionally. But the way that Song of Iron incorporates the many different weapons you can come across, the step-back/doge mechanisms, stealth, and even enemy placement, really helps to flesh out the experience. Then you begin to accumulate relics from the Gods that give you magical abilities such as being able to call your thrown weapon back to you or bathe your weapons in fire.
The way that enemies can come at you from any direction can really make you feel surrounded, despite it being a side-scroller. While they’ll eventually wind up on the same lane as you, enemies can be anywhere in the environment which allows for sections where you can choose to get by with stealth. The stealth works well at adding an extra layer of depth to the gameolay, making you aim to avoid the sights of the enemies around you by planning your movements carefully or hiding in the shadows. I found the game to be considerably balanced as well. Enemies were a challenge, but not one that felt unlikely to be overcome. Bosses were extremely tense and even brutal at times, but they never took more than a handful of tries to take down. With your growing arsenal of magical abilities throughout the journey, the scale in power is noticeable, yet new enemies are consistently introduced to keep pushing your skills.
There is room for more polish in general with Song of Iron but with combat especially. I had some animations glitch - or my character freezing - requiring me to double tap the thumb stick to regain control. There was one instance with a puzzle where I had to move a block out if a doorway in order to progress, but the grab function simply wouldn’t work correctly. I managed to get around it by finding a way to break the game a bit by pushing the block into the asset it was stuck in. The issues with Song of Iron are, for the most part, rather minor, but their impact on the experience is certainly still to a noticeable degree.
The art style in Song of Iron is beautiful. The way the drab environments are highlighted by the usage of lighting is mesmerizing at times. From fire dancing in the shadows, to the glow of ancient shrines, the title takes rather simple settings, but turns them into these breath-taking backdrops. You feel puny in comparison to the world around you. Even some of the monsters you come across will vastly outsize you in every way. This method of evoking emotion was masterfully executed. It added to the experience, the intensity of the journey, while creating some stunning scenes for your eyes to take in. The settings you come across are also diverse in their design. From snowy mountains, to goblin caves, to burning forests, Song of Iron has a lot to offer in artistic creativity. Progression between environments ties together the world to the struggle of the protagonist in a very interesting way.
Overall, Song of Iron is a refreshing take on the action-adventure side-scroller formula. The intense action, immense world, and depressing tale all come together to create an experience that many will not want to miss out on. Song of Iron resembles the atmospheric games Inside and Limbo, but with a heavier focus on combat. The title isn’t without some polishing issues, and direction choices that might fall flat for some, but these flaws do not detract from everything the adventure has to offer.
A key was provided by Resting Relic for review… Expand
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