
Release Date: October 30, 2018
A rhythmic-musical game that allows us to play the drummer of a school heavymetal band fighting alien invaders. The title turns the Nintendo Switch console controllers into drumsticks and allows us to play on our own to the songs prepared by the creators.
Although Gal Metal is a music game, the creators also took care of its story layer, which was presented in the form of visual novel cut-scenes and comic book panels. Earth is threatened by an alien invasion. They want to take revenge on its inhabitants for spreading metal music through the Voyager probe that left the Solar System. The aliens intercepted the signal and could not resist the rock rhythms, which led to an epidemic of madness threatening their lives.
A small group of space invaders reach our planet and kidnap two Japanese high school students: the main character of the game and Rinko, a drummer of a female music club. The aliens need an emissary with whom they will discuss their revenge plan, but they cannot decide which teenager will be the negotiator, uniting their souls in one body. The couple must now learn to cooperate with each other and defeat all eight cosmic kidnappers with the help of music.
Between the story segments we take part in metal concerts. We take on the role of drummer Rinko and the main character trapped in her body. Unlike other productions of this type, when playing, the game does not display icons with buttons or notes, which we have to choose at the right time. Players have to beat the rhythm themselves using a standard controller or two joy-cons pretending to be percussion sticks. The game simulates the use of standard drums and plates. The creators have prepared an extensive tutorial, allowing us to practice the rhythm of the beat and the combination of different sounds.
Soundtrack in Gal Metal consists of original metal instrumental pieces, as well as rock covers of classical music. The visuals use simple three-dimensional models of characters made with the use of cel-shading technique.
Platforms:
Nintendo Switch
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Game Ratings for Gal Metal Video Game.
Pure Nintendo: 7 / 10 by Kirstie Summers
Gal Metal is absurd and adorable in equal measure. There is no doubt it will find an incredibly passionate niche out there somewhere, but there's still plenty to entertain anyone with rhythm.
Nintendo Life: 7 / 10 by Jon Cousins
Gal Metal is wild, weird and cool. If you can embrace the vivid and wacky art style of the comic panel segments and strive for percussive nirvana, there is a refreshing, deceptively deep and gratifying experience here. What stops it from being truly great are the minor inconsistencies of the motion controls, the completely bonkers alien invasion plot and the slow, text-heavy teen melodrama stories. Even so, the game mostly succeeds by subverting many stale genre tropes. It will take time to master your set list and the absence of more contemporary music is initially jarring, but this is a title that is rewarding as well as just really fun. For those who are about to rock, we salute you.
Hardcore Gamer: 4 / 5 by James Cunningham
Gal Metal breaks a lot of rules that have been standard in the music/rhythm genre, but with good reason.