Metal Max Returns (Final)

     Finally!

     After beating who I thought was the games "main boss", and then having nothing really happen, my only thought then was that I probably had to wipe out all of the games "bounty bosses".  Only then would I get some sense of closure, or so I figured.  I made my way back to Santa Poco and resupplied and prepared myself for another duel with Rodriquez.

That's right.

     This time I had the guy beat pretty easily.  My soldier ended up taking him out in like 4 rounds, with not much damage at all done to her.  I then sat back and prepared myself for some sort of cutscene or story twist or...  something.   But, nothing. Nothing happened at all.  I checked my main characters stats and I had all the badges for killing all the bounty guys.  I went to a few towns and talked to several NPCs and none of them really had anything to say about it.

     It had to be that last building beyond Hell's Gate.  I made my way up there.

     I was repeatedly blasted with mortar fire upon approaching it, and from the looks of the building itself, I guessed that it had to have an important role.  I had to enter on foot, as the front gate was closed behind a beam fence.  Inside were several computers and they all demanded an ID card.  After searching a few floors I found it, as well as some codes.  I kept looking for more codes... you know, 4 computers..  they'd probably need 4 codes.  On the roof were all the mortar cannons.  You're actually able to push them off the roof to prevent more fire later.

     Once I had all the codes I went back downstairs and played a ton of trial and error, trying to match the codes with the right computers.  Once that was dealt with I was allowed into a room where I found a 3rd lens!  This had to be all of them.  I think.  I was also able to open the front door, and disable the laser fencing.  There was also another lift going down that I activated, but I wanted to see about the lenses with that doctor guy north of Canabelle first.  (Also to resupply the tanks)

    

Bitchin!

     Turns out it was a good call.  Not only did I have the lenses, but it made a sweet weapon as well.  If there was going to be a final boss, this was likely going to help a ton.  The doctor guy allowed me to arrange the lenses in my own order, and I assume that the end result would vary depending on how I chose, but hey, whatever, I'll try it out and come back if it sucked.

     I made my way back to the building and then down a very long elevator ride into the basement level.   As usual, I was attacked an unreasonable amount of times.  The map was easy to deal with, but there were these weird sand whirlpool-type things in some rooms.  I figured it was best I stayed away from them.  Before going down another level, I was attacked by some guardian sentries.  After that it was a matter of unlocking a few more doors (on foot) and then being confronted by this guy:

     It was some sort of crazy big-ass artificial intelligence that went on about how mankind was an enemy of the earth, and to save the earth it had to kill off mankind.  Sort of like Skynet in the Terminator movies, but with an environmental angle.  It asked if I intended to destroy it.  Instantly I said yes.  I was then attacked by series of 3 "cyber walls", each one being pretty easy to kill.  After that, more talk and questions on if I still intended to destroy it.  This time I had to fight 3 robotic statue guys, and they were equally as easy to deal with as the walls.  After that the combat field panned to the left, and then shit got real.

   
     If the game had a final boss fight, this had to be it.  Had to be.  He was kind of tough, and you really have to fight him twice.  The first go round, he was easily dealt with, but the second time he almost totally destroyed my tanks.  Still, I managed to beat him, and then was presented with a cutscene that I won't talk about for spoilers sake.

     After all that though, I just basically appeared by my tanks, ready to go outside.  Still, nothing seemed to happen.

     Was that it?  There were no credits.  No story resolution.  I bummed around for a bit, thinking about what it could be, but then I remembered the beginning.   In the start, your dad kicks you out, but, you can still talk to him.  He'll fix your tanks for free, and also teach you more about repairing.

     He also asks if you want to come home.  So, I tried that out, and that's what did it.  I got the game's close, and had formally finished the game.  I got a talk from him, and the credits rolled.

What I liked: I liked the somewhat new setting (for a SNES JRPG anyway) that it had.  I liked the open endedness of the world.  The art and monsters were varied and cool, and the setup of the characters and tanks was fresh.  I wish there were more games back then like this.  I'm surprised that this game and its sequels (except Metal Saga) haven't gotten a western release.  It was also pretty big, and it made exploration fun.

What I did not like:  The story.  There really wasn't one.  You pretty much had to figure it out.  Mostly the game was all about leveling up and killing off a series of monsters to collect a bounty, but every once in a while I'd be hit with a half story that I just did not care about.  The one NPC, the "Red Wolf" guy, the game made it seem early on that he'd likely be a big deal.  He wasn't.  Halfway through he gets killed by someone else.  Then there was also the main boss "Noah" that seemed to come out of nowhere at the end.  It just seemed so tacked on.  Things like that sort of detracted from the game.
     I also was not a big fan of how often I got attacked.  Sometimes it got so tedious that I found myself fleeing from because it was just such a chore.


     Overall it was good though, and I'd recommend it to anyone that's a fan of JRPGs.

HuckleCat