Developer: Mighty Pebble Games Inc
Publisher: Mighty Pebble Games Inc
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Miner Meltdown – Review
Deep in the caves lurks treasure, worth a lot of money but many dangers are found below. Armed with a sword and pickaxe you traverse the caverns of the world in search for gold and other goodies, but be ready to fight your enemies to keep your hard earned cash. Will you get rich or die trying?
Story
Miners are strong people who work countless of hours to find rare ores. In Miner Meltdown we search the deep dark crevices in various locations while digging deep for precious gold. Normally this was not something to fight over, but after the world has seen a mutant invasion and with other materials running out it is in your best interest to score these minerals. This created a hostile environment where diggers will not only fight monsters but others that seek the fortune for themselves. This means that you are never safe and will rely on your co-workers to guard your back. Initially there was no story present, but from the flow of the game we think that this is how the world of Miner Meltdown came to be. A real story is not missed since it just pick up and play, with quick matches.
Graphics
Although Miner Meltdown is made by an Indie company this does not mean that there is quality cut on any level. The graphics could be one of a high budget developer because of its perfect color pallet and smooth but retro-ish feeling. This means that our mind is tricked into thinking that it is pixilated artwork but upon closer inspection it is actually very detailed. Characters are well animated and look the part like a worker, weapons are nicely made and each location gives this special vibe or chills depending on the theme. With a lot of attention gone to the little things such as shells being extracted out of the weapons, blood and chunks of meat flying around and sticking to the walls, seeing the skeleton of a person who is being shocked and the list goes on.
Sound
The musicis just a perfect composition to bring you in the mood, from a chiptune mixed with vocal singing to give us this nostalgic gaming night to a stronger fighting beat when battling it out with mutants and other miners. Sound effects are really detailed so you can even determine what weapon the enemy is using by hearing it go off. Characters grunt in pain, mutants taunt a little and the freaky salesman that reminds us of the merchant in Resident Evil 4 welcomes us with his little creepy speech.
Gameplay
Miner Meltdown is a side scrolling action game that combines shooting and exploration elements in order to create a fun and unique gameplay that makes it stand out into the crowd. Imagine an arena shooter underground and in order to get easier access to the POI you have the ability to form the ground to your liking. This means you can dig or blow your way through the map, this gives the advantage of collecting gold wherever you go and you can create access tunnels or escape routes wherever you like. Because of this feature you are not restricted to a pre-made map, and even better, all maps are randomly generated so each play is a unique one. It is very easy to dash trough the caverns while fighting others, a very friendly control setup and the standard item to get around (your rope) is a fun tool to make you feel like spider miner man. At an early level you unlock the jetpack in case you want easier access or just want to fly.
Scattered around the mines are various treasure chests. In these containers are various weapons to help you take out enemies. These underground arenas are filled with mutants that will attack everything on sight. You get points for killing these abominations and a little cash prize, but the best score is to kill other players. Because Miner Meltdown is a sole online game this could give problems sometimes but the developers have placed bots that have quite good AI to compete with or against you, so even when there are no servers you can enjoy a little underground slaughter. Placed around the field are some merchants that will gladly sell you weapons and these will become unlocked based on level progression (some weapons and goods are locked for higher levels).
The game has three different game modes namely Diamond Dash where you collect diamonds and deposit them in the designated drop zone to score, Deathmatch is as the name implies a battle for the top dog while Crazy King is a variant to King of the Hill but the zone moves around. These modes can be played in a normal cave, jungle theme or the cold ice cavern.
To distance yourself from other players the game allows you to have a wide range of skins, these also get unlocked with level progression and are so goofy and funny that it adds character to the matches. However it sometimes happens that skins get swapped out for others, we assume that this is a little bug waiting to be fixed. Another small issue is that online play can sometimes have a little lag, which is noticed very quickly because of the slower responsiveness of actions or clipping characters. This can be because players host their own game so it is person-based and not server-based.
Conclusion
Miner Meltdown is a really fun game that has amazing graphics with beautiful artwork and a very good soundtrack that makes playing the game a fine experience. Bots will keep you company when there aren’t many players online but this also means that it could be a little expensive single player game on some moments. The many funny skins will surely grab the hearts of many and some are just so ridiculous that it makes the game even more comical. If Minecraft and Quake had a baby, its name would be Miner Meltdown.
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