Metal Wolf Chaos XD

Metal Wolf Chaos fulfills this criteria because of its unique premise that wouldn’t be out of place in the late ’80s, combined with From Software’s penchant for mechicular (I just made this up) combat. If you hate old games and crave the newest visual advancements, avoid it. For everyone else: there is something here you can sink your teeth into that’s more than just a novelty relic.

After 15 years, Metal Wolf Chaos XD doesn't quite live up to the hype, but it's still a worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.

Metal Wolf Chaos XD is a totally unique experience that is worthwhile for anyone who's a fan of early 2000's action, or satirical and off-the-wall humor.

Metal Wolf Chaos XD is a remaster of a sixth generation Japanese Xbox exclusive, whereby the 47th President of the United States of America pilots a giant armored mech against a military coup d’état orchestrated by the Vice President!

Metal Wolf Chaos XD isn’t big or clever, but if you want to get your kicks as a mech shooting and blowing things up while being an all-American patriot, then there’s only one choice - believe in your own justice!

Metal Wolf Chaos has more than earned its place in video game history, but playing this XD rerelease in 2019 is a blast from the past that's pretty hard to swallow.

It's incredibly odd to think that FromSoftware, the developer that would go on to create the Dark Souls series (and kick off an entire subgenre), created a title like Metal Wolf Chaos XD. The game is a product of the Armored Core series and Microsoft trying to break into the Japanese market. Devolver Digital and all parties involved have done a tremendous job delivering a game that once seemed unattainable to many. While it's not necessarily an amazing game, the release of Metal Wolf Chaos XD is certainly a win for video game preservation.

Recommending Metal Wolf Chaos XD is something that is hard to do. It’s objectively not a very good game. But it’s not unplayable, either, and it’s hard to not get swept up by its overall ridiculousness. Like a movie that’s so bad that it’s actually quite good, there’s something about Metal Wolf Chaos XD that makes you fond of it despite its flaws. So, if you like strange curios and want to unravel one of the craziest stories ever committed to video game form, you should maybe give it a go. Everyone else, however, is probably better off giving it a wide berth.

Who would have thought that after Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, From Software’s next project would have you sitting in the driver’s seat of a mech in an attempt to rescue the United States of America from the wrath of the vice president? We’re only half-joking: Metal Wolf Chaos XD is an updated version of a 2004 Xbox exclusive that never made its way out of Japan, but this release is still every bit as ludicrous as it sounds.

A masterpiece of absurdist theatre, and a damn fine double-A mech game too.

I hesitate to call any review of Metal Wolf Chaos XD complete if it does not include a long-winded anecdote about how I personally got rich in 2007 by selling off a stack of mint-condition copies of the Japanese Xbox original which I’d bought for less than $3 each. Therefore, barring any other review’s paraphrasing or plagiarizing this bombastic video of mine, I present to you arguably the only complete review in existence of Metal Wolf Chaos XD, a game whose legendary ridiculousness has at last emerged from the darkness of historical curiosity. Surprise: the game is as excellent to play as it...

Verdict: Metal Wolf Chaos XD is a solid remaster of a game that’s just okay, but had the potential to be something truly great, not just in its hilarious writing and tone, but also in gameplay. It’s bogged down by too many issues to recommend at full price, but charming and unique enough to recommend that you play it at some point if only when it goes down in price.