Codex Sadistica by grave snail games
This is a garage demo, man. Its heart, its big black beating heart, that’s in the right place, no doubt about it, but the production values are not quite up to snuff. Of course one could claim that that’s for the best. That having more in-game guidance, better implementation, less repetitive messages, that all of that is superficial nonsense for the pop kids and the rock fans, not for the lovers of TRUE METAL. If your music doesn’t sound like it was recorded in your parents’ basement with equipment that spent six years rusting and decaying in a shallow grave, then you’re just SELLING OUT. At which point of my review suddenly the lights dim and the music starts…
I met a boy wearing vans, 501s, and a
Dope beastie t, nipple rings, and
New tattoos that claimed that he
Was OGT,
Well but Tool ain’t true metal! They don’t sound at all like Manowar, and those guys are the self-proclaimed kings of true metal, so they must be the standard for everything else. Although, to be honest, I never listen to Manowar, and the one thing that I’m immediately reminded of when I hear their name is something Dani Filth said when his band Cradle of Filth was playing at Dynamo just before Manowar. “I wanted to come on stage on one of Manowar’s Harleys… but unfortunately I couldn’t reach the pedals.” Which seems to me the exact right thing to say. Unless you’re playing after the demon god of Glam Metal, in which case you’d better set the stage on fire. I mean. Glam metal. Talk about crimes against humanity.
So. Codex Sadistica is a fun take on metal, leaning hard on the excesses, the bizarre number of heavily policed subgenres, and the stupid debates about ‘true’ metal, while also bringing across something of the uninhibited fun of the genre and adding one good and necessary scene which contextualises and criticises all the gatekeeping. As a fan of various (though by no means all) subgenres of metal, I enjoyed many aspects of the game and was happy to play it. But it also needs more testing and polishing so that the play experience can become much smoother. I for one played the last part fully from the walkthrough and had to consult that already at a very early stage to make any headway in the game (because the game failed to understand commands like “crowdsurf” and “climb stage”). So, nice, but could be a lot better with some more work.
(P.S. The truest metal album is of course Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk. Don’t listen to people who say anything else. Yeah, no worries, I’ll keep this gate for you.)