Metal Dungeon is 10 levels of monster-packed mayhem and it is strictly a dungeon crawler. You will need to create a group of which up to five members can be assembled at any time. Member creation is relatively straightforward. You can choose to add a fencer, a striker, an analyzer, a caster or a broader. Each one has pre-determined starting stats. Specific stats can be raised once you have earned some skill points. Member creation is limited to five separate character classes at the start of play. However, by finding and reviving the bodies of fallen heroes, new classes can be discovered.

The levels in Metal Dungeon are randomly generated and monsters are randomly placed. These monsters appear as floating orbs traveling through the corridors. However, if you run into one, you will be drawn into battle where monsters will be revealed. While the concept of not knowing what evil lurks in those orbs spices up gameplay, the poorly constructed combat sours the moment of excitement. Battles are in the old school format, with enemies on one side and heroes on the other. Sadly, your command to attack features very limited options, which hinders your experience in keeping you involved in the game. Attack is just a single type, a single option, a single animation.

As for spells, they are inadequate for the first few hours, until you have found additional spell chips and leveled up the attributes of your caster to get the kind of firepower you need for attack. Even when your caster has reached maximum stats, he moves so slow that you won’t be able to use more than two spells in a combat. There isn’t much special effects magic on the spells either. They just give you a brief moment of attractive lightning. The little particles of light are nothing more than a short sparkle.

As for the weapons, each gun, sword, glove or hammer offers a different animation, but it’s the same movement used each time. For instance, when your fencer raises her sword and takes a swipe at an enemy, that’s the same form of action you will be seeing every single time you attack. The gameplay is rather slow even if it is adjusted at the fastest speed. Dealing with this type of action that is repetitive and slow makes Metal Dungeon not only boring but also frustrating overtime. The spell effects are just weak, the attack animation gets old incredibly fast, and your members are easily wiped out if you don’t constantly upgrade their stats.

While the dungeon looks nice when walking around looking for trouble, there is certainly nothing exciting about it, considering every level is essentially the same. Character animation is also nice but then again--as previously mentioned--it is limited to one action. The monsters, on the other hand, look terrible. Many of them seem to be made of various jagged edges. You can see the arms look like rectangles with texture thrown on them.

The music played here is the kind you will hear in bad games. It rarely changes its pace, making your adrenaline stop pumping. For instance, when fighting the boss, the music is slow and melodic. This is completely opposite of the tense mood you need when fighting a tough boss. It sounds like listening to an old air-conditioning system that gets on your nerve. Both the gameplay and the music will put you to sleep before your bedtime. Sound effects are weak, as though they were ripped straight from 1970s kung-fu flicks. A bat’s sonic attack, for example, sounded fuzzy -- as if it had been dubbed over three times.

Metal Dungeon had the right premise but poor execution. It would have been a great game if the combat system weren’t so slow and repetitive. The FMV trailer is just an attempt to get you sucked in to play the game. The truth is the game is plagued with several bad measures. The music does not have the kind of upbeat tempo when fighting bosses. The limited action of characters just leads you to a boring and frustrating experience. Stay clear of Metal Dungeon. You will just end up full of regrets and in a bad mood.