And All Would Cry Beware! – Surreal Metroidvania Shooter Game!

Introduction

And All Would Cry Beware! is a low-poly, metroidvania FPS game set on an alien planet. Running away from the hostile Kill Gang in Los Angeles, you end up in the ruined building of Wayfarer Inc. and discover among other things an expedition log and a portal to a strange planet. However, your escape ticket from death is one-way only!

Welcome to Planet Xanadu

And All Would Cry Beware! has you start with absolutely nothing as you flee the Kill Gang into the dilapidated Wayfarer Inc. building. When you activate the portal and emerge on the other side, the game truly begins and has you exploring the lush environments of Xanadu. There you will kill the hostile Geometrics with your pistol, and you will find many pathways blocked by vines, red slimes, and other obstacles. These obstacles can be taken down using equipment you will find across the planet’s varied terrains, allowing you to progress in the game.

The Geometrics range from simple enemies that ram you on the ground or by air, to the kinds that shoot bullets either straight in your direction or in overwhelming intricate patterns. While the early hostiles are easy to pick off at a distance with the pistol, they will swarm you in later areas and it’ll be easier to dispatch them with stronger weaponry. You will also encounter a couple of boss fights, although their attacks and patterns are repetitive and sometimes even easy to avoid.

Beautiful planet but it’s kinda deadly?

The exploration and surreal scenery are the highlights of the game, with rocky hills to scale, harsh jungles with thick foliage, a deep cave system hiding many secrets and more, all to the beat of an awesome synth-rock soundtrack. In addition, your limited health combined with the enemy encounters make backtracking remain challenging, which is something I wish more metroidvania games would do to stay fresh.

The expedition logs hidden and scattered all over the world are also a terrific addition to the game. Although completely optional, collecting them reveals the fate of the explorers and what they found on Xanadu long before your arrival. The fragmented presentation of the logs adds a lot of intrigue to the story and gives you further incentive to explore optional areas, even though they are marred with a few spelling errors.

In Conclusion

Although you can complete the game in about one to two hours, fighting my way through the hostiles and gaining upgrades was satisfying. Jumping and moving around the map was also pretty fun. All in all, I’d recommend picking up And All Would Cry Beware! to any fans of the metroidvania and FPS genres, or those who like traversing surreal environments and mysterious journal logs!

For another surreal exploration game, take a look Inside the Void! For other FPS games, here’s a selection:
Doom – XIII – Operation Pinkeye

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