It’s a slow burner
BIOTA(or, technically, B.I.O.T.A.)
is Metroidvania ‘em up with a hot-swappable retro sheen.
And it’s pretty fun!
Not, like, groundbreaking or anything, but hey, not everything needs to be.
BIOTA has some platforming, some shooting, some bits where you drive mechs and submarines.
So, you must Metroidvania your way around the blight and track them down.
There’s a sniper, a shotgun man, an all-American commando, and a regular soldier person.
You’ll find yourself sticking with one or two for most of the game.
Easy mode, baby.
Like most Metroidvanias, BIOTA takes a while to get going.
From your hub world on the surface, you delve into rooms that lead to other rooms.
Early on, you’re just sending out the feelers and looking for anything to latch onto.
Eventually, things start clicking into place.
You learn that elevators let you fast-travel between areas and act as checkpoints.
Soon enough you’ll backtrack to unlock the robo-dude.
The game’s Metroidvania loop appeals to your completionist side, that’s for sure.
Bosses also fit the same bill, with predictable patterns that won’t take you long to unravel.
Still, I don’t think weaksauce enemies are exactly a bad thing in this case.
BIOTA wants to be more forgiving than either its contemporaries or the old classics.
I appreciate the way BIOTA caters for folks who’d rather progress than get stuck in a rut.
At times, BIOTA goes from a good time to a great time.
Another levek has you race to turn off a reactor before it melts both you and itself down.
At one point you pilot a mech and barrel through grubs and flies with rockets and grenades.
And that’s BIOTA for you.
