BIOTA is another metroidvania I didn't know I wanted. Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. BIOTA is another metroidvania I didn't know I wanted. Back to mine. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Published on 2 May 2022 6 comments BIOTA is an indie metroidvania, and for some reason it's really gotten to me. I really love it. I love the range of colour palettes you can select, at least one of which gives the game's sci-fi horrors a sort of holiday ice cream chic. I love the chunkiness of the art. I love the chugging chiptune soundtrack. I love the fact that the whole thing is set on an asteroid. BIOTA Publisher: Retrovibe Developer: Small Bros Platform: Played on PC Availability: Out now on PC. More than anything, though, I am a sucker for games in which each screen is its own fixed unit of the world. For whatever reason these are the games that most feel like real places. Run off the edge of the screen in BIOTA and you end up in a new screen. Go back and the enemies have respawned. I love this. It's particularly useful for a metroidvania, I think, because your brain kind of snapshots each environment, the layout of the platforms and what-have-you, and so it's easier to start building your own internal map - a map that is at least in part a map of exits and entrances, of unseen doors that connect very seen spaces. Watch on YouTube Because you're on an asteroid in BIOTA it's very mining focused - the worlds I'm moving through in the first part of the game are industrial spaces, hasty shafts cobbled together with lots of fans and vents and temperature management. For some reason the pixel art captures this particularly well: I can almost feel the unpleasant heat radiating off the screen. Going deeper - an imperative in this kind of game - also means going warmer. It's a relief to have stuff to blast away at, particularly since that chunky art gives the Cthulhuian horrors a sort of gormless charm. I particularly love a sort of puddle of eyeballs that can stick to walls. It's disgusting, but deeply lovable. I never tire of encountering it. At first, BIOTA was slightly overwhelming: it's compact but also densely riddled with tunnels - you have to make a lot of choices of the left/right, up/down variety, which are choices I always find slightly paralysing in metroidvanias. Eventually, though, I died enough, and chose enough, that I started coming back to familiar places from unfamiliar angles. So the choices are not the kind of choices that mean you miss out on anything. I'm going to stick with BIOTA. It brings back lovely memories of Gato Roboto, another chunky metroidvania filled with charm. And it's a pleasure to explore. And most of all I just found something incredible down in the depths and it's genuinely changed everything. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 27 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Feature From abandoned board game to birthing a genre: Football Manager at 40 Kick off. 21 Feature How I became an Elden Ring detective It started with a save game... 26 Latest Articles Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Jelly Deals Logitech's G Pro X gaming headset is its lowest-ever price during Amazon's Early Access sale Prime Members can get it for just £52. Jelly Deals Save over £500 off the retail price on this beefy ASUS TUF Dash gaming laptop from Amazon Under £1080 for an RTX 3070 laptop. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store