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Axiom Verge
Explore and uncover the mystery of a surreal alien world by blasting aliens and glitching your environment in this intense retro side-scrolling action/adventure.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-08-31 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
65 of the 101 reviews raise this.
“I'm a little bit more than halfway through and I'm calling it quits. By no means a bad game and I don't regret the time I've put into it, but it's starting to overstay its welcome. This is a very original Metroidvania…”
“My expectations were much higher, i'd say its very much an acquired taste. While this game has some minor advantages, such as interesting weapon mechanics and secrets, but even though the weapons are different, you dont…”
“This is an excellent non-linear action platformer with great presentation and a unique atmosphere about it. Usually with this type of game, like Super Metroid as one of the earliest examples, it will go for a menacing…”
32 of the 101 reviews raise this.
“Have you ever played a game that is brilliant in concept, but lackluster in its execution? Have you ever played a game that isn't even fundamentally flawed, but consistently does so many things wrong? Have you ever…”
“This is an excellent non-linear action platformer with great presentation and a unique atmosphere about it. Usually with this type of game, like Super Metroid as one of the earliest examples, it will go for a menacing…”
“I absolutely love the atmosphere and overall design of Axiom Verge. If it had come out a bit later, its visuals would’ve fit perfectly into the era of modern ARG-style or analog horror aesthetics. It’s basically a…”
26 of the 101 reviews raise this.
“Have you ever played a game that is brilliant in concept, but lackluster in its execution? Have you ever played a game that isn't even fundamentally flawed, but consistently does so many things wrong? Have you ever…”
“This is an excellent non-linear action platformer with great presentation and a unique atmosphere about it. Usually with this type of game, like Super Metroid as one of the earliest examples, it will go for a menacing…”
“I absolutely love the atmosphere and overall design of Axiom Verge. If it had come out a bit later, its visuals would’ve fit perfectly into the era of modern ARG-style or analog horror aesthetics. It’s basically a…”
21 of the 101 reviews raise this.
“Have you ever played a game that is brilliant in concept, but lackluster in its execution? Have you ever played a game that isn't even fundamentally flawed, but consistently does so many things wrong? Have you ever…”
“I absolutely love the atmosphere and overall design of Axiom Verge. If it had come out a bit later, its visuals would’ve fit perfectly into the era of modern ARG-style or analog horror aesthetics. It’s basically a…”
“The atmosphere, pixel art, and music are all great. However I wish there was a few more music tracks since there are a couple areas you spend a lot in and the music gets fairly repetitive. The weapon selection is…”
7 of the 101 reviews raise this.
“Excellent game. Very interesting and impressive, along with a good challenge.”
“Quite possibly the strongest 2D indie metroid-like. The soundtrack, visuals and worldbuilding are all stellar. It is quite hard though, if you're not a die hard metroid fan, you might sweat a little. AV2 is also…”
“Fantastic metroid-style game. Has some quirks and some sudden difficulty spikes, but it's pretty great.”
25 of the 101 reviews raise this · 18 of them still recommend the game.
“I'm a little bit more than halfway through and I'm calling it quits. By no means a bad game and I don't regret the time I've put into it, but it's starting to overstay its welcome. This is a very original Metroidvania…”
“Have you ever played a game that is brilliant in concept, but lackluster in its execution? Have you ever played a game that isn't even fundamentally flawed, but consistently does so many things wrong? Have you ever…”
“My expectations were much higher, i'd say its very much an acquired taste. While this game has some minor advantages, such as interesting weapon mechanics and secrets, but even though the weapons are different, you dont…”
7 of the 101 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“I would love to be able to review this game in a vacuum. It would be very convenient for Axiom Verge if I had never played Super Metroid, or watched Alien, or viewed any of H.R. Giger’s paintings. But Axiom Verge is…”
“My expectations were much higher, i'd say its very much an acquired taste. While this game has some minor advantages, such as interesting weapon mechanics and secrets, but even though the weapons are different, you dont…”
“Movement is a bit stiff but its a solid metroid.”
6 of the 101 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“[h1]AXIOM VERGE[/h1] [i]* does not factor into average score[/i] [table] [tr] [th]Story[/th] [th]Gameplay[/th] [th]Artstyle[/th] [th]Soundtrack[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]5[/th] [th]6[/th] [th]5[/th] [th]8[/th] [/tr] [tr]…”
“I'm not as hot on this game as a lot of people were when it dropped. It seems like a good game (certainly not a great game), but I never felt all that happy or smart while playing it. I was just trying to fill in the…”
“I had originally played this back in 2017 when I had no real idea what to expect and got stuck after reaching the 4th area of the game. After nearly a decade passed I have finished the game for the first time and I have…”
4 of the 101 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“The game's strong assets are the visuals and atmosphere, resembling old glory days of Commodore Amiga and Psygnosis games, with mysterious, moody alien worlds, and throbbing techno soundtracks. Unfortunately, the…”
“I'm not as hot on this game as a lot of people were when it dropped. It seems like a good game (certainly not a great game), but I never felt all that happy or smart while playing it. I was just trying to fill in the…”
4 of the 101 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Downs: - level design is boring and tedious, exploration is not fun - movement is awful, and stays that way - bosses feel too easy, especially when using the same 3 weapons”
“Just beat the game 60% Items 92% Map It was a 6/10 so ill leave a positive but some stuff really iritated me about this game. Wish i could leave a neutral review. The worst part is (Spoilers) the dumbest decision to not…”
“A great metroidvania with excellent music, progression, weapons and atmosphere. The combat can get a bit repetitive and the bosses are too easy and not very fun, but overall, it's a great game.”
Counted across 101 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 90.1% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“Overall Rating: 7.5/10 Axiom Verge is a respectable entry to the Metroidvania genre, feeling close to the vibe of some of the older 2D Metroid games. Overall, it does many things right, creates an intriguing atmosphere through it's soundtrack, artstyle and story, but does have…”
— a player, Steam review · 12 hrs played“It is a good game, although with so much high praises it got, I was expecting more... Maybe I don't really get it. But fun game it is.”
— a player, Steam review · 10 hrs played“I really, really, really wanted to like this game. The beginning levels were fun, the music was cool, the art style and visuals are amazing, and the story is interesting. It was nice to just explore and enjoy the scenery. I loved the first few levels of the game. But in later…”
— a player, Steam review · 13 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-10). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Indie |
| Player tags | Metroidvania · Indie · Pixel Graphics · Platformer · Action · Great Soundtrack · 2D · Sci-fi · Adventure · Retro · Exploration · Singleplayer (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Steam Cloud · Steam Leaderboards · Remote Play on TV · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Japanese |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 29 |
| Official site | http://www.axiomverge.com |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows XP Processor: Intel Pentium E2180 2.0 GHz Memory: 500 MB RAM Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4400 Storage: 300 MB available space Additional Notes: Dual Shock 4 or XInput controller recommended.