Truth be told, I didn’t think I’d like parkour first-person platforming with guns, explosions, bosses, and a requirement to keep moving like I’m in the movie Crank. But I did. You start every level with the player on a motorcycle catching up to a convoy of trucks full of explosives, shipping containers, and Mad Max-style enemies. A beats per-minute block at the bottom-center of your screen indicates your heart rate. If your heart rate dips, you begin to lose health. If your heart rate soars, you begin to regenerate health. The game tells you to keep moving, so you do. You tap shift to shoot forward and use the grappling hook in your foot to catch up to the next set of trucks or pull a sniper toward you. This is Meatgrinder.
The Meatgrinder demo for Steam’s NextFest allowed me to play through two levels of the game and pick up three weapons. The first weapon is dual-pistols and while the bullets fired off wildly in many directions; time is spent focusing on spatial awareness, where are you and where are you going to be? The second weapon was a double-barrelled shotgun. Instead of reloading the shotgun you’re given an overheat bar beneath the crosshair. The minigun follows the same scheme, with an overheat bar in place of reloading. While shooting plays an important role in Meatgrinder, it’s not the central focus. At least not in a traditional sense. I found myself shooting at red barrels and explosives more than enemies.
Intriguingly, there doesn’t appear to be a story whatsoever in Meatgrinder. The Steam store page boasts no storylines whatsoever. You’re just some dude flying along the highway blowing up trucks and quippin’ off one-liners like you’re Duke. In a beautiful moment, I grappling hooked a sniper, and instead of being brought to him, we both collided in the middle, and I gave him a lil’ shotgun kiss. It was a moment that stood out because while I was failing considerably while playing the game, there were moments when the game hit really hard. I would go on a tear across multiple trucks, slaying those in front of me and moving with such speed and grace.
I feel like that’s what Meatgrinder is going to come down to, the ability to catch and hold onto those moments where everything just clicks. You jump left, land on the truck, and blast a guy in the face with a shotgun. Your grappling hook flies through the gibs to hit a sniper behind him and pull you towards the truck he’s standing on. As you blast through the sniper, you can tap the shift button and shoot forward onto the truck, land, and clear it of baddies. It’s small moments like this where you’re able to gain your footing and keep moving that show the magic behind the design. I should have died HUNDREDS of times, but the “keep moving” mantra offered by the game kept me alive and going. Meatgrinder is pointless fun. I hope you check out the demo during Steam NextFest and if you like it, make sure to wishlist the game. Meatgrinder releases in Q2 of 2023.
