About The Game

You play as P, a "Slicer" with a blue-haired tomboy aesthetic and a massive chainsword. The job is simple: enter a decaying, colossal megastructure and dismantle the autonomous construction equipment that has gone rogue. You are accompanied by Orbie, a floating drone who acts as your "eyes" (and the literal camera lens). The story leans into a "slice-of-life" tone, focusing on the routine nature of P's dangerous work rather than a world-ending epic. P moves with incredible speed, utilizing wall-runs, slides, and acrobatic vaults. The movement is all available from the start; the challenge is mastery rather than unlocks. The unique mechanic, and signature move, is the Motorslice: By stabbing your chainsword into glowing yellow surfaces, you can rev the motor to launch yourself across gaps or up vertical walls, turning the weapon into a traversal tool. Large bosses are treated as environmental puzzles. You must scale these massive, moving construction rigs Shadow-of-the-Colossus-style to reach their weak points. Combat is "fast and fragile." P dies in very few hits, but she also shreds regular enemies instantly. It’s about maintaining flow rather than complex combos.

History and Inspiration

Motorslice is a "love letter" to the PS1/PS2 era of action-platformers. Visually, it utilizes a clean, low-poly aesthetic that highlights its brutalist and liminal-space environments.

Mechanically, it borrows the "flow state" platforming of Mirror’s Edge and the atmospheric, lonely exploration found in Team Ico’s work. The soundtrack, composed by Pizza Hotline, provides a heavy dose of atmospheric Drum and Bass/Jungle that anchors the retro-future feel.

The bosses are monumental, and the way P needs to climb each one to damage their special weak points seem to be clearly inspired by Shadow of the Colossus. 

Critical Discourse and Player Feedback

On r/xboxachievements, there is a lot of chatter about the game’s achievement values (e.g., 3-point or 7-point achievements). It has become a minor meme among hunters who are frustrated by their now "uneven" Gamerscore. On r/IndieGaming, players are praising the "immaculate vibes" and the stunning use of brutalist architecture. However, a vocal segment of players on Reddit has pointed out that the "Motorslicing" controls can feel finicky, particularly during high-speed boss segments where the camera/Orbie struggles to keep up. Much like the early Life is Strange fandom, a community has quickly formed around P’s character design. There is a lot of fan art focusing on her "sleepy mercenary" personality and her interactions with Orbie. Generally, the discourse is positive regarding the Series S version, with users noting that the low-poly art style allows it to maintain a stable frame rate, which is crucial for a game built on precision timing.

Currently MOTORSLICE has a "Strong" 76 Top Critic Rating on OpenCritic, 88% recommended on Steam from almost 2,000 ratings, 4.2/5 rating on Xbox from 390 total reviews, and a 4.74/5 on PlayStation from 486 ratings.

My Playthrough Impressions

When I first saw the trailer for MOTORSLICE it honestly didn't appeal to me. For some reason in the gameplay video the graphics looked unimpressive, and the control looked like it was going to be unpolished and janky, but since it was on Gamepass and I'm always looking for new games to review, I decided to give it a try.

I have to say, I was completely shocked. MOTORSLICE is a much better experience than the sum of its parts might suggest. 

For one, the graphics look so much better in motion than screenshots or video might suggest. Although the graphics are generally simplistic, there is an attention to small details in the world that adds a level of refinement you might not expect. P's character model is not particularly detailed, but she is well animated and expressive.

Additionally, the sound design and soundtrack fit the game perfectly and the way the audio is mixed is really perfect to compliment the action. I think it may be hard to understand without experiencing for yourself, but I highly recommend playing this game with headphones. You will want to hear every small nuance as you explore the world.

Finally, the gameplay and traversal mechanics are much more refined than you might expect. P's movement is responsive and she tends to line up her jumps in a grid format - much like the classic games of old. This makes it possible to quickly scale and jump between most platforms, because the grid-like alignment tends to position her exactly where you need her to be, in order to make the next jump. It's very satisfying to play.

Also, I love the way P is like a glass cannon. Extremely strong, killing most enemies in one hit, but also dies very easily. Fail to dodge a robot arm? Death. Fall too far? Death. Catch a sawblade to the face? Death. But luckily the checkpoints are pretty generous. Most times I found I had to do very little backtracking to get back to where I needed to be, although it does tend to put you back just far enough that after a few times it gets a tad annoying.

The world that P inhabits is stark, mostly devoid of human life, monumental, captivating, and deserves to be wholly experienced with all your senses.