This may be the most positive assessment of Axiom Verge I can find in the new forums. Some had conditionally positive things to say about it in the old forums, but I had lost my enthusiasm for it to some degree and had largely forgotten about it.
Until I received a copy as a gift this week and ended up playing the game all the way through. As an ambitious, fairly “pure” Metroid clone, I think it succeeds. I can see where most of the criticisms I’ve heard come from, but I also enjoyed the game enough to finish it.
One of the biggest issues I had at first was the placement of the weapon-switch on the left stick. I’d constantly press it by accident, especially during boss fights. But I changed that mapping to the XBOX button and had no real trouble with the controls after that.
While it isn’t a contender for my favorite game of 2015 thanks to some other strong releases, I did enjoy Axiom Verge and would recommend it to someone who is looking for a basic Metroid-type experience with quality throwback graphics and music.