Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic Score: Latest Ratings

The Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic score stands at 84/100, labeled Generally Favorable, based on 39 critic reviews with zero negative notices. The review embargo lifted on August 17, 2026, and every figure on this page was verified on August 18, 2026, directly from Metacritic and OpenCritic page data. Because the game launches on August 20, treat these as live numbers that will keep moving as late reviews and user scores accumulate.

Mortal Shell 2 is Cold Symmetry's follow-up to the 2020 cult Soulslike, published by Playstack for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The sequel doubles the playable Shell roster to eight, removes the stamina bar in favor of a Resolve meter, and moves the series into an interconnected open world, so there was genuine suspense about whether a bigger game would review as well as a tighter one.

Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic score at a glance

• Metascore: 84/100, Generally Favorable
• Critic sample: 39 reviews — 32 positive, 5 mixed, 0 negative
• User score: 8.4/10, posted one day after embargo and still growing
• Platforms: PC 84; PS5 85; Xbox Series X has a single review and no formed average yet

That zero in the negative column is the headline. Even the lowest scored review on the Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic page, a 60 from The Wand Report, sits in mixed territory rather than outright pan territory, which is rare for a mid-budget Soulslike sequel. For context, a Generally Favorable badge means the weighted average of all critic reviews lands between 75 and 89, and this game sits comfortably in the upper half of that band.

Scores by platform

On the Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic page, the PC version carries the main 84 from all 39 reviews. The PS5 version scores 85 from 11 reviews, and remarkably all 11 are positive, with no mixed or negative entries at all, suggesting console players and reviewers are having the smoothest time. Xbox Series X has only one submitted review so far, which is not enough for an average; expect that column to fill in after launch. The user score of 8.4/10 is the youngest metric here, and Metacritic's own search snippets briefly showed it as undetermined before player ratings started landing, so check back as the sample matures. It is also worth remembering that platform columns on aggregators draw from overlapping pools, so the PC figure and the PS5 figure share most of their underlying reviews.

Critic score breakdown

These are the reviews listed on the Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic critic page, all dated August 17, 2026, with scores normalized to 100.

Outlet	Score	Key point
Voxel	95	One of the best soulslikes ever released; the shell system could spark small genre revolutions
Shacknews	90	Expands every aspect of the first game while retaining the brutal gameplay
Loot Level Chill	90	Bigger, tighter, deeper, wider
Critical Hits	90	Defied expectations to become one of the year's best Soulslikes
Windows Central	90	A full reinvention of the middling original with strong Unreal Engine 5 performance
GameMAG	90	A benchmark work of fixing its predecessor's mistakes
Game Rant	90	The sequel fans were hoping for
GamingBolt	90	A confident sequel with rewarding exploration and focused progression
CGMagazine	85	Great kinetic gameplay, soundscape, and gorgeous despair-soaked visuals
SpazioGames	80	Vastly improves on its predecessor; some balance issues remain
GamesRadar+	80	The most pleasant gaming surprise of the year
Combo Infinito	75	Ambitious and haunting, but cites severe frame drops and crashes on PC
Game8	74	Gets the pieces right without putting them together; questions the $49.99 value
PCGamesN	70	Combat and shells shine; the Elden Ring-style open world falls short
The Wand Report	60	Overly ambitious, with mechanics that collide and lack cohesion

What the top scores praise

The ceiling of the range is Voxel's 95, which calls the game not just one of the best soulslikes ever released but a title with the potential to spark small revolutions in the genre, crediting the shell-swapping mechanic and the removal of the stamina bar. The cluster at 90 is just as telling. Windows Central describes a full reinvention of the middling original, with a world that finally rewards exploration cleanly and strong Unreal Engine 5 performance. Game Rant says Cold Symmetry figured out what worked, fixed much of what did not, and built a banger around those ideas. GamingBolt highlights rewarding exploration, engaging combat, and focused progression despite rough edges, while CGMagazine at 85 praises the kinetic gameplay and a soundscape that sells the despair the studio set out to sell.

What the lower scores criticize

The floor of the range is instructive too. The Wand Report's 60 argues the game is overly ambitious, with an excess of mechanics that collide and rarely cohere into what makes the punishing genre satisfying. Game8's 74 likes the horrifying audiovisuals and polished combat but complains about repetitive stages, unfair mob pressure, and a painfully slow narrative, and questions whether the content justifies the $49.99 price against the competition. Combo Infinito's 75 praises the Lovecraftian atmosphere and brutal executions but reports severe frame drops and crashes on PC, plus confusing map design. PCGamesN's 70 says the attempt to imitate Elden Ring's open world falls drastically short on navigation, even while the combat and shell system shine. Read together, the dissenters do not dispute the combat core; they dispute the map, the balance, and the technical polish.

Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic vs OpenCritic

OpenCritic tells the same story with a different yardstick. The game carries the Mighty tier badge, a Top Critic Average of 85.04, and a 92% recommend rate across 50 reviews, 24 of them from top critics, with a median score of 85 and a 95th percentile rank sitewide. Notable OpenCritic listings include Giant Bomb at 90, COGconnected at 90, Shacknews at 90, The Outerhaven Productions at 90, DualShockers at 85, Hobby Consolas at 83, IGN at 80, and GameSpot at 80. Wccftech's 75 is among the lowest there, calling the game both frustrating and intriguing at once.

Why do the two sites disagree slightly? The Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic average is a weighted score over 39 reviews, while OpenCritic averages its 50 listed critic reviews more directly. Different sample sizes and weighting explain the one-point gap, and both round to the same conclusion: mid-80s, broadly recommended.

Score trend and player reception

The Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic score opened at 83 across 30 reviews when the embargo lifted on August 17, per ixbt.games' snapshot, and ticked up to 84 across 39 reviews within a day. OpenCritic moved from 85 with 91% recommended across 35 reviews to 85.04 with 92% across 50. An old cached snippet still shows the 83-and-30 figure, so if you see it, that is the embargo-day snapshot, not the current value. The early pattern is mild upward drift as sample sizes grow, which usually means the headline scores are stabilizing rather than swinging.

Players are aligned with critics so far. Steam shows a Very Positive rating with 88.7% of 1,102 user reviews positive, and the earlier open beta holds 91.5% positive across 5,571 reviews. All player figures verified August 18, 2026. The one gap to watch is the gap between critic and user samples: 39 professional reviews versus more than a thousand Steam players, so the user numbers carry more statistical weight even though they are less curated.

How it compares to the first game

The 2020 original received mixed-to-positive reviews, summarized by Wikipedia as landing in the mid-70s range, though it went on to sell one million units by September 2023. Against that backdrop, the Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic average of 84 represents roughly a ten-point jump and one of the stronger sequel turnarounds of the year. Multiple critics, including Loot Level Chill and Game Rant, frame it as the rare follow-up that fixes nearly everything players complained about the first time, from the sluggish pacing to the confusing world layout. For a small studio's second crack at its own formula, that is about the best aggregate outcome available.

Bottom line

Whether you read the Mortal Shell 2 Metacritic page or its OpenCritic counterpart, the picture is consistent: a mid-80s critic average, zero negative reviews, a 92% recommend rate, and early players scoring it even higher than critics. For written verdicts and playtime data, see our review roundup; for launch timing, the release date page; and for storefront details, the Steam guide. We will refresh this tracker after launch week, once the Xbox column fills in and the user score stabilizes.