Last year, ReCore was one of our most anticipated games of E3, with an asterisk — all we got was a cinematic trailer. The game was playable at E3 2016, with a ten-minute demo that gave us a look at how the fast-paced third-person shooter is shaping up ahead of its September 13 release date. It’s a lot more conventional than we thought from watching the trailer last year, but it’s fun and has one surprise that might win more than a few people over — an unexpectedly low $40 price tag.

ReCore follows a young woman named Joule, and while we’ve been told that the same kind of post-apocalyptic setting we saw in the trailer is in play here, we didn’t get much of a sense of who she is or what she’s up against from the demo. From the trailer, it looked like Joule would have a robot core that she could put in different bots that could support her. The demo didn’t show off that game mechanic, either — the demo had a robot helping out with enemies, but we’re not sure how switching that core between bots will work. It might not be possible at all — the demo and the E3 footage revealed multiple robot companions called Corebots with different names, suggesting you won’t simply have one companion core that can be placed into whatever robot husk you happen to come across.

Instead, the E3 demo focused more on shooting and platforming. ReCore is being co-developed by Comcept and Armature studios. Comcept is headed by Keiji Inafune, who worked on Mega Man from the franchise’s inception, while Armature was founded by Mark Pacini, Todd Keller, and Jack Matthews, all of whom were part of Retro Studios and worked on the Metroid Prime series. You probably know where this is going — the game plays like a cross between the two. Shooting is based on color-coded ammo that can be cycled through using the D-pad. This part is simple — match the color to the enemy and fire away. Things get tougher when enemies of all four colors start coming at you, but the basic idea is easy to grasp. Cycling through weapons feels a bit like it did in the Metroid Prime games, albeit with less of a payoff — while in Metroid Prime the weapons all had different properties, the color-coded bullets in ReCore all seem to behave the same way (by making a beeline for enemies). You’ll also be able to tell your robot companion (in this case, a spider-like robot named Seth who shoots missiles) to attack enemies that you’ve locked onto, although their attacks need time to recharge once used.

There’s a big reliance on locking onto enemies, which means this game isn’t a cover-based third-person shooter like a Tomb Raider or a Mass Effect. It’s more fast-paced and arcade-style — you don’t have to worry about aiming much, but you will need to dodge enemy attacks. Fortunately, Joule is very quick. She runs fast, can double jump, and can dash through the air to avoid attacks and get around the back of enemies. This sort of constant movement makes for a light, fun experience, even if the game’s mechanics are pretty simple.

While the dash seems like a callback to Mega Man 3, the platforming also feels a bit like Metroid Prime (just in third-person instead of first-person). You’ll need to time double jump and dash combos properly to proceed, and there are even magnetic rails that your robot friends can help you speed along — Joule won’t curl up into a ball like Samus, but it still feels very familiar. That’s a good thing, and while it’s not as innovative as the gameplay of Metroid Prime, that’s no knock — the Metroid Prime games sit on some pretty hallowed ground.

Occasionally, Joule will need to find some robot cores to proceed, which are either hidden away somewhere or are powering an unfriendly Corebot. In the demo, one core was used to activate a pillar that opened up one of those magnetic rails, but we’re guessing they’ll play many different roles in the full game.

The demo took Joule through an abandoned factory full of robots that don’t much care for her presence. Blasting them is fun as long as you keep running around and taking advantage of Joule’s speed. As you shoot, you’ll notice arcade-style numbers flying off in the air, letting you know about combos and XP gained. We’re not sure how all that fits in the grander structure of the game, but it makes ReCore feel less like a serious venture and more like a fun, pick-up-and-play shooter. Fine by us — the world could use a few less serious games. It’s not a difficult game, but it’s enjoyable for what it is.

That might be why the game is priced at $40. Full games from major studios usually come in at $60, so a $40 game tells us that ReCore might be on the short side. But, considering a lot of games on the short side still go out and demand $60, we appreciate the gesture. ReCore comes out September 13 for Xbox and Windows 10.