RETRO GAMING – Metal Arms: Glitch in the System

Okay, here’s a sure recipe for a non-hit: Take a shooter with surprisingly intricate depth, add tooney-looking robots, crazy voices, and a steep difficulty curve, all wrapped around a fun, slightly-clichéd, but well-voiced plot, and market it alongside all the “serious” shooters of the era. For those of you who still own a PS2, X-Box, or Gamecube, and haven’t give this little gem a try, I’d invite you to check out the bargain bin for a copy of Metal Arms.

The storyline is pretty simple. There’s a planet called Ironstar whose inhabitants are all robots. There are basically two kinds – The freedom-fighting Droids, led by the courageous Colonel Alloy, and the Mils, commanded by the evil General Corrosive. You play the role of Glitch, a busted-up mining Droid who lost his memory, but who has enough attitude to take on the Mils head to head with little more than a mining laser and a little “elbow grease.”

As you start the game, you might feel a little annoyed by the rather “kid-like” appearance of the game, but don’t be fooled. Despite the “look” of the game, you’ve got in your hands a pretty complicated shooter. Sure, there’s the basic weapons, from lasers and machine guns to a shotgun and sniper rifle, but there’s a lot more to the game than that.

The first thing that hit me when I started up the game was the difficulty of the game. This thing is hard! Don’t let the first couple of levels fool you – you’ll pretty quickly end up facing hordes of enemies, and from some of the most unlikely places. You’ll think you’ve got a level’s baddies down by the fifth or sixth attempt, but then you’re killed by a guy hidden somewhere that you didn’t see. There’s plenty of times where you’re just sitting there, trying to figure out how to get past a certain obstacle, and you’ll start yelling at the machine, complaining aloud why they couldn’t just give you a hint. But then, you suddenly find the admittedly obvious solution, and move on, because you want to know what’s going to happen next.

The multiplayer on Gamecube and X-Box is surprisingly fun, with up to four players each with a Glitch clone, all fighting through a number of different modes, including the standard capture the flag and king of the hill, but also some interesting variations. PS2 users get a little short-changed, though, because they only get a two-player multiplayer, and it’s kind of lame to play one-on-one after a while. So that’s a negative.

One the plus side, Glitch gets a surprising number of weapons and tools, from recruiter grenades and EMP weapons, to a gun that lets you sneak up and gain control of other bots, to vehicles, to controlling stations, to some of the most heart-pounding levels you’ll ever play on any game, ever. This is a game that pushes your creativity, logic, and shooting skills to their max, and the game is in and of itself a very rewarding experience.

The music is a little silly, but it’s not really a concern. The real sound stars are the voice actors, who really did a top-notch job to create a very immersing and interesting experience. You’ll get a little annoyed with Crank, you’ll laugh at Glitch’s little jokes and frustrations, and you’ll smile as you finally help Glitch to restore order to Ironstar.

So, all in all, this is a game a fully and completely recommend, if you’ve got a little spare time and a gaming fix, but not the money required to pick up one of the new systems. And it’s definitely a welcome Glitch in your good old system.

- Kyle

~ by Karratti on Wednesday, 23 January, 2008.