Metal Arms: Glitch in the System

"Sleeper Hit of the YEAR!!!"

With all the games out this holiday season, especially action games, you have to be careful what you buy. A lot of the time games like these fall short and deliver only a mediocre experience. That's what I feared this game would do when I bought it and played the first level. This game might look like a kids game, but once you get past the first level this is one of the most hardcore action/shooter games on Gamecube.

STORY 8/10

When you consider games that are mostly shooting everything in sight, you don't really need a story. That seems to be a trend these days. But not with this game. It takes place on one big metal planet inhabited solely by robots. It's the story of a robot named Glitch who doesn't remember his past. He is found by two miner bots, named Hosed and Screwed, in a cave and taken back to headquarters, where he is fixed by the tastelessly profane mechanic, Krunk. You are then sent on assignment with the two miners in the war against the ''mils''. The mils came about when the science bots, who are the only bots with schematic knowledge on building other bots, tried to improve on themselves. After many failed attempts, they tried some drastic ideas and created a SUPERbot. The bot went berserk and destroyed the lab and all the bots, only the main scientist remains could not be found. The SUPERbot calls himself General Corrosive, and it's rumored that with the forced help of the scientist he created a race of bad bots called mils. General Corrosive has taken over the planet of Iron Star and forced the miners into slavery. But the resistance force is who found you and that is the point of the game...To help the Droid Resistance in the destruction of General Corrosive and his army. It is by far not the best story, but the humor and wit make up for it.

Gameplay 9.5/10
Whether it's using the 17 various upgradeable weapons, hacking into and controlling enemy bots, driving in three different types of vehicles, manning a gun in a vehicle or turret gun, and just plain walking and running around levels, this game perfectly captures all this gameplay. The levels are designed very well, and somehow seem like they could be real somewhere on a completely mineral planet. There are also puzzles to solve in most levels, but they don't get annoying. If anything, the only annoying part in the game is that you must play through levels several times to avoid dying. Everything feels right and it somehow pulls you into the corny story.

Controls 10/10

At first the controls take a little getting used to. Not the maneuvering, but in the fact that every button is used. The sticks move and aim, so the game feels much like an FPS, although it is in a third person perspective. It works perfectly, since you can see your bot as you move, jump, double jump, and hide in the levels. The controls are completely intuitive, but are extremely logical...the R trigger uses the right arm weapons, while the L trigger uses the secondary items with the left arm. Also changing weapons is the same...hold X and use the d-pad to scroll through right arm weapons, and hold B to scroll through left arm weapons. Y is context sensitive, it might open doors, recruit and dismiss fellow bots, or exit and enter vehicles and turrets.

Sound 10/10

Even if you don't have surround sound, the sound in this game is amazing. The soundtrack is brilliant considering it was done in house, and EVERY sound effect is perfect, from the pzzzew of a bolt flying through the air to the truly massive sounding and feeling explosions. Another thing that really amazed me was the voice acting quality. They didn't use professionally hired voice actors, but the quality is so good that other games should be ashamed.

Graphics 9.5/10

I couldn't really give this game a ten on graphics, but it deserves better than a nine. On the one hand, the massive level geometry and breathtaking lighting and visual effects are some of the best on ANY system. I doubt the XBOX version looks any better. And although some have said otherwise, I have noticed ZERO slowdown whatsoever, even with upwards of fifteen bots onscreen. On the other hand, the textures can be extremely poor in some areas, but it is understandable because of the size of some levels and amount of bots running around.

Multiplayer 9/10

Many would probably only give this category a 7 or 8. The reason I give it a 9 is because the multiplayer is both fun and strategic, once you can fully access it. You have to acquire secret chips hidden throughout the single player missions to unlock multiplayer levels, and the later multiplayer levels are the best.
Once you step into the multiplayer, you might realize...''Hey, this isn't cool, there are no bots!!!''
However if you look further you'll realize there are, just not in the sense any of us are used to. In a stroke of pure strategic genius, you must find what are called ''recruiter grenades'' which when thrown in the general vicinity of a bot recruits them. You see, normally, you have an item called the control tether, which lets you hack into certain robots in the single player game. This is also available in multiplayer. Usually between two and four bots are scattered throughout the level sitting there waiting to be controlled. You can then tether and control the bot in order to go after your friends. Once the bot is destroyed you return to your normal view and go about the level. So, you ask, where are the a.i. bots??? Using a Rgrenade found around the levels, you can recruit the bot as an ally INSTEAD of hacking into and controlling it. So it will run and gun with you! The possibilities are amazing, considering one person might have 3 bots while another only has one. It makes for interesting and different battles every time. You can also steal the other players allies by throwing your own Rgrenade at them. For that matter, you can even throw a Rgrenade at your friends, and any kill they get also gives you a point!!!

Presentation 9/10

The main menu screen will most likely bother you. It says ''Campaign'' and ''Multiplayer''...that's it! So the menus aren't all that great, but everything else in this game is presented perfectly, from the cutscenes to the jokes and even the quirky way the developers added in STRONG curse words, but then bleeped them out. The looks, feels, and plays perfectly.

Rent/Buy???
Considering you can't get into the multiplayer fully until you play through some of the Campaign, AND that little detail that this game has more than FORTY missions and takes between 15-30 HOURS TO BEAT, I'd say definitely buy!!!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/03