Metal Arms: Glitch in the System

"A surprisingly fun game"

Okay, I'll admit, when I first saw the commercials for this game, I wasn't impressed. Looked like a kiddy game that you could beat with a rent over the weekend and wish you had your time back afterwards. But my little brother got it for Christmas, and after playing the first few levels, gave up and moved on to some other game. Desperate for something to play, having beaten all 1 of the games I'd received, I saw Metal Arms sitting there and thought ''Ah, what the hell?''

I popped it in and turned it on and started playing through the first level. The gameplay seemed like a pleasant throwback to Jet Force Gemini. I was hooked, and played it all through the night.

Graphics (8/10)

The graphics were very streamlined, little or no jaggies, I can't really complain here. Visually, Metal Arms is above par. From the commercial, they looked pretty crappy to me, but they didn't do this game justice, they worked to make the characters look good. Bullet holes stay in metal, you get battle damage as your health goes down, you can make black marks with fire...very stylish. Even the trademark of third-person action games (horrible camera angles), were almost non-existent. Though some of the environments seem a little bland, so it doesn't get a perfect score.

Sound (7/10)

The voices were pretty well done. I don't think there was really a 'bad' voice actor in this one. Yhough some of your droid comrades's voices are overacted, its actually pretty funny. With them spouting phrases like ''Ready to fight!'' ''Want some help? Well, you got it anyway!'' They end up sounding like those action phrases on all your old action figures. Now whenever I hear one all I can think about is one of them shouting ''action phrase!''
The gun shots could have been a little more diversified, but you can tell they also worked hard to make this game sound good.

Story (5/10)

This is where the game suffers, the plot is fairly straightforward and moves slowly. When you first start the game, you're expecting to learn about where Glitch came from eventually, but its never explained. Of course, that leaves room for a sequel. I won't say too much about the story, don't want to spoil it, but basically, as Glitch, you wage a war against the Milbots and their mysterious and powerful leader, General Corrosive. You'll gain and lose allies, sometimes taking control of one of them for a level or two to help Glitch along. Which basically boils down to run around, blow everything up, get a cutscene.

Gameplay - In General (10/10)

This is where Metal Arms shines. I'm reluctant to give a perfect score to anything, but hell, this game earned it. The controls are similar to Time Splitters, the gameplay a throwback to Jet Force Gemini. Simply put, this game is FUN.

-The controls are very friendly, easy to learn.
-Menus are quick to scroll through.
-You can destroy a lot of the environment, which I've
always liked to do in video games.

You're given a slew of upgradeable weapons, all of them actually useful. There's almost always that one weapon that you never use, but each of Glitch's weapons are most useful against certain types of enemies. Even the gun that's just meant to cut cables has a very useful secondary feature. Your enemies and allies have decent AI, they'll roll out of the way of your grenade, they'll try and step on you if you're underfoot, they'll even push you against a wall to pin you in. There's several different vehicles that you can drive, including a tank, modified dune buggy-type vehicle called a RAT, you can even take control of some of your enemies with control consoles. The multiplayer is fun, and when you turn on enemy bots, you can create your own little army to stand against your friends. The gameplay is what makes this game a gem.

Gameplay - Difficulty (7/10)

Though fun, this game is no cakewalk. Normal difficulty is a challenge, though I got through it without too much trouble, there wasn't any spots I couldn't get past with one or two tries. Hard and Nuts of Steel can be...FRUSTRATING. If you're easily frustrated, maybe borrow your friend's old controller to play this game. I haven't tried easy, I usually never play games on Easy difficulties, but from what I've heard, its fairly difficult in the later levels even on Easy.

The classes of enemies, without going into too much detail, are regular grunts, titans, zombiebots, and predators. There are quite a few more, but these are the ones you'll be seeing the most, unfortunately. You'll be real tired of titans by the end of the game.

Gameplay - Replay Value (5/10)

Not just hard, this game is long. There are 42 levels, some that take only five minutes, some that take an hour. To throw out a rough average, I'd say average is 30 minutes for a level. There isn't really anything to unlock for beating difficulties, besides a concept video for beating it the first time. You'll want to replay some individual levels in case you miss some secret chips, you'll need them to unlock multiplayer levels. But as for actual awards, nothing to offer. Fun factor is your only motivation to play this fairly long game through again.

Overall (8/10)

So, to sum up, looks nice, sounds nice, plays great. A refreshing challenge, and since I wasn't expecting a lot, I was personally blown away. Well worth the price. Or tricking your relatives into buying it and then stealing it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/02/04