Robotica

"First generation, and it shows."

One of the earliest games available on the Saturn, Robotica (as it is known in the US; the name in Japan is Deadalus) takes its own stab at the Doom style first person shooter genre. With a whisper thin plot involving a supercomputer in a satellite and a rebel group whose motives for destroying the supercomputer are unclear, perhaps simply enough to add a Terminator "Skynet" element into the story, the game has an interesting gameplay premise in that all the levels change each play. That's not much of a problem, however, since the gameplay is the same: shoot the bad guy, find the key, and maybe turn on the lights if one needs to. Sometimes, a level requires a power station to be destroyed.

Predictably, the game itself is bland and lacks any variety whatsoever. The weapons given to the player are almost indistinguishable from each other, and don't provide much punch to the game. The act of gaining essential things such as power units, additional ammunition, and power upgrades is a hit or miss affair. The enemies either have those things, or they don't. The control itself does not help the shortcomings.

The graphics are bland. It's understandable the developers were trying to create the atmosphere of a dark, claustrophobic series of rooms and corridors, but the textures themselves are indistinguishable from level to level, save color differences. The sound isn't anything to remark about either, and the music is very forgettable.

It is playable to an extent, and the fact that the levels change every time is novel. However, it's a very forgettable title and if not for the existence of cheat codes for it, all traces of this game's existence might as well have disappeared.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99