Metal Arms: Glitch in the System

"This little tike is packing more heat than the National Gaurd."

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System is truly an amazing game with an array of missions and weapons, along with downright brazen humor that entertains the whole way through.

Graphics-10
Very good graphical quality. Everything has great textures, shiny surfaces and sharp details. All the characters are eccentric and have fantastic designs, most of which are pretty humorous, but than again, this whole damn game consists of slap stick comedy. Speaking of characters, they all have something to offer in regards to amusement. Take for instance, Colonel Alloy who's strict and always has an insulting name for you. There's Shady and Mr. Pockets who are pretty sketchy, funny to look at and offer a variety of things for Glitch to buy. And probably the most entertaining character of them all, Krunk, who can't seem to spout a sentence without cursing like an inbred biker and sailor.

Story-8/10
You take the role of a small robot droid named 'Glitch' who was found in rubble, brought to life and thrown into a rebellious group to fight the Mil army and General Corrosive. Glitch has no memory prior to when he was found, not knowing his history and having this strange symbol on his head only provokes more questions than answers, but once you start kicking ass, you find out more about our mysterious hero that impedes Corrosive. It's not extremely story driven, but it does eventually get to it's climactic parts.

Sound-9/10
Everything here is lucid, from the explosions, the sound of weaponry, the Mils running in sheer terror once shot at, to Krunk's incessant obscenities are all well established. The music can hang now and then, but can also pick up in fire fights and in different missions. The voice acting is surprisingly good as well.

Gameplay-9/10
As Glitch, you can operate numerous weapons to dispose and disfigure your foes. This is Run and Gun at it's finest.

Weaponry comes in wide variety. Each has it's strengths and weaknesses, balance was really sought out for here which is good, because there is really no overpowered weapon, and those that do pack power, most have long reload times and low ammo supplies.

Guns include, mining laser, spew gun, scatter blaster, barrage rocket, cleaners, recruiter grenades, detonators, coring charges, magma bombs, etc. Most are your not-so-quite-run-of-the-mill weapons. Sure, you have your shotgun and machine guns that you've seen the animation for countless times beforehand, but Metal Arms incorporates them differently which really makes them eccentric. What's better than the weapons you have now? How about your weapons that you have now, but can be upgraded? You can find upgrades throughout different missions, and you can purchase most of them from Shady and Mr. Pockets-(that's the damndest name and hilarious to boot). These upgrades really do convert your already powerful weapons into even more destructible ones that can offer a holocaust on a platter.

Aside from the weapons that offer the similar weaponry found in most shooting games, Metal Arms does however, have very different and interesting properties for other types of weapons. For example, the control tether, it allows Glitch to tap into and hack his enemies in order to control them. This offers quite a lot of variety on its own, considering you get to play other robots, unfortunately though, it's hard to pull off, because first and foremost, enemies have to be unaware of Glitch's presence and have their backed turned (which doesn't happen too frequently) for the tether to be inserted, or using EMP's to shut opponents down for a follow up with the tether. The EMP's are nice, they allow you to follow up for punishment, along with recruiter grenades that if thrown properly, can turn opposing robots into your comrades that fight with you until destroyed or the end of the mission, which was a really cool aspect. My personal favorite would have to be the cleaners. These bad boys pack a punch, that and most of the time, instant death. The cleaner is a heat seeking missile that when thrown, can target up to three enemies at a time and shatter them into pieces instantaneously.
Glitch can pilot vehicles and turrets to unleash havoc as well.

Glitch's intrusive manner doesn't always bode well though. Running and gunning is the basis of combat, but can get you killed easily, as a lot of enemies offer major splash damage that really does proclaim 'cheap'. The titans are a perfect example of this. Even when taking cover, Glitch can still reluctantly take damage, even from hiding behind a ten foot thick reinforced metal door. What is a sigh of relief, is that numerous enemies do drop atomic energy to satiate Glitch, what's better, there are battery packs that prolong Glitch's life span in fire fights, definitely a plus. Power ups can be found that boost Glitch's speed and can render him invincible for short periods of time to increase his defense, but evidently, they're to few and far between.

Replay value-9/10
The developers were really intent with placing secret chips in all missions to unlock multi-player levels. It's really just icing on the cake, the mission based objectives and gameplay don't get old and provides massive entertainment.

Over All, Metal Arms will probably be overshadowed this holiday season due to a lack of publicity, which is a shame, because this game offers great gameplay and a set of mechanics that hook and keep players entertained throughout it's entirety.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/24/03, Updated 11/25/03