Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
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| Metal Arms: Glitch in the System | |
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| Developer(s) | Swingin' Ape Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Vivendi Universal |
| Platform(s) | GameCube, Xbox, PS2, Xbox 360 |
| Release date | November 18, 2003 April 21, 2008 (Xbox Originals) |
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T13+ (Strong Language, Violence) OFLC: G8+ |
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System is a third-person shooter developed by Swingin' Ape Studios. It was published by Vivendi Universal in November 2003 for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was released on April 21, 2008 on Xbox Originals [1]
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[edit] Plot
Metal Arms is set on a fictional planet known as Iron Star, which was said to have been built by an ancient race, known as the Morbots, out of scrap metal and space junk. The Morbots are rumored to inhabit Iron Star's core to the present day, where none of the surface dwellers dare venture, for fear of deactivation and destruction. As the life of Droids evolved, a renowned scientist known as Dr. Exavolt began experimenting with Droid technology. One of his experiments ended in disaster, and inadvertently resulted in the tyrannical military mastermind known as General Corrosive. Corrosive began manufacturing a race of soldiers known as Milbots, or Mils for short, and enslaved the entire Droid race of Iron Star. Droids who rebelled against Corrosive were deactivated and recycled. Colonel Alloy established a hidden Droid settlement known as Droid Town, where he and the ragtag Droid Rebellion make their final stand against the Mils.
During a night-time expedition through a ruined city, a pair of Droids and their robotic canine Zobby find another of their own amongst the rubble, though the deactivated Droid looks very strange, sporting a foreign symbol on his helmet. The symbol looks similar to that of the Morbots, though the connection is never specifically made.
The rogue Droid is repaired in Droid Town by a potty-mouthed mechanic called Krunk, who reveals the Droid's name to be Glitch: the chief protagonist and veritable gopher-boy of the story. After being briefed on the history of Iron Star and Droid civilization (which also gives a back story to the game), Glitch finds himself amidst an attack on Droid Town, after a group of Mils blast their way through the nearby mines and start wreaking havoc. Glitch successfully repels the intruders and blows up a giant processing machine, sealing off the breach in the mines. One of the offending Mils by the name of Vlax manages to escape, which warrants a search and destroy mission to prevent the location of Droid Town being leaked to General Corrosive, as well as to take back a rare chip that was stolen.
Glitch pursues Vlax through the very Wasteland in which he was discovered with Krunk in a hijacked Mil vehicle dubbed the "R.A.T.", which stands for Rapid Armor Transport. By nightfall, he splits up with Krunk and continues the chase on foot, meeting up with a burly ally who introduces himself as Mozer, who escorts Glitch through the rougher parts of the Wasteland. Upon reaching the Mil compound that Vlax retreated to, Mozer retires from his brief partnership with Glitch, who invites his friend to return and recuperate at Droid Town.
Krunk infiltrates the Mil compound soon after Glitch, and the two meet up during the search for Vlax. After receiving the illustrious Control Tether from Krunk, Glitch proceeds to the communications hub and destroys the towers within, just before Vlax can radio Droid Town's location to his superiors. After holding off an external assault by the Mils, Glitch and Krunk give chase to Vlax once more, this time bringing the Mil down for good and finally retrieving the stolen chip.
The Droids learn of what may be their only chance to shut down the Mils for good: a control chip that is buried in the polluted depths of Mil City. To get to Mil City, Glitch uses the chip freshly returned from Vlax to access the Morbot City deep under the surface of Iron Star. He meets up with a schizophrenic, flame-wielding Droid by the name of Slosh, who aids Glitch in the final leg of the Morbot City. With the help of a pair of Droids, and an obnoxious covert-op codenamed Agent "Shush", Glitch sneaks into Mil City and successfully bluffs his way through a Droid spy manufacturing facility, delivering the control chip to his Droid partners, who deliver the chip back to Droid Town.
Glitch's escapades in Mil City aren't over yet, as Colonel Alloy learns that the long-since AWOL scientist, Dr. Exavolt, is very much alive and in Mil custody. Glitch blasts his way through the city under the cover of night, and meets Exavolt on a sour note, given the fact that Exavolt somehow escaped. Glitch is more concerned with the fact that all of his targets for rescue end up rescuing themselves, and leads Exavolt back to Droid Town. Just when things are starting to look up for the Droid Rebellion, Exavolt calls in Mil shock troops, revealing that General Corrosive, the Mil race, and the enslavement of Droids were all intentional, and finding the location of Droid Town to be a part of his plans to quell the Rebellion.
In a flashy display of firepower, Glitch repels the Mils once again, long enough for the surviving Droids to escape Droid Town, but not before being captured and taken prisoner by the Mils. When he wakes up, Glitch is locked in a cell with a tattered-looking Droid, who tells Glitch that he is currently in a coliseum where the only way out "is in pieces." Glitch survives round after round to become the champion of the coliseum, at which point he squares off with the invincible General Corrosive himself. Given the sheer size of Corrosive, and the fact that Glitch is completely unarmed, Glitch has no other option except to lose, which is exactly what he does. All is not lost, as Glitch intentionally fell to pieces and pulled himself back together, after being dumped in a junkyard outside the coliseum, glaring as he hears the triumphant roars of the Mils.
Colonel Alloy finally makes contact with Glitch after the whole ordeal, informing him that the Droids are okay, but that Zobby was taken by Dr. Exavolt himself, who is preparing to blast off from Iron Star in a space shuttle. Glitch hijacks a R.A.T. and bowls his way through the wasteland, reaching the launchpad thirty seconds before liftoff, hitching a bumpy ride on the outside of the shuttle. As the shuttle flies toward one of the moons of Iron Star, it turns out the "moon" is actually a space station in disguise. Exavolt disappears into the station shortly after docking, and Glitch fights his way through the station to exterminate the turncoat doctor.
In the final chapters of the game, Glitch takes full control of General Corrosive himself, using the Mil Control Chip to initiate the permanent shutdown of the Mil race. Exavolt orders General Corrosive be destroyed, but wave after wave of attacking Mils are flattened and smashed under the mighty fist of Corrosive. In a final act of desperation, Exavolt initiates a countdown to destroy the station. Glitch and Zobby escape in a pod and land safely back on Iron Star, amongst a pile of debris from the station. The twisted, battered hulk of General Corrosive rises from the ruins, no longer invincible, but still quite powerful and now hungry for vengeance. Glitch does battle with the gargantuan Mil and brings the General down once and for all, extinguishing the last smoldering embers of the Milbot race. Back in Droid Town, Glitch is given a hero's welcome, heralded as the savior of all Droidkind.
Exavolt watches from his shuttle in orbit of Iron Star, vowing that the war wasn't over, and that he would have his revenge against Glitch.
[edit] Multiplayer
Up to four players can compete in multiplayer mode in the Xbox and Gamecube versions of the game, but this number is limited to two in the PS2 version. The PS2 version contains two exclusive maps, however.
There are seven modes of play:
Bot Brawl - Comparable to Deathmatch. The first bot to gain a set number of kills wins.
Team Bot Brawl - Similar to Bot Brawl, except players are split up into teams and share scores.
Possession Melee - Players cannot directly attack other players, instead they must control or recruit other Bots to gain points.
King of The Hill - Players must gain control of a certain place in the level for a selected amount of time in order to win.
Moving Hill - Same as King of The Hill, but the control point moves.
Tag - Players must "tag" (kill) a player. The killed player then becomes "it." Whoever has been "it" the least after a time limit expires wins.
Reverse Tag - The objective is to become tagged by destroying an opponent and then staying that way for as long as possible.
Notes about multiplayer:
- The game begins with 4 multiplayer levels unlocked, with the rest unlocked by finding set numbers of secret chips in the Campaign.
- Players can create custom-made game variants for use in multiplayer, which allows them to enable and disable certain modes and objects during gameplay.
[edit] Races
Iron Star is the home to several varieties of Bots:
Droids - The Droids inhabit Iron Star's surface cities in abundance. There are many different types of Droid robots, from small biped miners to intelligent science bots to large transport bots.
Morbots - Ancient race of Bots believed to have constructed Iron Star. It is also believed that they inhabit great cities at the core of Iron Star where they generate the energy used by the planet's surface inhabitants. They disturb the droids that live on the surface. None are seen throughout the game- with the possible exception of Glitch.
Mils - Race of Military Bots created by General Corrosive with the purpose of conquering and controlling Iron Star. The Mils make up the majority of enemies in-game.
Zombiebots - Bots made of scrap metal, and have an unquenchable thirst for fresh oil, the equivalent of blood for droids. They tend to inhabit the more decrepit regions of Iron Star.
[edit] Characters
Glitch - The protagonist. A miner droid who was found in a heavily damaged state by the rebels in a ruined city. He has a distinct mark on the back of his head which shows his possible connection to the Morbot race.
Zobby - Zobby is the robotic canine that, along with a small band of Droids, discovered Glitch in the ruins. He can't talk, but he can drive the RAT and is good with the machine gun mounted on RATs.
Colonel Alloy - Colonel Alloy commands the Droid rebellion. Before he became a commander, he was a Droid architect. He helped design the massive cities that now surface Iron Star. His final project would be the designing of a place called Droid Town. But the project would be cut short as the war between the Mil Bots and the Droids began. The location of Droid Town is unknown to the Mils.
Dr. Exavolt - Dr. Exavolt was once the Head Scientist of the pre-Mil Iron Star. He was one of the science bots, the only model able to understand and upgrade the workings of the other models. However, scientists could not understand or upgrade themselves. In an attempt to create a better scientist, Exavolt created General Corrosive. The project created disastrous results for the planet Iron Star. Corrosive went on a rampage and destroyed the entire science lab he was created in. No remains of Exavolt were found after the incident.
Krunk - Krunk is the Head Engineer for the Droid rebellion, and is Alloy's most reliable conpanion. He is known for his amazing skill of turning scrap metal into deadly weapons in just a few seconds, and he is also known for his constant use of obscene language. Krunk has built multiple weapons for the rebellion, but one of his greatest inventions is the Control Tether device.
Mozer - A large Droid, Mozer wields a Level 2 Rivet Gun and a huge club. He led Glitch to the Mil Compound that Vlax had escaped to but was trapped by the Zombiebot King. Glitch frees him and Mozer agrees to return to Droid Town to join the rebels.
Slosh - Meets Glitch in Morbot Reactor. After General Corrosive took over Iron Star, the Mils brought some Droids into the Morbot Region to see how long they would last. Glitch would free him from being stranded and Slosh would then help him get into Mil City. Agent Shhh - Agent Shhh is a master spy, he is used to give valuable information about the Mils to the rebel forces. Don't upset him or he just may put some pads on your oversized metal clankers.
Shady and Mr. Pockets - Shady and Mr. Pockets are Barter Droids who will usually show up in some of the most random places. Using Washers, the player can purchase upgrades and weapons from them.
General Corrosive - General Corrosive is a failed science experiment led by Chief Scientist Dr. Exavolt. General Corrosive is an exceptionally intelligent robot. He has designed and automated a new race of robots called the Mils. The Mils have since overpowered Iron Star and enslaved the Droids. General Corrosive constructed a unique bot chassis for himself so well armored that it would seem almost completely indestructible.
Goff - Goff is another marine from the Droid Rebellion. At one time he was captured and disassembled, but then Glitch managed to find his body and put him back together. Goff would then give Glitch information on how to rescue Dr. Exavolt and fight side by side with Glitch.
Vlax - Vlax is a purple Grunt that broke through the Droid Mines into Droid Town and managed to escape in a RAT. He later serves as a Boss in-game.
[edit] Gameplay
Metal Arms consists of 42 separate levels. Here, the player will take control of the game's main protagonist, Glitch, viewing his actions through an over-the-shoulder third person perspective. Over seventeen weapons are accessible to the player, most of which can be upgraded through the use of upgrade kits strewn about in various locations in the Campaign.
Although level design for Metal Arms is linear, there is more than one way to complete objectives. The game provides a multitude of standard-fare shooter weapons, such as flamethrowers, machine guns, various types of Grenades, shotguns, rocket launchers, et cetera, to push through levels with brute force. To contrast, it also includes a relatively unique weapon- the Control Tether. The Control Tether, as its namesake implies, allows the Player to directly control enemy forces and use their own firepower against them.
[edit] Vehicles
There are 3 vehicles that can be boarded and used in Metal Arms. They usually provide a strategic advantage, because they provide the player with more firepower (without having to use any of their own ammunition) and armor.
RAT - (Rapid Armored Transport) A fast, six-wheeled vehicle with a .30 cal S.P.E.W. turret mounted on the back. Players can either drive the vehicle, or man the turret. There are three levels in the game based around this vehicle, as well as multiple other levels where it is featured in some manner or another. It can crush small enemies.
Loader - A small mining hovercraft. It can hover over water and other similar liquids, allowing access to areas normally unattainable. It has a S.P.E.W. mounted on its front, as well as a large claw which can pick up small enemies, rocks, or other small objects.
Sentinel - Easily the most powerful vehicle of them all. The Sentinel is a large tank, with a powerful S.P.E.W. turret and a large powerful, turret, all controlled by just the one player. It can crush small enemies.
[edit] Other
Arm Servo: Glitch's Arm Servo determines the speed of his arms. As he gains Arm Servo upgrades, he can switch weapons faster and even reload most weapons faster.
Batteries: Batteries are a Health analog for robots on Iron Star. Glitch is capable of housing 6 but only starts the game with one.
Secret Chips: Strewn throughout the game are yellow processor chips called Secret Chips. Some must be located by either destoying a certain bot, moving objects such as crates with the Loader, or even buying them from Shady and Mr. Pockets.
[edit] Platform variations
- The GameCube version supports Dolby Prologic II, progressive scan and multiplayer for 1 to 4 people.
