What’s So Funny about an RTS?
At the core of Robocalypse is a sold real-time strategy game. It does have a unique presentation, giving it style and flavor; something that most serious RTS games lack. Robocalypse is all about commanding a cartoon army, with plenty of laughs and lighthearted scenarios that may make you believe the game doesn’t take itself seriously, but it does.
And it’s a serious bit of fun for a wide range of gamers. It’s easy enough for anyone to pick-up-and-play, with plenty of replay value in the single and multi-player modes thanks to the variety of weapons, tactics, and characters. How could anything called the Head Cracking Gauntlet be anything but fun to try?
A wacky factory, Thermidoom Labs is busy manufacturing toasters and robots when a military program is accidentally installed in the robots giving them an insatiable urge to wage war against the people of Earth. To save the planet, a plan is devised to implant the scanned minds of retired WWII vets into new robots to defend against the evil robot army. Hilarity ensues as it soon becomes evident that it’s sometimes hard to teach old vets new tricks. These guys don’t necessarily make the best robots. They are battle-hardened soldiers with gruff interiors and a penchant for self-destruction. Since they can’t swig beer in their new shells, they swill oil and chomp dynamite like cigars. There are some great quips, both in text and voiceovers. The game itself is sentient, dishing out self-deprecating remarks in abundance. There’s a great cast of characters each with his or her own quirky personality, but most importantly, each with different attributes.
In all there are 17 missions in the single-player mode. Things are kept interesting, as there are plenty of goodies in each mission and secret agendas to uncover, as well as specific objectives to meet, which adds some replay value should you find this enticing or challenging. The basic outline of the gameplay includes amassing your units, building factories, acquiring weapons, deploying strategies, and destroying as much of the other team and its real estate as possible. The control system works very well, utilizing the stylus to point-and-click and drag-and-drop commands in the form of flags. These commands are simplified, and they are used to control units en masse.
The Action Flag system utilizes various flags that can be moved to specific areas on the map. Flags will give the units various commands such as patrol, defend, and attack. Just select a flag and move it to a certain area and the robots will automatically conduct the required command. This is a lot less of a headache than you’re probably thinking. Your bots will do an admirable job of obeying orders for the most part, but there are some times when they will seem to do nothing to defend themselves from attack. It’s a good system considering how small the screen is, and this simple control scheme will accommodate gamers of all skill levels.
Hero units allow for more detailed, hands-on control. Infused with great powers and abilities, these heroes can be controlled in real time and can sometimes outperform an entire unit. You can choose from 10 different robots each with different strengths and abilities.
Joe Commando sports dual chainguns, while Sergeant Payne cracks skulls with his Head Cracking Gauntlet Gloves. Various scouts and snipers round out the rest of the heroes but it’s the Warlord General that commands the most respect. He’s got the most experience and is incredibly powerful. An oversized chainsaw is attached to his arm, so he can reach out and shred someone.
This is a really good-looking and nice-sounding game. The cartoon presentation is perfectly married with the audio, which features a great comical soundtrack reminiscent of classic cartoons. This connection to classic cartoons is purely intentional, as the story and dialogue were created by some of the writers of Spongebob Squarepants. From the intro cutscene to the in-game combat, there’s always something to get a chuckle from. Even though the game has an “E” rating, the humor does seem somewhat mature, although I would prefer to label it as “sophisticatedly immature.”
A four-player head-to-head mode is offered. It requires that all players have a copy of the game. As in the single-player mode, the controls are relegated to the stylus, and everything worked smoothly. There is the slightest hint of slowdown during huge explosions, but it’s just the destructions animation and doesn’t affect the gameplay. Overall, Robocalypse is a solid and deep game with incredible presentation. It’s certainly one of the best RTS games on the system to date.
RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.8 Graphics
Incredible cartoon presentation with great animation. 4.6 Control
Effective point-and-click control system. Easy to learn. 4.8 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Highly stylized presentation with great music, voiceovers, and sound effects. 4.5
Play Value
Lots of gameplay depth with good replay value.
4.6 Overall Rating – Must Buy
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.
Game Features: