Here’s a question for the older gamers reading the site. How many of you remember Short Circuit? You know, the movie about the sentient robot designed for military purposes, who, after being struck by lightning, develops a streak of humanity? With the army tracking his tread marks, “Johnny 5” (as he comes to be known) tries to fight against overwhelming odds and his fellow robots for his survival. Not nearly as saccharin sweet as this 80s movie, Vivendi’s upcoming third-person action title, Metal Arms: Glitch in the System evokes a similar bot struggling for freedom feel without Steve Guttenberg or Ally Sheedy to slow the story down. Actually, humans of any acting ability are completely removed in the plot of Metal Arms, apparently replaced by sentient droids who’ve managed to scatter themselves throughout the galaxy. However, one particular planet in the universe seems to be in the midst of quite a bit of chaos. See, General Corrosive, a wildly unstable droid, has killed off a prominent scientist robot and raised an army that has conquered most of the world of Iron Star. The populace’s only hope resides in a rebel faction and their newly recharged hero, Glitch. While recently revived, Glitch seems to be more than up to the task of liberating a planet thanks to the amount of destructive weaponry he has access to. Cobbled together from commonplace items such as saw blades, screws and rivets, in Glitch’s hands these tools become deadly projectiles. For instance, the Ripper hurls saw blades at accelerated speeds through opponents, while the Rivet gun is a high powered sniper rifle-like weapon that shoots red hot bolts. Glitch also wields explosive and far more dangerous EMP grenades to short circuit(no opening pun intended) rogue droids. Much more creatively, Glitch also wields a slingshot with explosive pellets and an electronic leash that can be used to take over and physically “possess” the bodies of other robots. Players take control of Glitch across, above and under the surface of Iron Star, battling the army of General Corrosive. While the demo we received only had three levels, the included stages (Mil City, Ruins and R&D Labs) provided a pretty good idea of how diverse the finished gameplay would be. The Ruins are the burned, twisted remains of a city that was obliterated by the might of General Corrosive and his Mils (short for Military Robots). Reminiscent of urban guerilla warfare, Glitch has to traverse cracked rooftops and rubble strewn streets while avoiding turret-entrenched Mils and ground troops. The R&D Labs featured plenty of puzzle elements revolving around throwing switches and navigating catwalks. Mil City, on the other hand, was perhaps one of the most impressive stages, with large building cityscapes and tons of speeding vehicles racing around the streets of the city. Although our demo was an early build, it still featured large detailed character models and showcased immense level layouts that were full of background animation. While some textures seemed to be a little blurry at times, and frame rates tended to dip during large battles, these issues will no doubt be fixed by the time the game ships in November. Keep checking back for more information on this multi-platform action title! Questions or comments about the upcoming release of Metal Arms: Glitch in the System for all next-generation consoles? Talk to us! [ E-Mail Jeff 'Linkphreak' Haynes ] [ Comment in our Forums ]

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