RATING:
Graphics: 7
Gameplay: 7
Sound: 6
Overall Score: 6.5
Pros: Extremely cool robot building system, nice humour and artistic style.
Cons: Only random mode/ map choice, gameplay perhaps too casual for some players.
Pretty much everybody has a knack for robots, and we’re no different than others, so we also love them. So when developers deliver an MMO which enables players to construct their very own robot, customising every single part of their magnificent (or terrible) creation in order to take it into combat against other players' machines, who would be able to resist? Not us, that’s for sure! That’s why we decided it was just about time to check out Guns & Robots, Masthead Studios’ robot building MMOTPS.
The title’s visuals are powered by Unity, which results in a reasonably sized client for download. When entering the MMO, you will first of all be presented with its simple and quick tutorial which introduces newbies to the basics of controls when in battle, how to use the in-game shop and how to customise their robot. You will then be provided with a rusty and funny thing meant to be your first robot, a nice amount of the regular in-game currency Credits, as well as a few Sparkles, which function as premium currency.
Without hesitating, we pushed the large red "Battle" button to join our first combat match. This unfortunately appears to be the only way to play, as there wasn’t any opportunity to select a map or mode or any other settings (or if it actually was, we just didn't notice anything), meaning player have to content themselves with the random selection. In any case, you will instantly notice is the humorous and cartoonish artistic style. Nearly each robot part consists of rusty iron pieces, cans, boxes, recycled stuff and any kind of old appliances and electronic devices, and is truly designed to be funny and quirky. You will therefore find heads in a shape that reminds of a stereotyped old military general, chicken-like legs, or a hovering movement module that looks like a piranha. This sort of humour is everywhere, even in the descriptions of the parts, which will almost certainly make you smile more than once.
The control system is simple and intuitive: the classic combination of WASD and mouse for moving and aiming, the left mouse button to fire the weapons at the robot’s left body side and the right mouse button to fire those at its right side while the shift button allows players to sprint at the expense of their robot’s battery.
Our battle began and, mechanically pushing the spacebar, we had to realise that robots unfortunately are unable to jump, meaning the only way to reach higher spots is taking stairs or finding springs, elevators and other means. We found the controls to be sufficiently precise and were surprised to which extend your gaming experience differs in dependence of whether you are using a heavily armoured and thus sluggish combat machine or a quick and light robot.
A pretty intriguing aspect is that all your robot’s individual parts have their own hitbox and HP pool, allowing players to aim at a single part to damage it until it will be destroyed and become useless. Once the overall HPs drop to zero, the robot is completely destroyed. This means it’s possible to lose your weapons during a match, and once it even affected our chassis so that we got stuck where we were like a tree, without the possibility to move while still being able to shoot. This actually was pretty strange and yet intriguing at the same time. Shooting as well as sprinting will use your batteries' energy, which will regenerate over time.
The usually well-designed maps are brimming with nice and funny details, and vary from a suburban house's backyard to a wild west themed mine, an eastern temple and more. There are also different game modes as well, such as the classic team deathmatch and a sort of capture the flag.
Completing matches and levelling up allows players to earn credits, upgrade materials and occasionally sparkles. Credits can be used to purchase individual parts to equip your fighting machine with. The available selection of essential robot parts isn't very expensive, at least in the initial stages of the game (we ignore if you will unlock additional purchasable parts later on), which grants the opportunity to experiment over time with different robot types, builds and weapons. Sparkles are the premium currency, which can be converted into credits or used to increase the amount of inventory slots.
Robot building is possibly one of the best aspects in the game. Players can't just purchase a specific weapon, but have to create it on their own by choosing the weapon barrel as well as the "arm" for attaching it to their robot. The same applies to the body and engine as well as the chassis and batteries. Every single part has its own statistics and properties, such as battery consumption, speed, power, damage type, etc. and we have to state that it's extremely fun to experiment with all this in order to create a unique combat machine fitting your style of play.
When it comes to graphics, you shouldn’t expect state-of-the-art visuals; the game is simple and light but pretty cool. And as already mentioned, the artistic style is pretty unique, it’s enjoyable, very cartoonish and fun.
CONCLUSION
Guns and Robots is a simple but fun online shooter. Although there might be players who will find it too rough and casual, we think it’s a nice diversion in comparison to all the overcomplicated shooters populating the market. We’re convinced that many casual players looking for a fun game to play during short breaks will definitely like it, especially due to its humorous style and unique robot building system.
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