Gameplay

The core of RoboBlitz is its puzzles, with the player completing different tasks in order to make some facet of the orbital cannon work. The problem is that they are tasks in every sense of the word. It’s dull, derivative work where the only satisfaction stems from just getting it out of the way – certainly not the joy I expect games to provide me with. With regards to longevity there is, relatively, quite a lot in the game; it’s no Oblivion but it should keep you busy for several hours. If you’ve ever played a Crash Bandicoot game then you should be familiar with the way the level selection works: there’s a main hub with a number of different areas branching off, each providing two challenges and then one boss fight. The boss battles, however, are pretty terrible. You have to fight and destroy a ‘NOED’ by performing a specific action, like hitting it with an electric stick in mid air. It’s a lot easier said than done and these stages are the most annoying element of any game I’ve played in the past few months.

The worst part of the gameplay, in my opinion, is how terrible the simple act of controlling the character is. Movement is uncomfortable and jarring with a level of inaccuracy more appropriate for an analogue stick than a keyboard.

The AI isn’t anything to write home about with enemies often choosing to charge directly at you. I recognize that the game is mostly about the puzzles and not about the action, but the tedious combat is interjected so often into the gameplay it needs to be mentioned. The enemies that use ranged weapons often give the impression of overwhelming you with their attacks but, on the ‘Normal’ difficulty, they can be easily taken out and don’t often do much damage to you; it seems as if the overwhelming effect was put in their purely for its own sake, and not to provide the player with a true challenge.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however, as there are a few nice additions in the game. Upgradium, a resource in the game, makes up for its lack of a decent name with the ability to unlock new abilities or weapons. There’s no real incentive to collect all of it though, as by just solving the puzzles with no exploration will yield enough of the substance to allow you to purchase the interesting things. Unfortunately, because it’s so easy to attain, there is little enjoyment to be had as it feels like you’ve not actually achieved anything.

Multiplayer

The biggest disappointment in RoboBlitz is the complete lack of an online multiplayer mode, not even basic deathmatch. There is a Co-op mode, but it leaves much to be desired; Naked Sky could have made the puzzles less mind-numbing but alas, we’re given nothing. The developers have included a version of Unreal Ed for those that way inclined and it’s prefaced by a PunkBuster EULA so perhaps there is hope for a third-party multiplayer mod, but a vague possibility is no replacement for an official multiplayer mode.