Metal Arms: Glitch in the System

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Swingin' Ape Studios, Mass Media Inc.
Publisher(s)	Vivendi Universal
Platform(s)	GameCube, Xbox, PS2, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	NA November 18, 2003 PAL December 5, 2003 Xbox 360 April 21, 2008
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T OFLC: G8+ PEGI: 12+

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System is a third-person shooter developed by Swingin' Ape Studios. It was published by Vivendi Universal on November 18, 2003 in North America for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was released on April 21, 2008 for Xbox 360 through Xbox Originals.^[1]

Gameplay

Gameplay is in a 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. The game provides a multitude of standard-fare shooter weapons, such as flamethrowers, machine guns, and grenades to push through levels with brute force. It also includes the Control Tether, which allows the player to directly control enemy forces and use their own firepower against them.

Although level design is linear, there is more than one way to complete objectives.

Multiplayer

General Corrosive, the final boss and main enemy of the game, can also be unlocked for use in the multiplayer aspect of the game.

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 or speed 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.

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.

• Chips: Blue processor chips are located in the game and are used to specifically advance the level by unlocking captured droids, activating consoles, or opening doors.

• Secret Chips: Strewn throughout the game are yellow processor chips called Secret Chips. Some must be located by either destroying a certain bot, moving objects such as crates with the Loader, or even buying them from Shady and Mr. Pockets. It is not required to obtain these chips; they simply unlock multiplayer levels.

Plot

Setting

Metal Arms is set on a fictional planet known as Iron Star, which was 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, attempting to evolve Droid technology far beyond its current limits. 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, a former architect, established a hidden Droid settlement known as Droid Town, where he and the Droid Rebellion make their final stand against the Mils.

Story

The story begins with Glitch, the protagonist, being found deactivated in a ruined city by Droid rebels. He is reactivated in Droid Town, the last stronghold for the rebellion, where it is discovered that Glitch's memory has been erased. As soon as he is brought up to date on the rebellion, Droid Town is attacked by Milbots who have stumbled across the town; Glitch aids in the defense of the city, then pursues one Mil that had gotten away, so he could not report the location of Droid Town to General Corrosive.

When Glitch returns to Droid Town, he is told that a chip exists in Mil City that would allow the rebellion to shut down the Mils permanently. Glitch sneaks into Mil City and steals the chip, then delivers it to the rebels. He then returns to the city, because he learned that Dr. Exavolt is alive and being held prisoner in Mil City. Glitch finds Exavolt and brings him back to Droid Town. Once there, Exavolt calls the Mils, revealing that he is in control of the Mils and that he is the one seeking to enslave droidkind. Glitch helps in the evacuation of Droid Town, but is captured himself and sent to the Mil Colosseum. He escapes from the Colosseum by faking his own destruction.

Glitch reestablishes contact with the rebellion. While most everyone is safely in hiding, one of Glitch's friends, Zobby, was taken by Exavolt. Glitch finds Exavolt on a space shuttle ready to take off. Glitch attaches himself to the outside of the shuttle as it takes off. Finally, the shuttle docks with a space station in orbit over Iron Star.

As Glitch searches for Zobby, he also takes control of General Corrosive, who is also on the space station, and initiates the permanent shutdown of the Mils. Seeing that the station is lost, Exavolt begins a self-destruct countdown in the station. Glitch and Zobby escape in an escape pod and land back on Iron Star. Once back on the surface, Glitch is challenged one last time by General Corrosive, and Glitch defeats him. Glitch is received as a hero for destroying the Mils, while Exavolt, watching from his shuttle in orbit, vows revenge.

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. His memory is erased (retaining only his name), and as such he plays as a seemingly confused and apathetic character who's still learning whilst taking key part in the Robot-war situation of Iron Star.
• 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.
• Krunk - Krunk is the Head Engineer for the Droid rebellion, and is Alloy's most reliable companion. 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, as well as refitted a stolen RAT, but his greatest invention is the Control Tether device.
• General Corrosive - The Puppet. General Corrosive is a failed science experiment led by Chief Scientist Dr. Exavolt. General Corrosive was originally intended to be the next step in intelligent Droids, and is believed to actually be the most intelligent robot on Ironstar until the end, where it is revealed that he is quite dumb and barbaric, being controlled by Exavolt. He leads the 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.
• Dr. Exavolt - The Antagonist. 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. He is found by Glitch later at Mil City. At the Mil space station, Exavolt was escorted out of the shuttle in order to meet with General Corrosive. Excavolt watches Glitch from his shuttle and tells him he will have his revenge.
• Zobby - Zobby is the robotic canine that, along with a small band of Droids, discovered Glitch in the ruins. He cannot talk, but he can drive the RAT and is good with the machine gun mounted on RATs.
• Mozer - A large Droid, Mozer wields a Level 2 Rivet Gun and a huge club that can smash Mils easily with a swing. 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. It is unknown as to how long he has been in Morbot territory, but it's clear all his time there has unhinged him mentally.
• 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 the player's 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.
• Goff - Goff is another marine from the Droid Rebellion, who is actually a Mil (it is never stated as to how or why he joined the Rebellion, but it seems likely that he went rogue). 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 would give Glitch an Arm Servo Upgrade.
• 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.

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. Most Droids on the surface are frightened or superstitious of them, as no one has ever actually seen a Morbot or been to the planet's core and returned. None are seen throughout the game- with the possible exception of Glitch.
• Mils - Race of Military Bots created by General Corrosive(Exavolt), with the purpose of conquering and controlling Iron Star. The Mils make up the majority of enemies in-game.
• Zombie Bots - Feral Bots made of scrap metal capable of reforming after being destroyed (but they can only do this once before they are destroyed permanently), 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. They can be found in the Wastelands and in the Ruins of Iron Star. They are used like caged fighting animals in the level "Round two" of the coliseum.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the game has been released digitally and is currently free to download from GameSpot [1]

Sequel

The game was supposed to have a sequel. Many of the characters and enemies were animated. However, Swingin' Ape studios was bought by Blizzard Entertainment, and the sequel was put on hold.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Xbox Originals to Add Splinter Cell and Metal Arms". http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/04/15/xbox-originals-to-add-splinter-cell-and-metal-arms. 
2. ^ "Metal Arms 2 of Interest to Glitch in the system developer". http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2009/01/24/metal-arms-2-of-interest-to-glitch-in-the-system-developer.htm. 

External links

• Official site
• Metal Arms: Glitch in the System at MobyGames
• Metal Arms: Glitch in the System at Game Rankings
• Metal Arms: Glitch in the System guide at StrategyWiki