Wow, I have to say, Robo Rumble brings back to me some pleasant memories. It is not the sort of game that would shine thanks to its graphics or story but it is one addictive little game! Robo Rumble is something between a puzzle game, a strategy game and an action game. Once you start playing, you can see straight away that there is a truly original concept that stands behind it. Well, in the end you could call it a strategy I guess. But unlike other strategy games of its period (it was released – wow, 10 years already? – in 1998 by a small company called Metropolis Software House and it was published by Interactive Magic) it boasts that not so easy to find FUN FACTOR! Other RTS or TBS games would sacrifice a lot of game play attributes (just think how long it takes to build a competent army in a RTS game before you get to really see it in combat or how fustrating a TBS can become once you realize you foolishly spend your resources in a crucial turn) and that would eventually limit the fun you have while playing it. But not Robo Rumble! The idea that fuels the game is simple, really straight forward: teams of robots battle each other and in the process, they have to conquer the other team’s base. Simple, right? Simplicity is truly the great asset of this game. Yet do not be fooled by appearances! It’s basic game play hides a very complex strategy system where you will have to think very hard about your every movement if your aspire to win against a (rather hard) computer AI.
Micromanagement is the essential part of Robo Rumble’s game strategy. Each robot is completely customizable and you should really keep that in mind when confronting different enemies. Your team should adapt to each particular scenario. You really cannot be static in this game… And I guess that while the single player missions are a very good training (the higher levels of the games prove to be more than a remarkable challenge), Robo Rumble is worth gold in multiplayer mode! I have to admit that I still have the original game (yes, I DO OWN a copy of it) and install it sometimes on my old computer in order to play a VS match against my brother. And I am still delighted by the game play!
Robo Rumble brought quite some important technical innovations for its period: actual 3D rendering (full 3D – morphing! – terrain, real-time weather effects, dynamic lights and particle explosions), a rather big resolution and full use of 3Dfx – Direct X. To put it simple: Robo Rumble is fun, addictive and atemporal. Robo Rumble it's a BLAST!
Enjoy it to the max!
Written by:
~Argileye
