In this review, we collect the spare parts in the Gamecube game, Robots. We find out how well this adventure game plays.
This game was released in 2005. It was released along with the movie which goes by the same name.
In this game, you play the character Rodney Copperbottom. He has spent his childhood in a small village. He is wanting to become an inventor. This is inspired by television personality Bigweld. After outgrowing the small village, his parents send him to the big city. This is so he can share his little invention.
The game itself pretty much plays like your standard adventure game. You have your standard moves like jump, double jump, and attack. You can use a shoulder button to equip a different weapon assuming you have an alternate weapon. Also, you can also view the map of the general area while holding down the same shoulder button and use the C stick to move the view around a bit. The C stick is also used to readjust the camera. Another shoulder button allows you to take a first person perspective to look around. This can also be quite useful.
There’s technically more than one kind of in game currency, though the other currencies simply fulfill objectives. The main in-game currency is scrap. For the most part, each piece of scrap is worth 1 unit of scrap. There’s the occasional piece of scrap with a bit of copper on it that is worth 20 scrap. Scrap serves at least two purposes. The first is to allow you to purchase items. The second use is that you can fire it through your scrap launcher. So, it doubles as ammunition. This is somewhat similar to arrows in The Legend of Zelda in that each shot costs you one piece of scrap. In this case, however, you get this weapon much earlier in the game.
Scrap can be found in a variety of places. The easiest way to collect scrap is to pick it up from the ground. A large amount of scrap is just randomly lying around waiting for you to pick up. The season most obvious location is within enemies. Defeat an enemy and, chances are, they will drop scrap for you to collect. A third way to obtain scrap is to hit various small objects that happen to be around. With your wrench (B), you can strike things like garbage cans. You can get up to three bursts of scrap before you won’t get anything else. Finally, you can get scrap from breakable boxes.
With that scrap, you can go to various vendors spread throughout the different levels. They appear as little circles on the ground. As you approach it, a TV monitor-like object will appear. Different vendors sell different things. Some vendors will sell health while others will sell special upgrades. So, it’s worth checking out each vendor to see if you can find something useful that you can buy.
Along the way, you’ll be given mandatory quests. Typically, these quests will require you to obtain blueprints to various upgrades. How many parts you need to collect varies, but you’ll need to collect them all. Note that not all quests require collecting blueprint parts, though that seems to be the most common one.
As you roam around, you’ll also notice various NPC’s (Non-Playable Character’s) roaming around. Some simply offer single line comments. Others, however, are necessary for you to talk to in order to move on. A great way to figure out who you need to talk to is to view the map. NPC’s that have something useful for you will be denoted by a green happy face. This allows you to simply track down who you need to talk to as opposed to aimlessly talking to random people hoping you get lucky.
As you delve deeper into the game, you’ll be able to unlock other weapons and abilities. This includes the hover capability, the magnet weapon that draws objects towards you, and even stun grenade’s. Alternatively, you can stick to your wrench and simply save your weapons for more difficult parts of the game. Just know that you also run the risk of getting hit because this is your closest range weapon.
If you do happen to take damage, the game offers health pickups. These are depicted by the green cross icons. If you pick one of these up, you’ll max out your health. Arguably, this is probably one of the few games out there where all health pickups give you maximum health.
Like a lot of other games, this one allows you to ride a vehicle. In this case, you get a ball (or pod) and you simply roll your way around in it. You get your first taste of this on a race course. You’ll eventually be able to take this into other levels as well. The “R” shoulder button triggers a speed boost. You get a limited amount of boost, but it is constantly gradually increasing in energy. So, you’ll rarely have to put up with low power.
There are no free lives in this game. Instead, if you die, you’ll just reappear at the last invisible checkpoint you crosses over. These checkpoints are surprisingly well packed together, so you won’t lose much progress. Additionally, you’ll be re-starting with full health. The only thing to keep in mind is that you might lose the progress of collecting a critical item or two. So, you may have to re-collect a few things to get back on track.
As you beat levels, the game will give you a chance to save your progress on the spot. This is generally how you can tell you’ve advanced from one level to another without the hint that you are watching a cut scene.
For me, this game winds up being a game that isn’t overly ambitious. Instead, it simply strives to provide a solid core experience where the fundamentals are all there. For the most part, on that front, this game does this reasonably well. In the lens of your standard adventure game, this one offers pretty ticks off all the boxes. You collect key items, you can upgrade your character in different ways, there’s an in-game currency, enemies, bosses to defeat, a borderline obstacle course, and a simple navigation system.
For the most part, if you are one of those gamer’s who just want an adventure game and anything will do, this game will certainly do. It will offer some challenges and gives you some nice variety along the way. In fact, it almost felt like this game is geared towards you in that regard.
However, if you are someone who is wanting something that really pushes the envelope and offers something new and exciting, this game may not really fit the bill. There really isn’t much in the way of new and exciting elements. In fact, you’re probably better off playing something like a Sly Cooper or Ratchet & Clank game. Chances are, this is going to be, at best, a game that fills the time while you wait for something better.
Probably the biggest problem I have with this game is the fact that the game tends to get repetitive after a while. Difficulty is generally only ratcheted up mostly by how confusing a level can be. Enemies and jumps are fairly straight forward for the most part. So, the further into the game you go, the more your patience gets tested after a while.
Still, this game does have reasonable length and the learning curve is well realized. So, it’s not as though this is a bad game by any means.
Generally speaking, this is a game that is generally unambitious. Instead, it focuses on getting the core gameplay of a standard adventure game right. For the most part, this game does that reasonably well. I generally like to see games do more than just get the basics out the door, though, but it’s not as though this is a bad game either. Another problem with the game is the repetitive nature of it as you go alone. Still, it’s got a good learning curve and there is some variety to be had along the way. So, a reasonably good game on that front.
For me, the graphics is probably the strongest aspect of the game. The models are actually quite well realized and the animation sequences work quite well. In addition to this, there are some decent effects, but nothing too mind-blowing on that front. I think I would have liked to have seen more on reflected surfaces, special effects, and maybe particle effects. Still, for a game of its time, I’d call it a pretty solid one.
As for audio, the music is a full orchestral soundtrack. For the most part, the music does quite well. It does feel like you are in a movie because of how it is composed. You can almost hear influences from Home Alone and plenty of other films throughout. There’s likely plenty of other influences in there as well. Voice acting is quite solid and works very well. Sound effects are pretty respectable as well. I’m quite tempted to score this game higher on this, but I wanted to hear more memorable music here in order for that to happen. Still, it is a close one on that front.
Overall, this is a reasonably solid game. It’s a game that simply focuses on getting the core elements of your standard adventure game right. For the most part, it is quite successful on that front. Unfortunately, this is one of those games that definitely isn’t there to redefine gaming forever or push the envelope either. As a result, it is also rather unambitious as a game. Additionally, the tasks do get a bit repetitive and level difficulty is largely defines by how annoying the level layout ultimately is. Graphics are quite solid and audio is respectable as well. Not a mind-blowing game, but a reasonable one at least that’s worth checking out.
Overall
Furthest point in game: Big Weld’s Mansion
General gameplay: 20/25
Replay value: 6/10
Graphics: 7/10
Audio: 3/5
Overall rating: 72%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
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