Metal Arms: A Glitch In The System (PS2)

Metal arms really comes into its own when you start playing. The game is very much a classic shoot em up and you go around blowing the hell out of General Corrosve and the mils with a variety of weapons including rocket launchers and my personal fave a gun that fires razor blades that can cut the legs, and other parts, off of your enemies. The enviroments can also be used to your advantage as you can destroy bridges your enemies are standing on or make a room collapse on top of them.
The levels are also quite diverse with around 40 single player missions which range from protection, search and destroy and even driving some great vehicles.
As i said earlier Meatl Arms basically is a number of other titles put together with a new image but it does have some new ideas. One is the ability to posses enemie robots. This is useful as they may be able to do things you can't i.e. a big strong robot could be used to destroy an army of enemies that would destroy you in a matter of seconds. This adds a whole new element to the game as practically any robot can be 'possesed' and its fun to try out all their different uses and abilities.
The vehicles you get to use are also good and despite really being the Halo vehicles in disguise they are great fun to use and really spice up what could have so easily become an over repetitive adventure romp.
Another point worth mentionning has to be the enemy AI. Again this is rather like Halos with enemies running in terror as you destroy their comrades and shouting thins to their mates when they see you. Though i say this even a seasonned Halo pro will have trouble with this. The enemies are incredibly good, and in some cases to good, as they work in formation, hiding and playing defensively when they're hurt and when you are hurt or reloading they come out all guns blazing. Thankfully though with a bit of practice you'll soon be dismantling bots like nobodies business and as you upgrade your weapons and become stronger it just becomes more and more fun.
As i'm sure you will know by now i think the single player is great and will keep any gamer happy for quite some time but things are made even better by the great multilpayer. All the normal things are included, deathmatch,capture etc, but with the addition of vehicles, robot possesion and being able to recruit computer controlled bots to help you. This makes the whole experience much more fun and will make it last you much longer than the multiplayer in your average game. Though it would have been made a whole lot better by the addition of online play, something for a sequel maybe Swingin Ape.
All in all this is a great game that is perfect for kids and adults a like and even though its not completely original its ideas that are original, with the combination of those that aren't, are enough to make this an essential purchase.

Throughout the game you can find hidden chips to unlock different minigames and 2 player modes. The deathmatches in particular are good fun.

There are over 15 different weapons to chose from (these are made up of primary and secondary weapons) and the controls aren't even fiddly. What lets this game down are the other games on the market. Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter are all examples of this genre, but better. However, it is still a fantastic game.