(Editorial note: regarding the new categorization of this post, this is the semi-unofficial pilot for what is now Take a Look Thursdays. Just so we’re clear on that, okay?)
Starting right now, the time has come to look at some of the most surprising games from around the ‘Net and check out a few of the can’t-miss-’em games that you just might find interesting.
Let’s start with a game concept that has been around for quite some time already. Robot brawlers have been around for so long now that it’s easy to dismiss the games that do not ring a bell as fast as others. Sure, there’s the obvious ones like MechWarrior and its ilk, but it’s nice to find one that pushes the limits on what a robot fighter can be. Like Cosmic Break, for instance. I didn’t know about this one until I happened upon a difficult-to-miss ad for the game, and damn if it’s not your average robot fighter! In fact, it’s a lot more than your typical robot game: not only do you have your standard arena fights, but (spoiler alert) there’s also also a complete story involving master robots of the Cosmic Ark (more of a parallel dimension, actually) that lie in stasis on the inner portion of tree-like structures where they await their ultimate revival. That’s where you come in: by choosing one of three starting robots, you set forth on your job to gain enough cosmic energy to restore one of the ancient ark robots. Additional robots are granted for your robot garage (accessible via menu option from the hub colony) as you progress, or you can build your own robots from scratch once you get the option.
In checking the game out, I managed to find a Japanese influence/origin from the magna-style website graphics to lower portions of the game logo design. In fact, some of the untranslated script portions are straight out of Japan, as are the various screen shots that illustrate the first-time setup that new players — and that’s before you even hear a word of the prologue voice acting! At least the arena, mission and quest tutorials are for the most part unaffected (see my comments above regarding the one altercation within the tutorial script).
Still, it’s a fun game — and you even get a treasure quest mode for honing your skills outside of the storyline missions and ultra-competitive battle arenas. Of course, there’s also the downfall of having a bunch of robots to choose from: if a robot is destroyed mid-battle, you must choose an alternate before continuing (although the selection process is automatic during missions), and you’re limited to what the game calls a three-robot commando (or realistically speaking, a commando group is more accurate) — lose all three, and it’s game over. That said, your robots will continuously respawn during missions, at the cost of battle points that if depleted will also end the mission, and said is also true (with requisite difference) in other game modes.
There’s a lot more involved here that would take a lot more explanation than I can fit within a discussion of this size; thus I encourage you to check it all out in your own experiences and sound off in the comments block with any opinions and game-related stories that you may have. Until next time…
Updated Dec. 22, 2010: In the original posting, paragraph three stated that the player’s first robot spawns again during missions after all three robots are initially destroyed. Robots actually respawn on a loop during missions that continuously deplete battle points, which are now explained as well due to the revelation of their existence. The Game Fanatics apologizes for these errors.
