Guns and Robots Review

If you were to imagine a hybrid exchange between British television programme Robot Wars and PSOne classic Twisted Metal, with a similar cel-shaded art style as Gearbox’s Borderlands, you’d have something which sort of resembles Masthead Studios’ new to Steam free-to-play MMO Guns and Robots.

Guns and Robots is a strange beast. Regardless of whether you caught the partial title reference to the American heavy metal band (I didn’t at first), Guns and Robots is a bit like Ronseal in that it ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’. The reason this is odd is because Masthead’s MMO PvP includes a crazy amount of customisation - there are literally hundreds of manipulatable options for both robot building and destruction - yet at the same time, it often feels a bit bland; that it is merely just guns and robots.

The Wild West map is one of the best

So first thing’s first: Guns and Robots is free-to-play therefore, I hear you ask, is it pay-to-win? In short, no. Since launching on Desura last year, Masthead appears to have listened to feedback from the game’s open beta and have lowered the cost of parts in its Steam iteration. In the battle arena things fly hard and fast and therefore accumulating in-game currency isn’t so much a grind as it is a natural curve. Where real life money comes into play is via upgrades - special bonuses only unlockable by use of ‘premium’ currency aka cold, hard, digitally transferable Dinero. One unit of premium currency is equivalent to 50 units of in-game cash, therefore it’s not entirely impossible to unlock upgrades without dipping into your actual real life wallet - even if at times it feels a bit like shopping at an amusement arcade prize counter - it would probably just be a bit easier that way.



That said, upgrades are such a small part of the overall customisation settings that this, for me, never really felt like too big a deal. Each player’s style of play will ultimately determine which type of robot they go for, in that if you’re after a nimble, quick shooting or sniping model, you’ll want to opt for lesser powered, but lighter in weight equipment; equally, if you’re more a big-gunning powerhouse type, heavy powered and armoured gear is what you’re after. Each robot has a rechargable energy indicator which each weapon draws from. The higher-caliber/ heavier in weight the weapon, the more juice it uses up, meaning striking a balance between strength, power, and sustainable firepower becomes essential.

Chaos is never too far away

Once into the battle arena, controlling your automaton is pretty straightforward as the LMB operates your left-sided weapon, and the RMB operates the right. One thing I found slightly tricky was aiming from the game’s third person perspective. Instead of aligning fire with a central reticule, each gun fires from its static position, meaning attacking enemies from partial cover is impossible - even if they are in perfect line of sight. Granted this was a minor issue, however it did take some getting used to. Like most, if not all, MMOs, playing with friends is the best way to enjoy the deathmatch carnage. In order to reach victory players must plant and defend bombs at the opposing team’s monolith, or simply wipe out all foes. In the absence of re-spawns, working out a pre-emptive strategy makes victory that little bit sweeter, but there is always room for gung-ho kamikaze-ism should you desire.

The maps and playgrounds themselves are arguably Guns and Robot’s best feature, however there sadly isn’t an abundance of substance about the battle arenas. Sure there’s a lot of shooting and explosions and fireballs - all dressed up in chic cel-shaded environments - but it’s all over too quickly, and for some reason isn’t quite as exciting in practice as it is in theory. This means the glut of Guns and Robot’s best bits lie in the customisation garage. Furthermore, a handy basement-based test chamber allows players to try out new parts before going competitive, allowing a welcomed ‘try before you buy’ system.

Customise to win the prize

Although by far the game’s most wholesome feature, at times building armour and weapons can feel a tad more convoluted than it actually need be. Weapons, for example, require the combination of two parts: a weapon case, and a weapon barrel. As I had decided to build a tough gunning, armour-heavy machine, ‘ballistic’ or ‘canon’ were the two best-suited cases relevant to my design. In turn, this meant ‘thunderbolt’ was the best barrel. Almost all robot parts require the makeup of two or three individual parts which I’m not completely convinced should be a requirement but it does on the other hand really open up customisation options.

Ultimately, Guns and Robots is a game which will live and die in the MMO PvP spectrum, meaning dramas will play out by chance; successes and failures hinging on how your customisation techniques match those of your anonymous opponents, or, better yet, those of your mates. There is a lot to recommend here, yet at the same time the game in action largely fails to live up to the potential the preamble sets forth. For every piece of brilliance Guns and Robots delivers, it’s matched by an equally as confusing or lackluster one.