Giant Fighting Robots

The title Giant Fighting Robots conjures up the most wonderful mental imagery. Tall, ludicrous machine-men, battling it out for futuristic sporting entertainment, with gears grinding and pistons screaming as mammoth, rusting constructions kick lumps of metal the size of small cars off each other.

At first glimpse, Giant Fighting Robots suggests exactly that. The game indeed crosses - ever so gingerly - into this mechanised gladiatorial arena, it never realises its own awesome potential.

A weak premise about alien invaders has been bolted on to Giant Fighting Robots, though it's not substantial enough to give you any real purpose for jumping inside a massive robot. What little story is here doesn't make much sense, but that's of no real concern since you're really here to blow things up.

All of the attention has been lavished on the mechanical details, which makes at least half the game very impressive. There's a large number of different robots for you to manoeuvre that become better armed, bigger, and more powerful as you progress.

It would seem every joint and component of these machines has been considered. The screen moves accurately with every footstep, leaning, bouncing and swaying exactly as you’d expect if you were you actually sat inside the junkyard behemoth’s cockpit.

This impressive level of mechanical accuracy is bolstered by the damage system, which goes far beyond simply counting up the number of hits your machine can take.

Land too hard after flying and the legs will be damaged, slowing you down when walking. Take too many hits to the servos and you’re unable to turn or walk at speed. Once the battery drains or is damaged, you can find yourself piloting nothing more than a well-armoured sitting duck.

Despite this impressive level of detail, Giant Fighting Robots struggles to produce riveting gameplay. The game relies on the appeal of its realistic robots to motivate play, but with such a boring set up it's hard to become invested.

Unadorned battlefields host one-on-one bouts with minimal embellishment. Adding new weapons to the mix does little to change the notion that Giant Fighting Robots is just a series of mechanical grudge matches with no real purpose. It feels more like a field test commissioned by the machine’s designer than any kind of engaging sport or futuristic battle.

In an attempt to combine the best elements of fighting games and mech simulation, Giant Fighting Robots ends up compromising too much. If you’re looking for the all-out, pistons ‘n’ brawn, explosion-heavy mech fighting game alluded to in Giant Fighting Robots’s title, this will be a rusted, towering disappointment.