Robocraft

[size=+1]Robocraft[/size]​

I dislike World of Tanks.

I respect it. There a little bit of a simulator aspect to it. As far as I know, these are all real tanks that you get to learn and play with, even in a passing, 'I have to know what this is, even if I don't read the flavour text, just to play the game' sort of thing. You probably adore your P90's in Call of Duty but you have no idea of their history unless you're seriously into your guns. Or your tanks. Yes, it's a team-based, deathmatch sort of shooter where you kill each other on a map with guns but that simulator aspect is still there very strongly. Like I said, these are actual tank designs. Like a truck simulator or a train simulator, you get to know about what you drive around, mainly through osmosis.

And unlike Truck and Train Simulators, Tanks are killing machines first and foremost. So, a deathmatch deelie in something like this makes sense.

Pictured: What Tanks definitely don't do.​

I still don't like it. While the accessibility is nice as there's plenty of diversity in the roles your tanks can have, I didn't get into it. I also like the realistic damage you can take to individual systems so that you can still remain in the fight, even if you're just a gun, sitting in the ruined remains of your wheels. Congrats, you've been promoted to sniper, even though your tin can's gun has only enough power to topple the elderly.

It's just being hit with something you couldn't possibly, ever see coming and having no defence other than keel over and die to stop it happening to you any more. You appear to be able to settle into several basic roles. Heavy cannons blow stuff up. Sniper Like Cannons can hit at range. Scout Tanks can't fight but are fast and point out the enemy to the heavy artillery. And I would just get blown up over and over and over and over.

And over. And over. And, you get the point. I suck hard at World of Tanks and so, I couldn't get a good grip because I never felt like I was able to defend myself against anything. At all, unless I got to a higher level.

Why am I talking about World of Tanks when the title of the review is Robocraft, that kookie thing I played on the radio a while back?(highlight footage up on the Youtube when I can).

Well...Robocraft is like the Lego version.

In fact, that seems a little derogatory, as Minecraft get's that comparison over and over. And, yeah, there's parallels to Minecraft and Robocraft but I think I can go one better.

Imagine if World of Tanks had a sci-fi setting. And that you built your vehicle using the Gummi Ship system from Kingdom Hearts.

You have no idea how long I've spent on this part of the game alone. It tickles my brain in the most wonderful place possible. If it's dropped from Kingdom Hearts 3, I will personally slap the entirety of Disney Interactive and Square Enix. It's that enjoyable for me.​

You are a little Spaceman. He has a ship-garage thing and keeps getting in sci-fi vehicle battles because, what else is there to do?

And that's the story. It's a deathmatch shooter. If you want Storytime, go to TF2 and find the backstory comics. In fact, do that anyway, they're fantastic!

Robocraft is all about the gameplay but first lets look at the aesthetics. Now, I've played a few free-to-play games in my time and, this has to be one of the better looking ones. There's polish here if your looking for it. The blocks look nice, the weapons look somewhat unpleasant to be standing in front of, as they should be, and the environments do look like what you'd think Mars should look like.

Yes, you fight on Mars. And this other ice planet that I forget the name of because it's one of those places that was named by Scientists rather than Ancient Greeks. So, it has some random jumble of letters and numbers rather than a proper name.

But it's an ice planet that's always covered in snow and ice. In a sci-fi game. It's only copyright that stops it from being called 'Hoth' officially, isn't it?

It's hard to feel for the Rebels plight when they could have just rebuilt the Shield Generator with spare parts from a turret, a tauntaun and a passing hotdog van.​

Anyway, gameplay. It's basically World of Tanks. Kinda...

You see, vehicles are very, very diverse in Robocraft because they can be made in almost anyway you like them to be. 'Robot' creation as the vehicles are called 'Robot's for some reason, all have a pool of basic blocks and bits to be made from.

Weapons are split up into three rough categories.

SMG's are little, rapid firing guns that don't do too much damage but are always ready to fire. They allow you to launch constant and spontaneous barrages against the enemy. However, they're low damage input forces you to place as many of them as possible in order to get the most benefit. I have to admit; lower level SMG's just felt like pea-shooters to me. Higher level SMG's are better but I just couldn't seem to gain many advantages with them. They appear to suit vehicles that can move quickly or be able to withstand heavy attack longer than the opponent.

The Plasma Launcher is effectively heavy artillery. It fires a barrage of heavily damaging ammo that also spreads out. So, it's like a cross between an AA gun and a shotgun, in essence. This also happens to be the only weapon that's effected by gravity, effectively giving the weapon an arc to watch out for. However, this only mildly hampers it's ability to just point and shoot, for the moment anyway. No, it's biggest problem is reloading. You only really get one shot before you have to reload. This takes a minute tops but in a firefight, it could cost you dearly if you can't run for cover or fight back. This would suggest that they would be perfect for long range fights as you could deal heavy damage from somewhere far from the battle and you'd be right. They do have quite a range. However, if added to a fast vehicle, they also make for fantastic ambush weapons as your bust damage is effectively through the roof. Most robots would be bits and pieces in one shot.

Lastly, there's the Rail Cannon. This is effectively, a sniper rifle on steroids. The Rail Cannon can hit things very accurately, even at long range thanks to it's ability to zoom in much further than the standard zoom. It even loses it's effectiveness when moving. In essence, it's a Sniper Rifle. It's pretty decent to use but it's armour piercing ability is a bit of a kicker if your hit with a good shot.

Now, there's a few extra things to consider here.

One, you can only have one weapon type at a time. So, you can't mix it up with SMG's and Plasma Launchers. I'm OK with this as the Launcher and Railguns are so, so powerful, the SMG rarely seems to get the chance to fight back unless lucky. At least this forces thought and planning into vehicle design as you're usually looking to build something you know can cover for your weapon's weakness. Your weapon tends to dictate how you play.

Another thing is that the physics model will make you it's ***** if you're not careful with your design. Lightness and balance plays a big roll in the design of your vehicle. You can just slap stuff together and roll out but you'd then be watching your robot flop all over the place as it struggles with the more awkward terrains of the map. Wide wheelbases make you stable but more of a target. Trade offs between what advantages you gain and what problems you make add to the depth this simple game can offer.

What's also interesting is that the weapons have kickback. Recoil effects the Plasma Launcher and the Rail Cannon much more than the SMG. So, if you're using a light vehicle, you might want to be mindful of where you slap your guns. Once shot could topple you over or send you flying. It's something to definitely consider when trying to play with a robot that doesn't use wheels to move around. So obviously, you don't plonk a heavy weapon on top of a massive tower with a very small wheelbase and call it a day because you'll take one shot then wonder why you're looking at the Martian Sky all of a sudden.

"Laws of Motion don't stop working just because you've made your machine into the shape of a phallus, you know!"​

Oh yes! The game allows for flying robots as well. The advantages are obvious, of course, but it's done in a few interesting ways.

One method of flight is the Hovercraft route. The Hover Blade lifts the robot into the air but always has to push against the ground to work. This means you can't travel too far off the ground but it means your vehicle can travel over any ground with incredible ease. Even the ice from Hoth. This is marred by awkward stability and the fact that you do have a bit of sliding around to be careful of. It does allow you to raise and lower yourself a little but otherwise, it's a hovercraft. Shooting them down is easier as they tend to be lighter and have their engines in full view. However, they can be pretty nippy, and have a hight advantage.

However, there's also thrusters and helium. These can create actual flying machines that can also carry guns. So, you can fly over the battlefield and drop a little death on those below. You're a massive target for anything below, of course, but it's still fun to do. Plus, there's nothing I like more than attaching thrusters to only a few blocks and farting myself around the map like a bottle rocket. It's utterly pointless but fun.

Heck, I managed to make a vehicle that actually had an escape pod. If the vehicle base was destroyed, the main part of the ship could then fly away in a hurry. The issue was that I had no means of steering so I would just fart away into the air like a balloon being let off.

Pictured: My Escape Strategy​

With the addition of aerofoils and rudders to add stability and control to your robot, flying becomes a viable option if you can put the resources into it.

And even though the game's already very robust and freedom-loving system seems very open, there's still one place they'll limit you and that's in unlocking stuff, build limits and tier play. Because if they gave you everything to start with, where's the challenge outside of battles?

Unlocking things appears very similar to World of Tanks. You have a tech tree and doing well within the battles will earn you these points. These can be saved up and used to unlock extra bits to add to your robots. Either new stuff or upgraded versions of what you already have. I don't mind this. It gives an obvious progression to what you're doing and you can see how powerful your machines are becoming. While trying to earn these points is a pain as winning can be difficult...Heck! Surviving can be difficult. Anyway, it's a simple and understandable system.

The complications and quirks, assumingly to encourage various kinds of play as well as balancing begin here.

Robocraft Querk #1: You can only earn tech points that correspond to your current tier. Certain tech requires a certain tech point from a particular tier to be unlocked. This means anything higher and lower than the tier you are currently on cannot be unlocked unless you move up or drop down in tier.

The Tier system refers to the advancement of your robot. Vaguely. In essence, it's a little bar that fills up as you add more and more powerful stuff onto your vehicle. Once you hit a certain threshold, you'll increase in Tier, pitting you against more powerful robots when you next battle.

Now, the thing is, this whole Tier Dependant Unlock system is weird. In theory, it forces a player to focus on only a few technologies as the fastest way to the best stuff is to only level up what's useful. If they can do that, they'll progress quickly. What actually happens is that people will try and fit high level weapons onto low level vehicles in the vain hope that they can dominate with their pathetically armoured but stupidly powerful gun on wheels. Some succeed but it varies in results. Either way, it's unusual to see a game encourage you to strip down to a lower level in order to pick up what you missed.

I kinda like it. By the time you do this, you'll likely have plenty of decent gear that you can balance to try and fit your creation into tier and go out with your combination of low and high level stuff. It's another challenge that happens in the building aspect of the game. And I love the building aspect so, yes please! There's also that feeling of getting to fight a boss in an RPG that gave you a hard time. But know your 30 levels higher, he's a piece of cake now. It can get close but, the tier balancing makes it hard to be utterly devastating as the most powerful weapons alone can push you up an entire tier.

Although, it's not ideal for the poor sods your mowing down with your Tier 9 hyper cannon but at least all the shots on you are pretty devastating potentially.

The Robocraft Mantra​

Robocraft Querk #2: All items have permanence and must be brought using in-game currency before being attached to your robots. This means you are only unlocking the ability to expand the shop before you can buy what you've unlocked. Once a block has been attached to a robot, it is then entirely removed from your inventory and cannot be used elsewhere, meaning you have to keep stock of what you have and how much to spend on each robot you build.

All right, fair enough. This, again, forces a little creativity in the design of your robots and then puts and emphasis on doing well in the battle because you'll need that moolah for upgrades and finishing off robots. Again, I don't mind this at all. It adds more worth to every component, making you care more about their price and effectiveness. You might not want to just get rid of all our older weapons for new ones as the combination of both could be more efficient. Stuff like this makes the game enjoyable to tinker with and think about, in my opinion. I like a challenge like this.

Robocraft Querk #3: You still keep playing the match as long as you have a driver still alive.

Let's talk battles actually.

You're dropped into an interesting and hilly cavern usually, that the game prevents you from leaving for obvious reasons. All matches at the moment are Capture the Flag affairs with Deathmatch Rules thrown in. You die, that's it for the match. No respawn here buddy. In fact, being destroyed requires you to fix your ship using the money you use to buy new robot parts. Again, being hit in your pocket doesn't bother me as it makes sense.

Anyway, you can either destroy the other team or cap their point. Easy. The capping of points actually seems to be so easy that most players seem to just rush straight for the other one. Some matches are over fast because everyone just swapped sides of the map and raced to see who could cap first. Of course, choke points and small passages force this behaviour to lead to fights as each platoon charges in all directions for the enemy base. It's actually pretty decent of the level design. All of them have a central battleground but there are channels leading around it and towards each cap point that will funnel players together for extra scraps. It's simple but effective.

Now, the best thing about the mechanics on offer is just how much fun they are.

Each component, from the wheels to the weapons to the armour blocks can be shot off. This can be both dangerous and hilarious. On one hand, you can weaken an enemy by stunting their firepower or even keeping them in one place by blowing up their movement components. The trick to this is that all blocks must attach back to the pilot someway, meaning that if the pilot is destroyed, then it's game over. But, you can also knock out lots by hitting weak links in their chain back to the pilot You can shoot off entire arms of cannons by doing this.

On the flip side, having your vehicle smashed down to nothing but a wheel and a few blocks with a little space man pootling along on it, very confused as to how his tank became a convertible all of a sudden, is either hilarious or frustrating depending on your view. Afterall, your game doesn't end until you're entirely destroyed, meaning you can't do anything but wait for the match to end. If you still have components attached, you can try to move around to safety, especially if you're about to win. You usually get more for surviving a match, it would appear, so figuring out how to work your robot when it's just you in a metal seat is important if very rare as most battles will end with you being finished off if you get like this.

The funny thing is how the game will continue to move the player, even if it makes no sense. Only two wheels on one side? Then you're just going to go in circles for a while. Only one hover blade? Have fun moving around when most of you is dragging on the floor. And yeah, you'd better run when all your guns are just little piles of ash on the floor. I have to admit, I find this a really fun mechanic. You can visually see how up a creek without a paddle you are just by looking at what's missing. To help, you do have a health meter that pops up when your damaged to give you a rough idea of how your doing over all but looking is usually better, I find to get you a better idea of damage.

Afterall, 12% is ambiguous. But a man sitting on only one wheel and a couple of blocks, rolling around and around in little circles, is not.

Good luck dodging oncoming fire though! The 'Headless Chicken' Maneuver is all you have now, sonny-jim!​

As for combat...Eh, it's right back to World of Tanks. I can manage to fight here a lot better but...eh. Again, I'm still being hit by things I cannot see and finding that there's some serious dominant strategies here. Like I said, SMG's feel like they have a power disadvantage in this because they cannot get the same upfront, one shot damage a Plasma Launcher or Rail Cannon gives. They're useful, sure, but they don't feel as gratifying to use when your vehicle gains a new hole with just one blast. You feel like you brought pea-shooters to an artillery fight.

However, I prefer Robocraft to World of Tanks because I always feel like there's something I can do to combat against a strategy or failing of my machine. I can just rebuild or replace individual parts. Or can change my strategy or just upgrade my stuff.

With World of Tanks, I felt like I could only upgrade myself as the best defence against most of the battles. That's less enjoyable. Robocraft feels more like your in control of your success as it's down to how you put your parts together, not who has what tank and when.

Plus, like I said, that building thing just tickles my brain something fierce.

Now, the game is free. You can by special currency with real money that can let you upgrade your vehicle faster but you can get along just fine with out spending a dime/penny/euro. What's nice is that this extra currency allows you to convert Tech Points into ones that can be used for any tier. You can also by blocks with them and use them to fix your robot. I actually think it's worth dropping a small amount into the game, just to get you started. You might be surprised how far it can go.

The other thing to consider is that it's still in Alpha, apparently. Yes, it's early access. Woo! So, expect bugs but I honestly haven't seen many. Also, expect nerfs and changes here and there, which I think the game needs to make the experience as balanced and enjoyable as possible without sacrificing the excellent mechanics on offer here.

I heartily recommend Robocraft. While I cannot guarantee longevity, it is a blast to just pick up and play. And it costs nothing but hard drive space and download time. Do it!

You can go as serious or as silly as you like. Nothing forcing you to build anything you don't want to! Hyuck-hyuck!​