RoboRumble is an obscure real time strategy title from the late 90's RTS explosion. The story is that an alien weapon was found on Mars and intelligence says the aliens will return in one year. Earth prepares for war and two arms companies compete to supply the Earth army. War games are staged on Mars to determine whether Red Star Robotics or Teraflux will supply Earth. Unlike most modern strategy games, it is lite on micromanagement. There is no resource gathering. You start with a set amount of cash and when a unit dies, you are refunded to complete price of the unit. Also, there is no base construction. You have an energy thingy that builds your units called, (no surprise) base. The center piece of the game is unit construction, you pick between three parts when creating Robos: legs, weapon, and booster. Booster do things such as increase range, firepower, reload speed, etc. Between levels you can purchase new booster types and upgrade your base with money earned from the previous level. What hinders the game is the AI is stupid, it takes it too long to respond to attacks. The levels are maze like and trap filled, it is often more of a challenge to reach the enemy than it is to wipe out their base. On annoying aspect is the camera, when a base is damaged a certain degree it releases a shockwave that destroys the attacking units and shakes the camera, but the camera does not return to its starting position. Also, the camera rotates when you pause the game and again it resets. Roborumble is a simple RTS that at times can be frustrating, but at other times quite enjoyable.

Score: 6.6

Cabal