What’s the most fun a robot can have without raging against the three laws of robotics? Well destroying an army of other robots obviously. Take control of four different robot types and platform your way to saving the world in Raul Mellado’s XBox Live Indie Game, Mechanoid Army.

Gameplay

Mechanoid Army is a 2.5D platformer with some minor puzzle solving elements in which you’ll take control of a small robot with limited capabilities. Despite his short comings this little robot is taksed with nothing less than halting the advance of a ship filled with world destroying robot hoards. Fortunately, to make up for your mechanized ineptitudes, you possess the ability to transfer your robo-consciousness into four different robot archetypes and gain their abilities.

Robot types and abilities:

• VT-S Standard Mechanoid: Normal movement speed, standard jump hight, can pick-up objects, and operate switches.
• VT-B Heavy Mechanoid: Very slow movement speed, cannot jump, can pick up objects, be used as a platform, and opperate floor switches.
• VT-J Jumper Mechanoid: Faster version of the VT-S with greater jumping ability.
• VT-F Jetpack Mechanoid: Same functionality as the VT-S with the addition of a jetpack for flight.

Through the utilization of these robot archetypes, the game seeks to investigate the nooks and crannies of the platforming genre with a levels designed to give a taste of just about anything you can imagine. You’ve got your basic platforming levels, your moving platform levels, your rail riding perpetual motion levels, your jetpack flight based platforming levels, and even your floating low gravity platforming levels.

Unfortunately all this variety comes at a cost, and that cost in this case is depth. Mechanoid Army plays a bit more like reading the cliff notes version of several games with no real time spent on savoring any of them. For instance, the rail riding levels are particularly amusing, but there are only two of them that take only a couple of minutes to slide right through. The same thing can be said about the jet pack levels, I mean who could ever feel fulfilled with just three or so jetpack robot levels? Not me, that’s for sure.

In contrast to these delightful examples, there are some levels that were just simply annoying. Chiefly among these are the low gravity levels. These levels, of course, cause your jumping height to increase dramatically but also greatly impair your movement speed. The issue is further accentuated by raining asteroids and laser blasters that must be dodged. I understand the intent of these levels is to focus focus heavily on timing and to play with the pacing of the game, but in reality they just feel toilsome.

The issue of game depth also manifests itself in the game’s length, it weighs in with just fifteen levels and less than an hour of playtime. The game does have score elements to entertain the notion of replaying for best scores and rankings, but in all fairness, I don’t see this as being a likely replay value adder. In fact, all the other negatives of the game could have been easily overlooked if all the good aspects of the game had been expanded on.

Mechanoid Army does have its high points. For example, the previously mentioned rail riding levels are enjoyable, and a bit reminiscent of Ratchet & Clank’s 3D foray into rail grinding. The pure platforming levels with the fast robot, who’s pacing improves the feeling of the game considerably, are also quite good. I was just really left wanting more of everything — well, except for low gravity levels, those I’d had enough of.

Audio/Visual

As noted earlier, Mechanoid Army is constructed in a 2.5D world. In fact, all of its assets are 3D models placed in a very shallow 3D shadow box world. You are able to move ever so slightly in and out. This third dimension seems to only be present for its aesthetic contribution, since in terms of gameplay it can be entirely ignored.

The models of the robots themselves are quite charming and well animated. They look like the sort of robot you’d love to have a figure of on your desk just to place on display your love for all things dorky. Each of the robot models has its own set of lights accenting the design; I mention this because in one particular level, the lights are all shut off. So all you see are these lights hobbling about in pure darkness. In this same level you also get a barrel that has a light on it which can be carried around and used as a tool to illuminate your way. It all works together to become a nice use of the games dynamic lighting.

The music and sound effects of the game work okay, but don’t stand out much on their own. The little clanking of the robots’ footsteps and the “pew pew” of the occasional laser battery are nice and understated, which is really a good thing since you hear these sounds in repetition.

Summary

I rather enjoyed Mechanoid Army, in fact the most significant negative I have regarding the game is its length. The visuals are exceptionally well done and that only made me want more! In essence, it is a very nice XBLIG offering, but one must temper their enthusiasm with the reality of the games duration. If you are in the market for a good looking platformer with a price to the tune of 240 Microsoft Points, and don’t mind it being between thirty minutes to an hour in length, I think you’ll mostly enjoy Mechanoid Army. If you want something a little more substantial for your MS Points, you may want to cast your gaze towards titles such as Kaleidoscope or Arkedo’s Pixel.