Robobeat Review

thesixthaxis.com:

Robobeat is a rhythm-based first-person shooter that, like a couple of recent titles such as Metal: Hellsinger, combines fast-paced combat with a beat-matched shooting mechanic. You play as Ace, a bounty hunter who has been called on to find a cyborg named Frazzer, but that might not be the whole story.

To find your mark you zip through hundreds of fairly basic procedurally generated rooms packed with robots which you can destroy with one of the many guns found in the game. Each has waves of enemies as well as jump pads, spikes and other things that will do their best to drain your health. It’s like a procedurally generated Doom, but thee’s a rhythmic shooter element drizzled on top with the ability to choose the soundtrack that accompanies your rampage.

You’re graded on how close to the beat of the music you fire your weapons, trying to chain beats together and masting combos to lead to more effective and stylish combat sequences. Combining weapon attacks with movement abilities like the Hook can create powerful combos that deal significant damage to enemies. The mechanic for engaging the power-up combinations does take a while to master and in the heat of the battle it’s very easy to mess them up, but they are satisfying once you have a handle on the controls. During each run you may also get a chance to pick up cards which further enhance your skills by adding bonus effects like fire or reduced damage.

While the maps are procedurally generated you do get clues as to what the next room will hold so once you have cleared a room you can take a second to get your breath back and decide where to go next, more enemies or perhaps a detour to pick up a new weapon blueprint, or a new soundtrack. The game features a variety of ranged and melee weapons from the usual pistols and shotguns to the more esoteric choices such as [ing-pong bat and ball, each offering unique advantages and playstyles. I found the shotguns to be great fun.

In general, I do recommend you tweak the