By Kieron Gillen on February 3rd, 2010 at 10:08 am.
Hurrah! Robokill’s back. The original game had both Walker and I write a little around, and now there’s a sequel. In short – it’s a Smash TV/Robotron versus Diablo cross, with you upgrading your little mechanical fellow while working your way through a maze of rooms. While there levels and monsters are all new – and the monsters seem much smarter – almost everything we said in the original pieces holds true. As in, the pits are annoying (though there’s less of them) but it’s really good fun, the rumble of your multiple-guns builds up and it’s well worth playing, especially if you haven’t touched it before. Video follows.
And, I stress, this is a fan-made trailer rather than one which Rock Solid Arcade have done. As such, the \m/!!!!! metal isn’t exactly characteristic of the game.
It’s a premium flash game, which means while the first episode is free, to play the other two you’ll need to throw down ten dollars.
03/02/2010 at 10:30 Collic says:
This looks good. Smash TV with obsessive loot collecting. Excellent :D
03/02/2010 at 10:38 Ian says:
I actually paid to play the rest of the first one so I’m pleased to see they made a second.
03/02/2010 at 10:53 Rob Hale says:
Less Death metal please kthx.
03/02/2010 at 11:46 Flakfizer says:
Who thought that noise was a good way to sell the game?
03/02/2010 at 14:19 Psychopomp says:
You think that’s noise?
03/02/2010 at 12:14 bill says:
Gah! My Ears!
03/02/2010 at 13:34 MortiZ says:
Noise? That’s quality music right there :P. It’s viking death metal played by the band Amon Amarth, if anyone wondered.
03/02/2010 at 13:51 sleepygamer says:
I was eh about it until I scrolled down, and saw people complaining about “noise” and then “death metal”.
At which point, I scrolled back up, watched the video, and now I kinda wanna get this.
You people have no appreciation for good quality metal. Even if you don’t like it, why diss it?
03/02/2010 at 14:15 Kieron Gillen says:
Because it’s not something you necessarily want blaring at you if you’re interested in a new indie game?
(I’m a guy who digs metal, but I’m always amazed by the number of indie games who put it on pretty much the most inappropriate stuff in trailers .The footage trailer is a PR device, not something for showing off your own taste.)
I mean, Dragon Age got the piss taken. This clearly would too.
KG
03/02/2010 at 14:34 DrGonzo says:
Well at least this is ‘ard metal unlike Dragon Age
03/02/2010 at 14:50 Kieron Gillen says:
(That I’m listening to Melt Banana while having this conversation adds levels of irony)
It’s kind of a *choice* thing. There’s certainly games you can use even really extreme metal with, but it’s a question of actually cutting it to fit in. In this case, I suspect you’d have just been better with the in-game sound effects since it’s just a playthrough.
KG
03/02/2010 at 20:18 Pod says:
I am king of metal. I like metal. Metal am I; I’m metal as fuck, etc.
Anyway: The music annoyed me. Music on any game video annoyed me. Esepcially when I watcha TF2 “frag” video. Why can’t they just shut up and play the ingame sounds? Are they trying to sell me this game or Imperial Sledge Fists’ latest album?
03/02/2010 at 22:50 Ian says:
@ Pod:
???
04/02/2010 at 01:07 sleepygamer says:
True. I see the points, however, when I see an Apple advertisement, I don’t immediately rag on the baby xylophone music. I’ve seen a few games trailers for games with a whole load of hip hop rap blasting out, and yet I manage to conceal the bile and rage I get when I hear the ruination of perfectly good hip hop with today’s musicians, and concentrate on the game at hand.
Of course, occasionally something catchy comes on, and I turn it up and completely ignore the trailer.
I just get ever so slightly cross when people start going on about “noise” when there is some incredibly skilled and interesting music playing. Even if it’s not to my taste, I’m won’t just call it noise.
Now, grindcore and noisecore. THAT’S noise. Very hilarious noise.
03/02/2010 at 15:00 LionsPhil says:
Suffice to say, the game does not blast you with metal noise when playing. It is, in fact, quite amusing, although having completed the first mission thing on a bloody trackpad, I need to stop before I cripple myself.
Being a web thing, I suppose I can’t save. Goodbye, shotguns.
03/02/2010 at 15:25 Rane2k says:
In order of appearance:
Amon Amarth – Where Is Your God?
Amon Amarth – Twilight Of the Thunder God
Amon Amarth – No Fear Of The Setting Sun
…. and while I like the music, I also think that it´s probably not suitable for selling a Sci-Fi Diablo-style game. :-)
I can imagine where the idea to use fast metal comes from though, the rockets fired by the player nicely synchronise with the double bass / tremolo picked riffs.
Still, checking out the game this evening, got the full version of the first one and quite enjoyed it!
03/02/2010 at 15:38 jsutcliffe says:
Oh dear — it’s Amon Amarth? I have no problem with them musically, but ever since I saw a YouTube vid with subtitles I cringe whenever I pay attention to the lyrics. It’s poetry written by a Viking-obsessed ten-year-old.
03/02/2010 at 16:09 Mal says:
Just to point out, the game saves your progress, money and weapons, so you can safely exit and resume later. Hello, shotguns!
Overall, this seems a definite improvement over the first game, which I enjoyed a lot (indeed, enough to convince me to buy the full thing). I’d buy this one too if I had some spare monies.
Definitely worth playing, ignore the trailer music!
03/02/2010 at 17:41 disperse says:
How are the controls? For some reason, I have a really hard time with top down mouse aiming games. It just feels… wrong.
03/02/2010 at 17:46 Stark says:
I swear they stole some of the sound effects from Alien Breed
03/02/2010 at 19:06 Kieron Gillen says:
In passing to everyone – I’ve been informed they aren’t official trailers, so the music is nowt to do with the developer.
KG
03/02/2010 at 19:07 Lorc says:
My favourite thing about robokill was the RPS comments thread on it filled up with people asking for the full version for free.
03/02/2010 at 19:56 Mad Doc MacRae says:
They might be a rock solid arcade, but they certainly don’t have a rock solid server. This is ridiculous.
03/02/2010 at 20:07 Rane2k says:
Yeah, their lyrics are _really_ cheesy. :-)
As are their riffs, for at least 3 albums now, but it´s still fun.
I don´t think I will shell out the 10 bucks for the full version of Robokill 2, it is far too similar to the first game to warrant the price tag.
03/02/2010 at 22:43 PHeMoX says:
“I don´t think I will shell out the 10 bucks for the full version of Robokill 2, it is far too similar to the first game to warrant the price tag.”
True, but I would still rather support an indie company like this, than for example the folks behind Modern Warfare 2 for the exact same reason. For some reason people either fall for it a lot when it comes to AAA titles, but with indie games, people are more careful. How’ come?
03/02/2010 at 23:50 Rane2k says:
PheMoX (Hope this time it gets appended to the post, this reply function is … interesting ^^):
My reasoning was this: I have already spent $10 on the first game, tested out the free chapter of the second one and my conclusion was this: I am not going to spend money for the same game twice. New things that I saw: 1 new weapon type (Cluster Grenade, did not enjoy it because it does not function well in a game where you usually just hold the fire button), new enemies, usable items.
Not much has changed.
What I can do: I can recommend the game to people who have not played the first one, because to them everything will be fresh.
I´m not sure on the indie vs AAA topic, I´m not even sure what an “indie” game is anymore. Robokill does qualify, but what about games like Braid, Trine, Torchlight? If these still count as indie then yes, I hope everyone buys their products instead of Activisions. :-)