Publisher: Talonsoft

Developer: Zono

Metal Fatigue site: www.metalfatigue.com

Jumping late into a mature market is Metal Fatigue, a title started under publisher Psygnosis and finally making it under a combined Psygnosis/Take 2/Talonsoft mantle. This real-time strategy (RTS) takes both high and low roads to being different, using three levels of battlefield (air, ground, and subterranean). The most interesting element is the use of giant robots in ways not seen before in an RTS. If you're a fan of this Japanimation staple, you'll probably get a kick from the animated battles between the giant robots. Metal Fatigue does some things well, and might have been a hit a few years ago, but in the competitive RTS market a title needs to be more than good, it has to be nearly error free. Enough shortcomings mire this game at the middle of the pack.

It is true that MicroProse released a giant robots RTS in MechCommander, but Metal Fatigue, even though coming a couple years later, manages to retain much of the anime feel to robot combat while infusing it with a healthy dose of aggression. The giant robots are called combots and like the hulks that inspired them, they can be fitted with missile packs on their legs and torsos that launch swirling salvos at their opponents. They can also wield a variety of shields, swords, power fists, and other melee weapons, and are active in close combat, swinging wildly like boxers or ramming opponents with their shields. The combots are the best part of the game, well implemented in scales of size and power.

The combots are larger and more powerful than the traditional forces of tanks and jeeps that accompany them on each mission. They can destroy conventional forces quickly, though it is possible for a large number to overwhelm them. While the combots are the kings of the Metal Fatigue battlefield, they cannot win wars without their supporting cast. They also depend on the quality of their crews and armaments. A combot on its last legs can eject the crew, which then tries to escape back to base where it can fight again, thus preserving a skilled team. Combots can also eject an arm and exchange it with better alien parts it may find on the battlefield.