On a distant planet, there exists a race of robots. These robots are fully intelligent and sentient. There are some that are workers, some that are doctors and some are fighters. There are two main groups on this planet. One consists of a maniacal ruler of an evil army, while the other is a group bent on stopping this metal fiend. No, I am not talking about Transformers, this is Metal Arms: Glitch in the System.

The graphical elements in Glitch in the System are about par for the PS2. The character models are pretty well done and the levels have a lot of detail in them, but I don't see anything that is really pushing the limits of the PS2's processing power. Of course there is nothing wrong with that. The game doesn't have to be trying to break the system in order to look good. The skins for the characters are well detailed and the dark and industrial levels have a great feel to them that helps put you into the game.

The weapons have great sound effects, and the characters' personalities really come out through the voices in the game. I found that the background noises in each of the levels did a good job of putting me into the scene. The music, on the other hand, wasn't bad, but it didn't really stick in my mind or add anything to the gaming experience. Most of the time, I felt that I could do without it.

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System takes place on the planet Iron Star, where an evil robot, General Corrosive, has taken control of the population and all that stands between him and total power is a small band of rebels.

The game's main character, Glitch, was found in a scrap pile by these rebels and reactivated. His design is different from all others and he has no memory of his past. There is even talk that he might be connected to the Morbots (the race of people who created the bots of Iron Star). Colonel Alloy has taken you into his rag-tag militia in hopes that you will help take down the evil general and his Mil bot army.

You start off with a simple mining laser. This is a good backup weapon when everything else fails, but be warned, if you use it too much it will heat up and shut down. You will pick up many other weapons along the way, each with its own drawbacks and benefits. For example, one weapon is called the S.P.E.W - basically it's a chain gun, it has rapid fire, but uses ammo quickly. Other weapons include the Rivet Gun, the Slingshot, the Scatter Blaster, the Cleaner, the Toaster and several more. Also, several of these weapons can be upgraded when Glitch runs across a EUK (Equipment Upgrade Kit).

Glitch will also be able to use various vehicles that he finds in Droid City; these vehicles will help him get to new locations fast and allow him to mow down baddies efficiently. He will also pick up Arm Servo Upgrades that will allow him to reload faster, as well as other changes that make a big difference when in fights.

Another interesting piece of equipment is the Control Tether. This device allows Glitch to hack into other (enemy) bots and control their actions. Not all enemies have the necessary port to allow Glitch access though, so you will need to plan your tactics carefully in order to use your enemies to your advantage. This becomes necessary several times and adds a new aspect to the game.

There is even a multiplayer aspect where you and a friend can go head-to-head in several games. But you have to earn these games. In the single player mode, you will run across yellow chips - these unlock multiplayer games for you to try out. Other games are unlocked by completing a mission in a certain amount of time.

I found Metal Arms: Glitch in the System to be a fairly well balanced game. The puzzles that needed to be completed weren't overly complicated and I was typically able to lead one or two Mil bots away from large packs in order to scrap them, which helped a lot. The fact that I could do this helped me feel like I was in control; if I wanted to go in guns blazing, I could. Though it isn't as versatile as Deus Ex, it gave me just enough control to make the game more enjoyable.

I found the controls a little awkward in Metal Arms: Glitch in the System. The only real problem I had was when trying to physically move Glitch. The weapons systems and other control actions were done rather well. What got me with Glitch's movement was that he never seemed to be able to go in the direction I wanted him to. At first I thought the camera controls weren't set for reverse direction - but changing that option had little affect on the control problems. I never completely got used to this restriction and it caused many problems that wouldn't have come up otherwise.

Besides the problem with the camera movement, there is no reason why you shouldn't get this game. If you have another system, you might want to look into a version of Metal Arms for that system - the camera problems might not exist across all of the platforms.