Review: Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi (PS3)

I have heard good things about Swingin’ Ape’s Metal Arms: Glitch in the System, a Sierra-published action title from a few years ago that appeared on PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube. In addition to strong reviews, the game seems to have a small cult following. I put it on my Goozex list some time ago and it slowly crept toward delivery until today when I received my copy.

The intro is very clever. It gives you some backstory, and it’s done in a black-and-white early 20th century newsreel style, but with robots instead of people.

The game is a kind of run-and-gun action game. It has a very nice aesthetic and a good sense of humor. There’s apparently a robot rebellion going on and a robot named Glitch becomes part of it after he’s found damaged and repaired by the ailing insurgency. He’s sent on his first mission with the last two guys, the hilariously named Hosed and Screwed who, unsurprisingly, are taken out by a grenade almost immediately, leaving Glitch as, apparently, the only one left to fight. Running through the stages in the game, you shoot at enemies and solve environmental puzzles (shoot out the cables to knock down the pipes, letting you cross the ravine, that kind of thing) and generally just try to cope with being hopelessly outnumbered at all times.

The only real issue I’ve encountered so far is constantly having to steer the camera, and aiming with the C-stick on the Wavebird, which is a bit too sensitive. It tends to make more sense to strafe to line up a delicate shot than to actually aim directly, because you walk with greater precision than you aim. I’m going to see if I can customize the controls, maybe I’ll have some better luck.

I can tell already I’m going to need to read the manual on this game to get a handle on the weaponry. This isn’t usually my genre, so I’m a little out of my element. Those who are into Ratchet & Clank will likely be right at home with this game.

Image source: Mobygames