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Roboblitz (Xbox Live Arcade)

By Michael J. Catania on Friday, October 20, 2006 at 1:00 PM EST  

Roboblitz
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!
How exactly does a game developer like Naked Sky fit its ambitious new game, RoboBlitz into the 50 megabyte limit required by Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade? The answer is simple: physics. No, really. Physics.

We caught our first glimpse of RoboBlitz at the show where we got the chance to meet and chat the CEO of Naked Sky Entertainment, Tian Mu. Knowing almost nothing about Naked Sky (the developer) and its debut game, we were floored by the beauty and innovation of this feisty indie title.

Mu was kind enough to demonstrate the power of RoboBlitz, a game that is driven by mathematical formulas using the properties of physics (aha!) rather than visual images stored in memory. In other words, the height, color, and texture of the environments and characters in the game render because of a series of equations. Known as procedural synthesis, that’s how a game that is as sophisticated and stunning as RoboBlitz fits under a 50 MB quota.

Who dat?
Blitz is the name of the protagonist and if you haven’t already guessed it by now, he’s a robot. He works as an engineer on a space ship being attacked by pirates. But Blitz is not just any robot, thanks to his various—and somewhat hilarious—arsenal of weaponry.

There’s your basic EMP rifle (stuns enemies) and pulse cannon (sniper rifle), but Blitz also has a rocket launcher made from spare fireworks parts, so that every time he shoots a baddie with the rocket launcher, it’s the Fourth of July. Then, there’s the anti-grav gun, which fires a glop of anti-matter at villains. If the anti-matter connects, the villain rises into the air like a balloon. Finally comes the tractor beam. With this weapon, Blitz creates a rubber-band like beam. Picture this: A baddie is headed your way and you would rather see him suffer than simply take him out with the pulse cannon. Shoot him with the tractor beam then shoot the barrel sitting across the room, and watch with glee as the barrel hurtles towards the baddie and connects with vicious force.

The weapon can easily be used to solve puzzles too. Having trouble finding a way around the huge gap in the room? Why not simply traverse it by shooting one end of the beam on the ceiling and swing across, a la Spider-Man.

Given that RoboBlitz is a platformer at heart, it’s easy to imagine using weapons like these to solve puzzles through 19 levels. All of the tasks performed in the game are necessary to achieve the goal of activating the space cannon in time to ward off the incoming space pirates.

Get outta here!
The strangest part of our chat with Tian was when I asked what platform RoboBlitz would emerge on. With a smile, he answered that it would pop up for Xbox Live Arcade and PC sometime this fall. We were shocked because RoboBlitz looks more like a full-fledged next-gen title for the Xbox 360, rather than a small addition to Live Arcade. For only $14.99 (1200 Microsoft points), anyone with a PC or 360 can purchase RoboBlitz and enjoy a funny, puzzle-filled journey as Blitz, our new favorite robot. Look for our review in November.

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