Metal Arms: Glitch in the System

released on Nov 18, 2003

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System is a third-person shooter action-adventure video game, developed by Swingin' Ape Studios and released in 2003. The game follows a robot named Glitch as he joins forces with the Droids in their fight against General Corrosive and his Milbots.


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truly great game, just a masterclass in having a few good ideas for your game, sticking to them, and executing. fun single-player, great split-screen multi. a true forgotten gem.

Game solely made to be played by Guatemalan children to occupy their attention away from their parents divorcing

Metal Arms is the definition of a great B-title on its respective consoles. It was a loony-ass game with robots killing each other, which meant loads of creative weapons, a variety of robots to murder (WITH LIMB DAMAGE), and a wildly comedic story with a lot of twists and turns and setpieces to go through. It was a 2000s-ass game down to the swearing robots.

The only real critiques I have of the game is the modicum of rust on the game being somewhat janky and running like garbage on anything that isn't an Xbox. It's also a game with inconsistent difficulty; some of it is genuinely challenging and will put your skills to the test, other cases you're rolling the dice with how jank or poorly-designed some set-pieces are.

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System has a sort of cult status at this point, for good reason. It's just a well-made game that's also infamous for its cliffhanger ending and loads of unexplored lore before Swingin' Ape studios went on to make their last game checks notes oh god Starcraft Ghost

Enjoyed this as a childhood classic. Beat it finally in 2024

Metal Arms is one of the most unique hidden gems in the gaming industry! Considering this game was released all the way back in 2003, it was well before it's time. Unfortunately, due to a lack of marketing and proper funding, the game never received the appraisal it rightfully deserved.

In terms of shooters, Metal Arms had EVERYTHING you could hope for in this genre. Limb damage, extremely unique weapons/equipment/vehicles, varying types of enemies, a catchy soundtrack, parkour (kind of), boss fights, a comedic story, and to top it all off, mind controlled mechs! Just imagine a less serious Titanfall 2, but without the same degree of high level of movement. Even the multiplayer, though it was limited to local split screen, was amazing. In order to unlock some of the multiplayer maps, you had to find the data chips scattered throughout the story missions, which gave real meaning to the collectible experience.

I'm a bit biased due to my nostalgia for this title, but I have truly never found a shooter game as good as this (warranting a few outdated graphics, controls, and FPS issues due to it's age). This game is a true masterpiece! If you have somehow stumbled across this review and any of the above sounds even remotely interesting, I encourage you to give this game a shot. Download a Dolphin Gamecube Emulator, find a copy of the Metal Arms ROM file, and enjoy the next best shooter in your gaming library. It won't even cost you anything!

FUCK wasteland chase on hard mode