Giant Robots. You dig giant robots. I dig giant robots. We dig giant robots. Chicks dig giant robots. Seriously, who doesn’t love Giant Robots?

With that in mind, Slave Zero was an action game released at the turn of the Millennium by Infrogames, and developed by a Studio named Accolade – the original creators of the Star Control games if anyone is interested.

As you boot up the game, the first thing you’ll notice is that Slave Zero is extremely light on story. Set in an undetermined number of years in the future, the Asian Conglomerate is being ruled over by a malevolent hammy dictator with one of the most hilarious hairstyles I’ve ever seen named the Sovereign Khan (or SovKhan as the game insists on referring to him). The SovKhan’s latest evil plot however involves an idea he got after having fun with his own Sea Monkeys – a “Grow your own Giant Robot” scheme, whose by-products are referred to as “Slaves” – 60ft tall Biomechanical Creatures bent to the SovKhan’s bidding.

However, the resistance opposing the SovKhan – the Guardians – manage to capture a prototype Slave and mind meld their pilot – a chap referred to ingame as Chen – to operate it. Now it is up to “Slave Zero” to put a stop to the SovKhan’s plans, and ultimately defeat the SovKhan once and for all.

OR DIE TRYING.

The plot is overly cliché, and really doesn’t bear much thinking about. Do not expect Character arcs. Do not expect the Hero’s morality to be challenged. Do not expect the SovKhan to get a freaking haircut.

So, what is the gameplay like? Well for starters, don’t pick up this game solely because you like Giant Robots. Despite being able to go all King Kong on an urban metropolis being a heavily touted feature, the game really doesn’t live up to this. There are little things, like being able to demolish most of the buildings in the level, the little cars and people scurrying around and being able to pick up and throw objects (usually Poles – and this was at least 3 years before War of the Monsters did this, FYI), the game really doesn’t do a whole lot to emphasise this.

However, as an Action Game? It fares pretty damned well, especially by modern standards.

Slave is pretty damned maneuverable (in spite of the limited controls), able to dodge and weave his way through the enemies with ease once you get a handle on things. Platforming is relatively easy in this game, and the controls handle well.

The weapons are also a pretty well thought out addition. Slave can only carry three weapons at a time, but unlike Halo, Slave can only carry one of each damage category.

• Gun weapons fire conventional bullets. These weapons have the highest Ammunition capacity, and will easily scythe their way through the smaller, weaker Robots. At the top tier of the Gun weapons, you gain an XBAWKZ HUEG SOD OFF ARTILLERY CANNON that is awesome and fun to use.
  
• Energy weapons have slightly less ammunition, and higher tier weapons will rapidly eat though the supply. However, they deal far more damage than Gun weapons, so are best used for the bigger, tougher robots. At the top tier, you gain a Plasma Stream Ejector – a Plasma Powered Lightning Gun in other words.
  
• Missile Weapons have the least amount of ammunition, but may be your most devastating weapons – provided they hit the target. Missile weapons perform pretty well at boss fights, but you may not be using them that often compared to the other two options. At the top tier, you gain a rocket launcher that can lock onto and attack multiple targets at once.
  

Not that the other weapons in previous tiers are to be discounted – Chainguns, Plasma Shotguns and Cluster Missile launchers are also fun to play with. Slave Zero manages to get the joyous feeling you should have when you acquire a new tier for one of your weapons.

In addition, Slave can also perform a Melee attack by running up to Point Blank with the enemy and hitting them with Primary Attack. It is however an unreliable and inefficient method of attack. He can also use a Stomp attack to clear out lesser enemies, but this is rather ineffectual against the other Giant Robots (contrary to what the opening cutscene will tell you, it will take up to two or three stomps to demolish even a low tier Robot).

Enemy variety is also rather nice and varied – there are little tanks and troops that’ll try to shoot you, as well as the other Giant Robots, who come in pretty varied flavors – flying robots, shielded robots, bruiser robots with annoying knockback lasers, spider bots...

...And then there are the Boss Fights. Slave Zero’s boss fights are pretty damn inventive as Boss Fights go. As a couple of examples, Sanguinar (the second boss of the game) is set against a rapidly rising tide of sewer water. Slave has to keep moving to reach higher levels before the Water drowns him, while fighting the boss and his annoying plasma/missile spam. Regulus Prime is another one that is pretty damn fun – the battle takes place on four buildings, which the boss uses for cover. At some points however, he will destroy the building your standing on – can you defeat him before all the Buildings are demolished?

However, it does have some rather big problems.

I was running this on my PC. It’s a mid-level gaming rig – it can run Crysis 2 on Extreme at a steady clip. However, it has framerate issues with Slave Zero, even after setting compatibility mode and installing a fix designed to make it compatible with modern operating systems (my PC also uses a Glide Emulator for running old PC games). It has even at times crashed to desktop when Slave so much as moves. The Dreamcast version reportedly has similar problems, which suggest the engine was not well optimised.

In addition, the levels themselves while designed well and open have clipping problems. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been able to see outside of the map, or had Slave die because he accidently walked into a clipped area.

The game also has very little replay value. There is a Multiplayer functionality, but as one would expect good luck finding a game. As you also might imagine, the game has no achievement system, and it is also rather short. You can probably beat the game on Normal within 8 to 10 hours, tops.

In conclusion: If you can put up with the excuse plot, graphical glitches and frame rate drops, Slave Zero comes recommended for those seeking something different. It’s lack of replay value and aforementioned graphical and game related issues however give it a swollen asterisk next to that.

Overall though, Slave Zero radiates very strongly as a “Like” on the Like-O-Meter.

And next week, a fun editorial! And as always, your clue...

...Until then, I have been your GABEN.