Incase you've been ignoring major game headlines these days (or were too busy playing Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), Metal Arms is a first-person shooter.  It's played from a third-person perspective, but I've come to find that most third-person shooters play significantly different from those in the first-person perspective.  This title plays like an FPS so that's what I'm calling it.

Whereas most shooters are bloody, Metal Arms is nuts and bolts-y.  You control a robot named Glitch.  All of your enemies appear to be robots as well.  I can't tell you what the story is about (the intro can't be skipped and I nearly fell asleep watching it), but it seems to have something to do with saving the world.  No one's going to care about that.

Gamers will care about the gameplay though, which is filled with more variety than you'd ever expect from a $40 game.  Think of it as a scaled-down version of Halo: it's got a stellar arsenal, three controllable vehicles, and tons of multiplayer levels to fry your friends in!

The controls work incredibly well.  There's no need to remind you that shooters do not always function properly on a game console.  Metal Arms was developed specifically for game consoles though, so the developers took the time to make the controls move as fast and accurately as possible.  Generally I immediately invert the axis (so that pressing Up will cause the camera to move down and vice versa), but Metal Arms's controls were so intuitive that I didn't need to.  (Don't worry: if you must invert the axis you can.)  Aiming is never easy on a console shooter, but it didn't take me 10 years to get the hang of it.  Helping things along is a large cursor that turns red when covering a target that should be destroyed.  Within a couple of minutes I was taking out robots like it was going out of style.  In fact, rumor has it that the E! News Daily reporters think that the enemy robots are out of style and should be replaced with more attractive ones immediately.

Metal Arms has a first for a shooting game: a double jump.  Jumping is quick and painless; you can pick off baddies while hopping around.  In some situations you'll get to swing from a line and shoot enemies as you glide from platform to platform.  This further increases the excitement of the single-player campaign.

For everyone who loves the multiplayer mode (i.e., anyone who plays this game), Metal Arms has an incentive to play through the single-player mode more than once.  Throughout the game you'll acquire various secret chips.  The chips seem pointless at the time, but check out the multiplayer mode and you'll see that the chips are the key to unlocking all of the multiplayer maps.  This is a great way to encourage players to fully complete the game.  I foolishly blew my way through the first few levels, failing to collect all of the chips.  Not being able to live with myself, I started over and played more carefully until I acquired as many of the chips as possible.

The multiplayer maps are huge.  They're littered with weapons, and if you want you can start the battle with a full arsenal.  Four players can blow each to pieces in one of seven different multiplayer modes.  The list includes Bot Brawl (deathmatch); Time Bot Brawl; Possession Melee (specific weapons only); King of the Hill (capture the flag); Moving Hill (hill area changes periodically); Tag (be IT for two minutes and lose); and Reverse Tag (be IT for two minutes and win).

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System is a superb shooter.  It surpassed my expectations by delivering more features than nearly everything else that's out there.  I had forgotten some of the interesting details that were revealed in my interview, so it was a bit of a surprise to see some of the game's weapons in actions.  The vehicles are great.  At certain points you can also control other robots by accessing a designated terminal.  This enables you to wreak havoc on your foes without the danger of dying.  There are a lot of big-name games with huge marketing campaigns that will suck you in this Christmas, but please don't let that make you overlook Metal Arms.  Add it to your Christmas list.  When you're not racing in Mario Kart or fighting in Soul Calibur, you'll find holiday joy in watching your friends get blown to smithereens.

Gameplay: 8.6
I haven't had this much fun with a console FPS since TimeSplitters 2 was released.  The big, multi-tiered multiplayer maps make it fun to run-'n'-gun, and the controls make it possible to do it without pulling your hair out.

Metal Arms's single-player campaign is pretty long, and the secret chips make it impossible to resist conquering it.  You'll do your best to get every last chip, and if that isn't good enough, you'll play it through it several more times until you get it right.  The incentive for collecting those chips is high – they can be used to unlock new multiplayer maps.  And once the single-player game is over it's the multiplayer mode that you and your friends will be loving.

Graphics: 8
Not the best visuals for a GameCube game, but Metal Arms looks great.  No, I take that back, it looks better than great.  There are a lot of light-reflecting metallic surfaces, excellent explosion effects, and stellar robotic animations.

Sound: 5
Metal Arms's unnecessary use of bleeped-out profanity is completely out of place.  I have nothing against it in the proper setting (Grand Theft Auto and other mafia-type games), but it makes little sense to have it here.

Difficulty: Medium
The hardest part is collecting those secret chips.  Must...find...all...of them!

Concept: 7.9
Nothing new, but the game is shinier than most "new" titles on the market.  It's a terrific shooter with hours of replay value.  The GameCube crowd will love it.

Multiplayer: 8.8
Is this a first-party game?  You might ask yourself that question after experiencing a multiplayer game with three friends.  It's really fast and exciting.  The arsenal, the map structure, the controls, the graphics – everything is what it should be.  This game rocks!

Overall: 8.5
Have you been feeling glitchy lately?  Are you dying for a new shooter to play that doesn't suck after the first hour of play?  Do you wish that game developers would give more attention to the multiplayer modes?  Swingin' Ape Studios heard your cries.  (I think they saw me crying in my sleep, moaning, "Please Santa, don't make me play another disappointing shooter.")  This game didn't come from a bunch of little elves, but the craftsmanship is just as wonderful as the tiny soldiers Santa's helpers make. 

The gameplay is where it's at with a great, 40-mission single-player campaign and tons of multiplayer maps to unlock.  Controlling Glitch is not in the least bit frustrating.

Metal Arms's box art is slightly misleading – this ain't no kiddie game.  The odd use of profanity might make parents think twice before letting their kids play this title, but all of the major words are bleeped out.  If they've watched MTV or gone to public school it's guaranteed that they've heard and seen much worse.  Teens will love this game, especially those who do not have access to a powerful PC with broadband Internet access.  I think adults would like it a lot if they gave it a chance, but I could see many of them writing it off just because it's not a PC exclusive.