¤ Robot Alchemic Drive | Impressions

Robot Alchemic Drive is one of the most inexplicable games I have ever played. It is wonderful yet tragically flawed. The meat and potatoes of the game is the giant mech battles - and they're great. Truly awe inspiring and fun. The problem is - basically and unfortunately - everything else.

The biggest problem is that you will not spend most of your time piloting these beautiful behemoth mechs. Copious amounts of time is spent watching bad, boring, poorly animated (if at all), poorly voice acted newscasts and cut scenes. They're really long and really boring. Really really boring. Many reviews have touched on this and I knew about it before purchasing the game - but I never expected it to be this bad. I assumed it was kitsch Japanese silliness which I might not mind and perhaps even enjoy. Was I ever wrong. I mind! A lot!

In addition to that exercise in tediousness the load times are ghastly. You are bored waiting to be bored! Finally, I am not that far into the game, but so far half of the missions seem to be playing as the human character and doing things like running to a red dot on the map. It sounds like it would be no big deal... but the human controls poorly and animates poorly and it takes forever. It's just tedious, boring, and extremely frustrating.

Finally, the game looks pretty lousy. It suffers badly from "PS2 disease". That is to say that with the exception of the lovely looking mechs, the graphics are bland, textureless, and 500 shades of grey.

So, this game is filled with nuisances and negatives... but the most important aspect of the game is actually brilliantly executed. That's why the game is so frustrating and so tragically flawed. The mech battles are incredibly fun. The control is spot- on. It's unique, perfect, and extremely fun. I would absolutely love to play a game where 90% of the game was spent playing with the mechs.

Unfortunately, RAD is not that game. The negatives pretty much suck the fun out of the game. The frustration level is enormous and the game feels like a chore to play. It's not a worthless game but i can't in all honestly feel good about paying full price for this game. I would recommend waiting until the price falls under $20u before picking it up again.

RAD is truly one of the most disappointing and frustrating game experiences I have had in a long time.