[h1][i]Drill Arena[/i] offers short matches of action multiplayer but is ruined by poor net code.[/h1]
Six robot drills. Death match - highest kills wins. Go!
[h1]Cool base idea[/h1]
Premise is just fine: You choose a robot (fast but weak, medium, or slow but tanky) and drill away to kill your frenemies.
Drill robot goes around and damages blocks and players automatically when facing them. There's just two power ups: health and super drill. Short speed bursts can be used with Shift.
By the way, I played with keyboard but gamepad fully works.
However, this starting positive note could be deceiving. There are two specific issues.
[h1]First issue: Slippy controls[/h1]
Oftentimes, the fights just become a drillfest where both drills face each other and the one with more health wins. Only backstabbing (possible with smaller but faster drills) can give you the necessary edge, as the drills are slow to turn.
Unfortunately, the robot easily gets stuck into blocks. When turned, it often turns way too much, making it clumsy to maneuver where you want. It's like the rotation just doesn't end when you lift the button but keeps going for a bit longer.
For a game where you're supposed to outmaneuver your opponent, such twitchiness is unacceptable.
As a side note, AI doesn't seem hampered by this and can perfectly follow you even with elaborate evasive maneuvers with speed-ups, unless you manage to make them hit a rock along the way.
[h1]Second issue: Poor netcode[/h1]
I mostly played against the bots, but I also played a bit with other players. Not surprisingly, we were the only lobby and peaked the game's player population to 5.
Alas, we had numerous desyncs and crashes. Thankfully the crashes only occurred just before or after the match. Also, sometimes you would join the lobby but it would not properly connect, leaving you with a black screen.
By desync, I mean that blocks would not get destroyed by the drill or they would linger there for some players after destruction.
Also, once the game finally synchronizes, the drill will race around all those moves you made before the desync. It's unconfortable for anyone with a low ping, and effectively rendered unplayable for the rest.
[h1]Not recommended[/h1]
Unless the worse issue of the net code is fixed, I cannot recommend this game, despite its inexpensive price. Otherwise, I'd be leaning to positive while still keeping the overall score neutral.
However, achievement hunters might enjoy a short'ish perfect game (done in 1 hour) but the Site Cleared achievement (granted for clearing the level of blocks in a single match) is difficult, if not impossible, to do alone so you might need to team up.
[url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/9997062/]~Twistorian Curator~[/url]
