Bring the Thunder: Robots in Gaming

Written by: Adam "ManKorn" Korenman, CC2K Video Games Editor

4)  Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

This game was crazy.

Set in the future, mankind wages war with skyscraper-sized mechanical beasts called Shogo. While a rebel group contends with the militaristic UCA, the player must battle in size 13 and 1300 boots to win the battle. The story made less sense than the last four M. Night movies, but told its tale with the style and flare of Evangelion or Mobile Suit Gundam.

The on-foot segments were barely-passable, with shoddy controls and lackluster weapons. It was in the city-destroying mech battles that the game showed its true colors. Buildings crumbled and 32-bit explosions cast horrific shadows on a bland and textureless landscapes. It was 1998 gaming at its best. 

Well…those certainly are graphics

Shogo came in a variety of shapes and sizes. There were heavy, medium and light, just like the VT in Steel Battalion. What separates them from the pack, aside from the thirty-meter difference in size, were the giant robo-swords each Shogo wielded. Remember, this was a game based heavily around Appleseed and other Japanime. With one swing, these monster cleavers shear right through tons of armor, sending the enemy to the ground in pieces. 

In an average level, you faced hundreds of soldiers on the ground and dozens of robots of all shapes and sizes. Mechs exploded into hundreds of tiny parts, and soldiers splattered in cartoonish sprays of blood and gore. In a word, it was pretty awesome. Inside the Shogo, you felt like you could take on the world. On the ground against a Shogo, you truly appreciated the size and power of these mechanical marvels. 

Me thinks you need a bigger gun. Or TEN bigger guns

Shogo sacrificed realism for the sake of creating an awesome spectacle, which helped developer Monolith craft a fun and memorable experience. However, not all developers feel the need to tread so deeply into the ridiculous.