Scrap Metal (XBLA) Review

• Game: Scrap Metal
• Developer: Slick Entertainment
• Price: 1200MS Points ($15.00)
• Release Date: 3/10/2010

Scrap Metal doesn’t bring anything new to the table; it is Micro Machines in HD with more of a focus on weapons and upgradable vehicles. Seeing that Scrap Metal is brought to us by the developers of N+, the great Slick Entertainment [though the N series was created by Metanet Software - who co-developed N+], you can expect a bit of frustration while playing, but sadly it is not rewarding frustration. It doesn't help that the game is free of exploding ninjas.

Scrap Metal features eight different tracks and over a dozen vehicles with weapons specific to each vehicle. The tracks and vehicles vary quite a bit, but that isn’t exactly positive; some vehicles are extremely overpowered, while others are completely useless. The basic gameplay consists of you competing against seven other opponents in a race to the finish line with the ability to just blow everyone up if you are not inclined to actually race. If you aren’t interested in racing, there are Derbies that focus solely on destruction [you could call it a Destruction Derby – I just made that up].

Scrap Metal is packed with a lot of content and unlocking everything will take a fair bit of time. There are plenty of vehicles to unlock and you can spend your hard-earned upgrade points to make said vehicles more powerful. When you get bored of single-player, you can play against friends and foes online and offline in a few different multi-player modes. The idea behind Scrap Metal is great, but the execution fails to reach its potential because the controls are just too loose for comfort; I’m pretty sure they are looser than Paris Hilton.

I managed to get used to the controls after about fifteen minutes and was really enjoying the game, but then something strange happened; the controls started to feel progressively worse and even more unresponsive than when I first played the game. The controls are not terrible, but in a game that requires precision, responsive controls are very important. The rest of the game has managed to draw in my unlock-whore personality, but the controls keep Scrap Metal from being a great game; in the end, Scrap Metal is just a good game that could benefit from a lower price tag [a $10 price tag would make a purchase much easier to swallow].

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