Robotopia is a cheerful sidescrolling shooter with a color palette remniscent of the arcade, in which you control a robot who can fly, zapping a huge variety of opponents and bosses. The single-player game has scads of challenging levels (ten in the demo); you level up over time and can purchase new weapons and equipment, for an RPG-like experience. And once you've gotten good at the controls (see below), you can go online* and battle others in deathmatch, "capture-the-flag" or "bounty-hunting" play.
Unlike many shooters, Robotopia isn't entirely about shooting; there are a variety of moves that require keystroke combinations to use, so there's something of a streetfighter-like aspect to it, too (though not to the extreme of more recent fighters, which have so many special moves that mastering them approaches the difficulty of learning to play a piano). Add in music that somehow combines the feel of house techno and the sound of old arcade games, and you have a unique and quirkily fun little game that will keep shooter fans occupied for quite a while.
Try it. You'll like it. (Well, if you like third-person shooters.)
Documentation to Help Beginning Players
While Robotopia has a pretty good tutorial, there's no in-game help for the controls. So here's what you need to know:
Movement: Cursor arrow keys
Shoot: CTRL
Bombs: TAB or SPACE BAR
Spider Bomb: F1
Sniper Bomb: F2
Magnet Bomb: F3
Power Bomb: F4
(hold shift+bomb key to lay corresponding Mine)
Advanced moves:
Grab Wall: hold "Q" against a wall (recharges energy very fast!)
Create Barrier: "\" +direction(needs 50 gold)
Teleport: press "Delete" key
Super Jump: Down then UP+Shift
Summersault: Down then left or right+shift
Z Dive: "Z" whilst air-born
Vert Bomb: Down then UP+Space Bar or TAB
Sword moves explained:
These are the most vital moves!!!
Regular Slice: Down, towards + CTRL
Electric Smash: Down, towards (VERY fast!) + CTRL
Uppercut: Down, UP+CTRL OR Down, towards + Tab (bomb key)
Overhead Hack: Up, towards + ctrl OR down, towards (hold and wait)+ctrl
MISC keys:
View Status/Online scores: ENTER
Return to previous screen: ESC
Chat Online: T
View entire Chat: R
