Metal Saga (PS2)

This little gem of a game is one of the oddest rpgs I have played in a long time. The premise is simple, the world ended, leaving a post-apocalyptic wasteland populated with bizarre bio-robotic monsters.

You are a Hunter. You hunt the monsters, with tanks. As I love tanks this concept is awesome in the extreme. There are lots of tanks to find, steal, or dig up out of the wasteland.

The odd part is, unlike most rpgs, there is no real "story". You wander around fighting random encounters, or if you prefer hunting down "named" villains that are available from the Hunters office. There is a storyline, but it is not the driving force of the game, and in fact is more of a series of subplots then a real story-arc.

There are also assorted women for you to try and date, by buying them new outfits or stuff for their houses. You can also buy stuff for yourself to make your own room better.

This open-endedness is both the games strength and weakness; while you are free to pursue your own goals, the lack of a solid story limits engagement into the world.

I give it 3 thumbs up for story, but 5 cannon-shells for awesome tank battling.

Catalogue: Metal Saga