War Robots

For real war robots, see Military robot.

War Robots
Developer(s)	Pixonic
Publisher(s)	My.Games
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	iOS, Android, Game Room, Fire OS, SteamOS, Amazon, Windows
Release	April 14, 2014
Genre(s)	Action, MOBA
Mode(s)	Multiplayer, Singleplayer

War Robots (previously titled Walking War Robots) is a mobile app game developed and published by the game developer Pixonic. It is a third-person shooter with real-time PvP battles in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) mode. Players operate BattleTech-like robots on a live battlefield. It was first released on iOS in 2014 and was released to Android the following year.

Battle modes

There are currently 6 main types of Battle modes in War Robots. Each has their own goals and challenges.

Domination

In this Battle mode, each teams are provided with a Beacon bar at the top of the screen (Blue for your current team and Red for the opposing team). The Beacon bar of your and your opposing team will slowly deplete every few seconds, depending on how much Beacons your team or the enemy team have captured. The goal of Domination is to capture as much Beacons as you can to deplete the opposing team's Beacon bar before they deplete your team's Beacon bar. One team can win either by depleting their opposing team's Beacon bar or by "killing" all their opposing team's robots and Titans.

Beacon Rush

This Battle mode is similar to the Domination mode, where both teams are provided with a Beacon bar and the goal is to capture as many beacons as you can to deplete the opposing team's Beacon bar. The main difference between Beacon Rush and Domination mode is that on Beacon Rush, you can deploy your robot at a Beacon on the map that your team has captured to continue the battle, in contrary to Domination mode, where you can't even choose where to deploy your robot. This spawning-on-beacon mechanic allows you to use your captured Beacons as strategic checkpoints, to get to your designated location faster. Like Domination, one team can either win by depleting their' opposing team's Beacon bar or by killing all their opposing team's robots.

Team Deathmatch

Sometimes called TDM by players for short, is a battle mode where the goal is to kill as many opposing team's robots as you can. At the top of the screen in this battle mode, there are 2 counters which displays a number according to how many robots your team or your opposing team have killed. The team with the most kills will win the battle and if the battle ends with the same number of kills between each teams, the battle will end with a draw. Your team and the opposing team can deploy their robots in either one of the three areas labeled A, B, and C in the map, marked with signal smokes.

Extermination/PvE

In Extermination, the goal is to destroy as many AI-controlled enemies as you can and complete the additional challenges provided at the start of the battle. This Battle mode has many levels (up to 5) which progressively gets harder but with more valuable rewards. The more challenges you accomplish, the more rewards you get after the battle ends. There are currently 7 AI-controlled enemies in this game mode:

• Tick, a small, fast-moving AI-Driven enemy that deals AoE damage to your robot that is within range. Usually attacks in swarms.
• Tarantula, a version of the Tick which instead of attacking using AoE, it uses a toxic spray instead to damage the your robot. each projectile of the spray deals DoT (Damage over Time) and a LockDown effect, which prevents the affected robot from moving.
• Recluse, a stationary AI-controlled enemy which fires high damage homing missiles in order to attack the player.
• Wanderer, a Tank AI-controlled enemy which is commonly found to engage in close-combat with the player and is sometimes equipped with a strong defense-system. has 2 weapon slots.
• Karakurt, a Mid-range support, fast-moving AI-controlled enemy which engages mid-ranged combat with the player. can quickly hide behind cover when threatened. has 3 weapon slots.
• Birdeater, a Sniper which has the most firepower out of all the previously mentioned enemies, but is vulnerable due to it mainly being stationary and having not much health.
• Bastion, a huge, AI-controlled spider Titan which has immense durability and firepower and is able to teleport if it is "Out of Bounds".

Free for All

In Free-for-all, the goal is to have as much frag points as you can, which is obtained by killing an enemy robot to be the best player when the battle ends. During the battle, you can use your aqcuired frag points to "restore" your killed robots so they are able to be used again, but it also removes an amount of your frag points, potentially lowering your rank in the battle.

Push

A relatively new Battle mode where the goal is to escort the floating yellow payload in the middle of the map to the final point, which is found near the opposing team's spawn point. At some areas of the maps, there will be checkpoints, and when the payload ends up there, any robot escorting the payload needs to wait and outnumber the amount of their opposing team's robots that is escorting the payload for a while for the payload to be able to move again. The payload's movement is based on the amount of robot's escorting it. The more robot of the same team is escorting the payload, the faster the payload goes, and when the amount of robots of both teams escorting the payload is the same, the payload will not move and will stay in place.

Skirmish

This Battle mode changes in an interval of every 24 hours. The goal depends on what the Battle mode available for the Skirmish is at the mean time. Examples of Skirmish Battle modes are: Cat and Mice, TDM Brawler's Rumble, BR Sniper's Delight, and etc.

Reception

Engadget Android Police reviewed the work, writing "Walking War Robots isn't exactly original - it's borrowing quite a lot from the MechWarrior series, with a third-person perspective and mobile controls thrown on. But as a high-end, team-based online multiplayer mech game on Android, it's also fairly unique to the platform." Droid Gamers was also mostly positive, noting that the "graphics could be a tiny bit more polished but then again you have 12 players on the field which is a no small feat and the details that they have included like smoke trails from missiles and the audio are immersive."

148apps.com gave a favorable review (4.5 stars out of 5) for War Robots, stating that "it's an interesting game that feels serious enough to be realistic. That's no small feat." A review by TechRadar stated that it was... "Fun and enjoyable. But needs more robots, weapons and a better reward system. App Spy also praised the game, writing that "The engine powering the game is impressive, even if some of the UI elements are a bit old hat, and the feeling of being part of a squad taking on another team is palpable."

External links

• Pixonic Official Website
• War Robots Official Website