Freeware Game Review: Silver Knights

As far as I know, there have been plenty of mecha(giant robots like Gundam's and Transformers) video games released. Some, like Capcom's arcade fighter Cyberbots, have been pretty fun. Others, like most licensed Gundam titles, have been somewhat disappointing. Silver Knights comes as an example of what these games should be like.

If you've played games like Virtual On or Zone of the Enders, you'll feel right at home playing this game. Silver Knights is a fast-paced action game with a fairly easy to learn button layout. As with any of game of this sort, it would be in your best interest to play using a game pad, instead of using the default control scheme on a keyboard.

Graphics special effects and scenery are nothing are decent. Player models have a low polygon count, and textures on environments are pretty basic. Rock formations look like rock formations should, and buildings look close enough to actual buildings to give the feeling of battling it out in the middle of a big city.

Sound effects do a good job of making the game feel like an experience. Thrusters are heard when boosting toward or away from enemy fire, laser beams sounds the way you would expect laser beams should, and the explosion heard when your mecha explodes sounds good enough to make you spew profanity and accuse everyone else of cheating when playing online. Not like I'd do such a thing, but others definitely would complain instead of improving their skill level.

Silver Knights is more than a run and gun type of action game. The melee attacks can be linked to into a verity of different combos for each robot. This close range combat element is handled in such a way, I was more than a little surprised that this was a freeware game the first time I started playing.

Example: Zephyrus has the ability to change into a jet when pressing Option(default button Z). one of his combos ends in him transforming, and executing an M. Bison style corkscrew attack to the enemy. This attack is very useful when your opponent is trapped against a wall or corner of the play field.

Each character is unique. If you like snipe from a distance, use Arjuna. Enjoy melee combat? Masamune is your bot. Because each character is designed for different play styles, coupled with the ability to play against other people online in network mode, Silver Knights has a lot of potential when it comes to replay value.

Unfortunately, which is usually the case when it comes to promising indie games, Silver Knights is still a work in progress. Story mode is inaccessible, some of the characters need to be balanced and the roster as of Version 0.10O could benefit form two or three more competitors. Silver Knights is shaping up to be a really fun and engaging action game.

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