When you get your hands on a hardcore gaming sort of experience, you can sense it usually within the first few minutes. The "hell hath no fury" feeling that a game delivers that lets you know that this isn't exactly a game for the weak, but rather those who are willing to test their endurance on a challenge and cut their teeth on something where the gameplay definitely lies on the twitch factor, in a kill or be killed fashion. It's been a good while since we've seen a hardcore game come our way, but Swinging Ape Studios' forthcoming Metal Arms: Glitch in the System looks to be ready to fill the gap later this month.

I managed to get hands-on play time with this new title, which puts you in control of a rogue droid named Glitch and a couple of his allies as they fight the evil General Corrosive and his robotic minions in a battle to save their droid-filled planet of Iron Star, and judging by the number of times I've been killed just in the first section alone, I could tell that this game had a great hardcore flavor to it. The action is intense, but never to the point of impossible. You just have to have a great deal of skill to really get further ahead, and through trial and error, you can find your way to later checkpoints and progress further.

Weapon selection plays a big part in Metal Arms. You have some basic weapons like the Mining Laser and the machine gun, but you also have access to more powerful tools like the Control Tether, which can be used to take control of a rogue droid and let them do some of your dirty work, and the all-helpful rocket launcher. Some of the enemies are easy, like foot soldiers who taunt you and try to shred away at your life bar, while others are huge and lumbering, awaiting to squash you with gunfire and rockets of their own. The game, like I said, has a meaty challenge to it, but can be mastered depending on how you select your arms to the task at hand. Some tasks will require the use of the rivet gun for best accuracy, and some will call for quick firepower, like the mining laser. Any way you look at it, the game's got something to offer.

The level design appears to be pretty outstanding at this point, although I've only jaunted through the beginning robotic city level. But there are a number of areas to explore in each level, and little points where you can hide and prep your attacks or get to a higher elevation for a better spread of the land. You can also maintain enemy vehicles for mass destruction, or let loose a melee attack that really takes on the mobs of metal. Just be careful, though - you too can meet a quick demise if you aren't too careful. I love the death animation, though. You blow apart from top to bottom and can actually keep moving until you're complete rubble. It's kind of a nice touch.

From what I've played, Metal Arms: Glitch in the System appears to be a pretty swift action game, and something for hardcore gaming fans to consider upon its arrival later this month. Expect a review shortly after its release.