Gunmetal will make you wonder if you aren't standing in an arcade hemorrhaging quarters. Your Havoc Suit, as the robot/jet is called, is plenty detailed and moves very well on screen. The switch between fighter and robot is pretty slick and definitely worth watching the first few times, at least. The terrain is gorgeous. Rolling hills, distant trees and the occasional wild animal all come to life on the screen. The enemies, which come in all shapes and sizes, are a little lacking in detail for an Xbox game, but the fact of the matter is that unless you really go out of your way to get next to one you'll never have time to notice.

The sound effects fit the package nicely, with good weapon fire, satisfying explosions and appropriately gruff and urgent voice communication from your commanding officer. After reminding you of your mission objectives a few times, though, it really just sounds like nagging.

There's always a lot going on, with a radar full of important points and a screen usually filled with bogeys. Your first mission introduces you to your two best friends: Missiles and machine guns. The approaching waves of bad guys threaten to wipe out everything in their path, and you'll need both your robot and jet fighter selves to fend them off. The combat has a nice mix of frantic fighting for your life and calculated decisions, particularly as you progress and earn more varied weaponry.

Unfortunately, the mission designs get old rather quickly. A vast majority of them are defensive in nature; protect this space, these people, etc, and that seems to run contrary to what's fun about flying a jet fighter. Being a hero is a lot more exciting when you're taking it to the bad guys, not waiting for them to attack a bunch of easily bruised good guys. Any exhilaration you feel cruising through swarms of enemies has the brakes put on when you have to turn around and make sure the homestead is safe.

It doesn't help matters that the missions play themselves out the same way with every attempt. This turns the game into one big trial and error process. This, too, harkens back to arcade classics of the past, but the formula only works when the next level offers something drastically different than the last. In Gunmetal, things don't really heat up until the last few missions, when you finally get a chance to take the fight to the aggressors.

Despite the abilities of the Havoc Suit, Gunmetal doesn't have much in common with the complicated mech games it seems to be emulating. It's more like an arcade, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-thumbs experience, which isn't always a bad thing. The bad news is that most of the levels play a lot like the first few, and that doesn't make for much long-term entertainment. After a few hours you've seen pretty much all Gunmetal has to show you, which is a shame because with a little more effort it could have been an extremely entertaining game. Good foundation, not much house.