[Nook Color Themes and Apps] JetGigan:
I recently finished Robotek and was able to draw a good conclusion as to why it has so many bad reviews and accusations of cheating AI on the Android Market. The dev claims the AI is "damn good" in the FAQ, but it really isn't. I finished the game with about 6500 charge, no in-app purchases, and defeated the level 50 mainframe. Lost the occasional game, but can confidently say every loss was completely out of my control.

Robotek isn't rigged, which initially crossed my mind and almost made me quit as I ran low on charge. It was a fair assumption: this is far from my first or most complicated/difficult strategy game. I knew the rules and knew what to do, yet still managed strange and irritating losses. The problem was obvious: perfect rolls, which give a powerful unit/effect/attack plus an extra turn, occur far too frequently. This is the source of all the frustration that has led so many people to ***** and moan about the gameplay. As a turn-based strategy (albeit a simple one), no amount of skill can save you if the opponent continues getting free turns while you wait idly and get pummeled.

In the early game, the player has fairly low HP and a few perfect rolls on the AI's side can quickly kill you. In the late game, you can lose upwards of 200 HP from this common scenario and still recover for a comeback win. This would explain why newer players rushed to the Market to slam the game of cheating, while those who stuck it out said winning without paying was doable and not difficult.

If the dev would greatly decrease the chance percentages of perfect rolls, then the number of complaints would go down with it. I've angrily played through too many rounds where the AI got anywhere from 4 to 8 perfect rolls, while I had none. Cheating or not, this is very poor game design and it happens frequently enough to make any sane person want to quit in anger. I recall around level 15 playing one particular mainframe and losing to it with nearly all HP intact. I played it again, using the same exact strategy as before, and quickly won with full HP. Downright silly.

To be fair, I played a number of games where I was the one with "luck" on my side. It made the game no more enjoyable and really made it seem worse. I often took stock Droid and Drone up to Hero across several turns of careful strategy, making my way towards a sound victory.. only to be rewarded with a bunch of unnecessary perfect rolls that made the whole experience feel very cheap and easy.

The other main issue is the low level of control at the player's hands. I wouldn't suggest getting rid of the slot machine, since this is obviously a unique aspect of the game. I would suggest allowing a player to choose which unit attacks which. At the very least grant the player the ability to assign the attack order! Too often an Elite or Hero Droid wastes its powerful laser on a low-HP unit or shield when a stock Tankbot could've done the job. Or my units directing attacks at a harmless messed-up Tankbot while leaving a dangerous Drone alive to fight another turn.

I think all of this masks how weak the AI actually is and simply adds an unneeded layer of frustration, causing less-patient players to jump at the in-app purchases. I gave Robotek a 2-star rating when I thought the game was cheating, and left it at 2 stars when I came to realize its actual problems.