Robot Arena 2 is a very special game to a tiny subset of the internet who adore the sport of robot combat. Since this came out in 2003, there still hasn't been a true successor that does a better job than this - there are some in development that are shaping up to dethrone this, but for now, thanks primarily to the modding scene, this remains the best complete robot combat game out there.

Of course, that's not to say it's flawless, or even especially great, in it's vanilla form at least. The Havok physics engine is crazy at the best of times, crashes are frequent, the AI can be cheap assholes and the limit on repairs are a nightmare considering that the AI is free of such restrictions.

Still, it's freeware these days so....what the hell?

Considering I am literally the only person to have rated this, I may as well say my piece. Robot Arena and, more so, its sequel were fulfillments of my childhood dreams of building robots like those I adored on Robot Wars. The game is janky, it is a pain to work with, and half the time things don't seem to click into place. In short, I don't think that's much different than if I chose to make a real robot.

I was probably the only kid that actually cared, but this game somehow meant a lot to me. I would often stay up until morning playing this stupid game during summer break—sometimes forcing my less interested friends to join me. Yup. Those were the days.