S.L.A.I. S.H.I.P.S. to S.T.O.R.E.S.

Though gearheads and sci-fi geeks have Battlebots, they still long for some serious robot-on-robot battles. The days of real-life giant mechanized combatants firing ballistics at one another may be decades away, but Konami is giving gamers a chance to experience the action virtually with S.L.A.I.: Steel Lancer Arena International for the PlayStation 2, which shipped to stores today.

The game is set in the year 2071, a time when robots shooting one another in the nuts and bolts has captured the attention of the world's sporting fans. The carnage takes place in several battlefields across the world, including Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York, and other cities. It's not all guns and ammo though, as cloaking devices turn matches into stealthy games of mecha-cat and mecha-mouse.

In S.L.A.I., players will be able to customize their wrecking balls "with more than one million variants," and they can take their bots online. There they can compete against up to three others, while two players wait in the wings to join the action when one competitor goes down, creating nonstop "king of the court" style gameplay.

S.L.A.I. is rated T for Teen and retails for $39.99. Is the game a well-oiled machine or a clump of crossed wires? Find out tomorrow in GameSpot's full review.