It’s cold outside. Holiday vacation hasn’t started yet. The world might end soon. These are all equally pressing issues, but fortunately, I think I’ve got a solution that wraps them up in a nice, holiday-friendly bow: giant robots.

Think about it: they’re naturally warm, have no concept of “work,” and will probably be the reason our race of overly argumentative organ pods goes extinct anyway. Win-win-win. Also, Hawken just went into open beta. It’s really great, so it’ll probably help you feel better about the sorry state of your life and stuff. But mainly those other things.

Did you enjoy the obligatory over-produced launch trailer? I know I did. Now I want a game where we play as a bullet taking an educational field trip through a mech’s oil-sputtering insides. Although really, I just want more playable bullets in games.

Anyway, hopping into the beta’s as simple as heading to this page and pushing buttons until something happens, so I recommend doing that. That said, a word of warning: the beta got off to a rocky start, and Adhesive took it down for some last-second account re-configuring. Apparently, though, the bug-shaped beast has been thoroughly slain, so everything should be running smoothly now. Still, though, it’s a beta. Expect a few hiccups here and there.

Right then, who’s going to jump in? I’ll probably have to save this one for the weekend (TOO MANY GAMETHINGS), but it’s definitely got me stomping about and making obnoxious “pew” sounds in anticipation. If, however, you still need convincing, do take a look at Adam’s impressions of the shockingly fast-paced robo-blast-’em’up.