Photo illustration by Michael Uribes

For the last two months, students have been pushing aside homework, skipping class and pulling all-nighters in the name of “Robot Unicorn Attack.” Although Robot Unicorn Attack is not a cult, it sure has a religious following at The Collegian.

Robot Unicorn Attack is a 2D flash game developed by Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. Adult Swim broadcasts American-animated series, shorts and games that target college audiences. Video games are free to play via AdultSwim.com and Facebook and are also available for purchase on iTunes.

The addicting game has electronically taken over the student body. Robot Unicorn Attack hit Twitter’s top ten trending topics. Offices across campus are in a constant war for the highest score. Students, faculty and staff post their achieved level of performance on Facebook without delay. It’s insane. Almost everyone and their mother play Robot Unicorn Attack.

Recently, however, chronic play substantially died down. Until Monday, Oct. 13, 2010, when Adult Swim launched the latest version of the flash game–“Robot Unicorn Attack: Heavy Metal Edition.”

The lush purple grasses and rainbow-strewn backdrops were replaced by a treacherous landscape of bones and talons. Butterfly fairies have transformed into floating demons. And glass stars have been shattered by exploding pentagrams.

There is no living in “harmony, harmony, oh love,” in the depths of hell. The mesmerizing looped sound of “Always” by the British duo Erasure was overthrown.  Its replacement, “Battlefield” by German metal heads Blind Guardian.

The Heavy Metal Edition is only available for the iPhone and iPad. But it’s only a matter of time until the enchanting spinoff is accessible online.