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Platform: Playstation
2, Xbox Review: Godzilla - Destroy All Monsters Melee (GC) Review: Godzilla - Destroy All Monsters Melee (XB)
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Godzilla: Save the Earth |
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It’s
been firmly established that it’s impossible to kill Godzilla so that
he stays dead.
There’s always some convenient alien, natural disaster, time
travel experiment, etc. that brings him back from the dead.
So, it makes sense that instead of being killed off for good,
Toho, the producers behind the Godzilla films, has retired the
big green lizard.
Until further notice, Godzilla is out of action. Or
is he?
He
may be gone from the film world, but Pipeworks Software and Atari is
bringing him back to the gaming world in Godzilla: Save the Earth, the
follow-up to Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee – one of my personal
favorites from the last couple of years.
And the way it stands now with the kind of features being
promised, I’m already primed for the sequel, but maybe not as primed
as Peter Wyse, executive producer at Atari: "Godzilla:
Save the Earth combines the epic scope that is the hallmark of the
landmark movies with an amazing single-player Action Mode to create the
definitive adventure fighting game on any system," said Peter Wyse,
executive producer at Atari. "With more monsters, more cities and
more radioactive monster bashing, Godzilla fans won't believe the
authenticity, while fighting and adventure gamers will have a unique
experience with one of the best known film legends in the world!" You
can temper what Mr. Wyse says with the fact he’s on Atari’s payroll
and therefore his comments are somewhat biased.
(Besides, I have yet to come across anyone that actually talks
like that.)
That said, I’m pretty stoked too.
Here’s the official line: Players
will have nine game modes to choose from, including Action, the
mission-based single-player game; Challenges, a series of single-player
challenges to complete; Custom, where players can set the parameters of
a fight; Versus, the classic one-on-one melee battle; and many more. The
game also includes mini games, including rail-type arcade sequences. In
the single-player game, G-Force scientists have cracked Godzilla's
genetic code from samples obtained during the Vortaak invasion.
Scientists have refined the code to grow super-enriched
"Godzilla-Matter" -- a virtually indestructible substance with
the exact physical properties as Godzilla's radioactive back spikes. The
Vortaak learn of the Godzilla Matter and strike Monster Island in an
attempt to steal G-Cells and seize control of Earth's monsters. As
Godzilla, the player awakens and fights to stop the UFOs from stealing
G-Cells, and to free his fellow monsters from captivity. Throughout the
game's missions, Vorticia sends waves of monsters, UFOs, mind-controlled
military and earth-threatening devices at Godzilla, who must fight to
defeat the enemies and find the hidden G-Cells before the UFOs can steal
them. The
epic battle for Earth will range across the globe in more than a dozen
massive, destructible city environments, including San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Tokyo, Osaka and New York. Environments
have been enhanced and enlarged, featuring hills, oceans, harbors and
mountains. All structures in the game have advanced destruction
mechanics, enabling them to be partially damaged or completely destroyed
through multiple impacts. Striking larger buildings will produce
dynamically generated gouges that expose the internal skeletal structure
before they eventually crumble to the ground. Both
the PlayStation2 and Xbox versions will feature a variety of online
multiplayer options for up to four players where gamers can smash, bash
and trash opposing monsters and cities in gargantuan online melees.
Player will be able to go head-to-head, three- or four-player
free-for-all, or team up for two-on-two combat. Godzilla
will face off against more than 18 classic Toho movie monsters, each
carefully designed to recreate the authentic film look and feel.
Monsters include Godzilla 2000 and 90s, King Ghidorah, Gigan, Mothra,
SpaceGodzilla, Biollante and many more.
More detailed cities? Bigger fighting arenas? Hills? A single-player game that actually looks like more than just beating up other monsters? Biollante as a playable monster? The Vortaak return? To quote Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, “Yes, yes, yes!”
My
one reservation is that it's not planned to be launched on the GameCube.
Since it's coming for Playstation 2 and Xbox I fear we'll see a game
scaled to the lowest common denominator: the Playstation 2. One of
the things I liked about the Destroy All Monsters Melee was that it came
out on GameCube first, then was released on Xbox some months later with
refinements on the graphical and control fronts. By the numbers,
the Xbox is more powerful than the PS2 and most multi-console games look
better on Xbox, so if the lowest common denominator was the GameCube,
both versions would look better. (Granted, Godzilla: Save the
Earth is looking pretty sweet anyway.) Without
a doubt, Godzilla: Save the Earth is the most anticipated fighter on my
Q4 list. - Omni (July 3, 2004) |
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