Godzilla Unleashed
Score: 75% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Atari Developer: Pipeworks Software, Inc. Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Fighting
Graphics & Sound: Godzilla Unleashed does a pretty good job of not only conveying the look of the various locations the monsters will fight in (Tokyo, Monster Island, etc.), but, of course, the monsters themselves. Even though I would argue that many of the monsters (especially the mecha ones) look alike, I was typically able to tell who was friend and who was foe in the heat of battle. Overall, the game has a War of the Monsters feel, which isn't surprising since that game was essentially a spoof of the Godzilla series. Although I have to say, War of the Monsters tends to have a much cleaner and smoother look to it than Godzilla Unleashed. Audio isn't that bad either. Each fighter has their own distinctive roars or, for the GDF, mechanical sounds. The sound effects associated with each move (typically breath attacks) are noticeable so you can try to dodge them if you hear the move coming. The background music also does its job with just the right amount of energy for a brawler game like this.
Gameplay: When strange crystals fall from the sky and start making the monsters of the world behave differently, the Global Defense Force (GDF) is convinced it is another invasion attempt from the Vortaak. Meanwhile on Monster Island, Godzilla feels an urge to break out and destroy these strange power crystals before too much damage is done. That's the setup and story behind Godzilla Unleashed, but then again, stories in fighting games, especially brawlers like this one, are little more than fanfare and an excuse to string together fights. As you progress through the story, you will have locations from around the world open up to you. You will fight everywhere from Tokyo to New York and even the crashed Vortaak Mother Ship. While each location looks different, they are basically the same. Sure Monster Island has more mountains that you will have to walk around and the Vortaak Mother Ship has an alien design, but they tend to blend together in my mind. Most missions involve either stopping all of the enemy monsters or destroying all of the larger power crystals (the smaller ones regenerate and act as health or energy boosters for the fighters). I found it interesting how the game handles friends and foes in that in general, monsters of the same faction as you won't attack you while the others might have a shaky alliance with you depending on how you feel about the power crystals. The monsters in the game are divided into four factions, Earth Defenders (Godzilla, Mothra, Baragon), GDF (Kiryu, Jet Jaguar, Mecha-King Ghidorah), Aliens (Gigan, Orga, Megalon) and Mutants (Desteroyah, Obsidius) and while the Mutants and Aliens tend to want to keep the crystals around, the other two factions are against them. One of the aspects of this game that I found really difficult was keeping track of just who was on my side and who wasn't while actually in the fight. I can't claim to be the biggest Godzilla fan, so I can't name each of the monsters and their affiliations off the top of my head. So because there was no visual friend or foe indicator in the game, I often found myself attacking a friend and turning him into a foe (not good).
Difficulty: Godzilla Unleashed doesn't have a short, or necessarily easy, storyline. I found each mission to be just a bit harder than the previous one and it made the game a fairly constant challenge. I am glad the developers typically built in multiple, optional, win conditions though. Since most matches can be won by either destroying all/certain other monsters or taking out all of the power crystals, if I found myself unable to handle the other monsters, I would just jump to the other task. I rarely had to do missions more than twice, but there were a few instances and those were some tough battles.
Game Mechanics: Godzilla Unleashed's controls take a little getting used to, but it's not really because of the layout, its related more to the game's response time, which seems a little off or sluggish to me. Punching is done with the (X) button while kicks are the Square. Your strong attack is executed with the Circle and Triangle is blocking. The (L1) button starts you grappling, while (R2) is the jump and (R1) fires your long range weapon. Like I said, after the first battle or so, you should have a handle on the layout of the controls, but I don't know if it is because you are controlling large, slow lumbering monsters or a fault in the game itself, but I always felt like the monsters were taking just a little too long to respond to my commands. Godzilla Unleashed isn't the best fighter out there, though I believe it is the best one with the Godzilla license attached to it. If you enjoy the characters from the game or like the War of the Monsters gameplay style, then this is worth renting at least. Who knows, you might want to buy it afterwards.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Build-A-Bear Workshop Swashbucklers: Blue vs. Grey