flash-hammer's Full Review: Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters for Xbox
Big,Green,angry,smashing,atomic monsters created in the 50s were a big thing in summer 2003 apparently,So Atari decided to port there Godzilla title from Gamecube to Xbox,adding Toho's newest monster Mechgodzilla 3 along the way and released it very discreetly in Europe, I was lucky to come accross a copy while on holiday in Italy because I never saw it on sale in any stores in the UK.
For those unaware on the history of Godzilla, it's a Japanese series of movies that began in 1954 about a dinosaur that lay dormant at the bottom of the pacific ocean which was awoken and mutated by nuclear bombs, and proceeded to take out it's anger on Japan. After the huge sucess, Toho, the studio responsible, created many more giant monsters, Rodan,Mothra and Varan to name a few, and eventually they crossed over into Godzilla's movies, which also saw several more giant monsters, or Kaiju as us geeks call them, were added to Toho's roster, and the series now runs over 20 movies, not including spin-offs, with the 'final' movie being released this past November in Japan.
Godzilla's career in videogames hasn't been a very straightforward one, with a variety of rubbish appearances accross the majority of the major consoles, the only game that seems to attain consistent praise is Godzilla's Greatest Battles, which I haven't played.
The story in Destroy All Monsters Melee is slightly more well thought than its Gameboy Advance companion Godzilla: Domination,An Evil Alien race known as the Vortaak have brainwashed all of the Earth's(and some alien) monsters and are using them to decimate cities to enslave the human race.Of course,one monster(the one you choose) is immune to this,and its up to you and him to smash 7 other beasts to earn a showdown with the Vortaak's ultimate weapon: The Mechagodzilla 2(or if you play as him,or Mechagodzilla 3,aka Kiryu, its Mecha Ghidorah,or if you are Orga,Kiryu).so it isnt based on any one of Godzilla's 20 movies,but more like a combination of 3 of them(Invasion of the Astro Monsters,Destroy All Monsters and Terror of Mechagodzilla(thats their UK titles,I cant be bothered finding the US versions)).So,no Connie Matsu in all her skintight space-suited glory,and a few story issues(in the movies MG2 3 and MKG were all human made and controlled monsters,and Gigan is an alien Cyborg so shouldnt be on Earth) but Ill be more lenient towards this story than I was Godzilla: Domination,if only because Mecha King Ghidorah is proportioned properly with the other monsters. However, one thing that does annoy me is the way that Pipeworks set out the story in a deliberately campy manner, which I think they try to pass off as some sort of wink to the fans, but in all honesty it comes accross as laziness on their part.
The Story is also almost tacked on, with a short beggining and end cinematic, not even unique endings for every monster.
There are a few different ways of play,Adventure,which I described above,Versus,a human controlled monster vs a CPU or friend,Survival,pretty self explanatory,Destruction,think Rampage meets Godzilla Generations(ie smash buildings,lots of them)team battle,4 monsters 2 teams,Melee,1-4 players/monsters,one city and lots or carnage and finally Options,which provides the usual difficulty/time etc.Interesting though,is the fact that you can put in custom soundtracks,despite the sleeve telling you otherwise.
Melee and Team Battle work slightly different than the other modes.Instead of being a battle to the death,the monsters duel in timed rounds,where the idea is to gain as many points as possible.Points are gained in a variety of ways,such as knockdowns or combos,whoever has the most points once time ellapses wins the round,win three rounds and you win the match.While this system is interesting and slightly different,Id much rather they had included a 4 player version of the regular "whoever is last standing after a brawl" game.Also included is a Gallery,where all the pictures must be unlocked.Personally,Iv never liked these game galleries,buts thats just me.
Each monster is outfitted with a block,punch,kick,energy,throw and 'Other Attack' button,pressing down on the L trigger will cause your creature to duck,holding it and pressing a direction will produce running.The R trigger jumps,and if the monster flies,this is accomplished by holding down R.Various types of punches,kicks etc can be brought forth if the player presses the d-pad at the same time and such.
Each player/cpu has three bars,life,energy and rage.Life is pretty clear,while energy dictates how powerfull your energy attacks can be/how long you can fly.Rage does nothing until a powerup is collected,at which point your attacks become stronger and you can utilize your super attack(A B).I was slightly disapointed with how this played out,I would have preferred if they had done something slightly different,such as turn Godzilla 90 into 'Meltdown' Godzilla or had the Garuda fly onto Mechagodzilla 2's back turning him in Super MG.But alas,I have to settle for red energy trails and a guy shouting "RAGE!".Your battles are also helped/hindered by the army.Whichever monster is dishing out the most damage to the buildings will draw the most army fire.This adds a shred of strategy to what would otherwise be a game of madness.
Speaking of the powerups,there are a few on offer,a green cross restores some of your life,a yellow lightning bolt restores full energy,and re-stocks the Mecha's ammunition.A Silver Atari logo(which only appears on medium or hard difficulties) unlocks a picture in Galley mode,finally,a purple butterfly will call on Mothra to air strike your opponent(s).
The game is graphically neither here nor there.Some things,such as the pyrotechnics of Godzilla's Atomic breath,are,well,breathtaking.Little whisps of power come out of the sides of his mouth and the area surrounding the beam lights up blue,then you see Destroyah,whose skin resembles the insides of an Aero chocolate bar painted purple. The cities in the game appear quite vast and well detailed, if lacking in traffic and military, but the main problem is how generic they appear, something I'll get back to.
There are also some problems with parts of the monsters vanishing inside buildings,which doesn't detract from the game much, but it is enough to be noticeable.
Sound wise,the music is ok,but one of the best points of the game is the ability to put in custom soundtracks.This means you can put on real Godzilla movie tunes or Duran Duran or whatever suits you. And I would recommend it, because I can't believe Pipeworks didn't cash out for at least some real music. Oh no, wait, they did, for the end credits. Now that's a waste of money.
The monsters roars are all fairly accurate.An interesting pointer(for geeks like me anyway),is that King Ghidorah actually sports the roar of Ghidrah,yet looks wise is clear KG(it has spikes instead of pubic hair behind its heads).Kiryu also for some reason sports the roar of the original Mechagodzilla on some occasions.
The beam weapons all make correct sounds as far as I can tell.The announcer really got on my tits after a while though.The only other sounds that stands out is that of the soldier who shouts "concentrate fire on...."which is ok overall.
The game controls fairly well,although it can seem slightly sluggish at times,however,the nature of the game kind of calls for that,as there has never been a quick kaiju(to my knowledge).Its not really a problem with responsiveness,as the monsters start their motions as soon as the button is pressed,its tht the take time to hit,however,having seen the majority of the movies,I can honestly say their attacks,for the most part,appear authentic in how they were performed on the movies.
The collision detection is overall decent,although Im sure I have encountered irritation from it at some point.The characters overall seem fairly balanced,with the exception of the God like Destroyah and the rather crap Anguirus(which the game pronounces wrong BTW)
The Kaiju on offer are a fairly solid selection,although a few more would have been nice.You start off with 4,Godzilla 90s,Anguirus,Gigan and Megalon.The more adventure mode is completed and ccertain conditions are met,you can unlock a further 8 beasts,including the XB only Mechagodzilla 3. 2 non playable Kaiju also appear,the previosly mentioned Mothra,and the Smog Monster Hedorah(which looks like a flying piece of faeces),its goal is to randomly fly over the battle area spreading smog,which stops the monsters energy bars refilling.
The choice of monsters is ok,but there are a few monsters I wish had made it.Seeing as we have Mechagodzilla 2 and 3,wouldnt including the original have been sensible?especially seeing as it fits in with the game's story better?Id also love to have seen Kung Fu robot Jet Jaguar(although as we know,Atari and Jaguars dont mix).Big blue outerspace badass Space Godzilla would have been welcome as well.
The monsters that are included are portrayed,for the most part,pretty accurately.King Ghidorah/Mecha Ghidorah has the roar issue but nothing else of note,Gigan,Megalon and Destroyah have been robbed of their flight abilities,which is amusing seeing as wings are pretty dominant features on the later two.Some monsters actually benefit and gain moves.Spiky shorty Anguirus is robbed of his Megalon like burrowing,but is instead rewarded with a supersonic roar and lazer spikes,both versions of Godzilla gain Gamera-esque fireballs in addition to the atomic breath.
The thing is,lots of potential attacks were overlooked for,to be honest,rubbish ones.One of Orga's throws could have been him opening his huge mouth and biting down on his opponents head before spitting him out(the innuendo of that line).Instead he does an elbow drop.Yes,an elbow drop.
The game is XBox Live compatible, however what it is used for is something I don't know, seeing as Im not Live. I did here it was an extra monster, however I can't confirm this, or what monster it is supposed to be.
The stages you duel in are ok,but questions have to be asked over who picked them.Why in the name of God(zilla even) is there one Seattle stage,let alone 3?,its also slighltly annoying how generic they are.Id have liked the theme park from Godzilla Vs. Gigan,complete with lazer blasting Godzilla tower,or Spacegodzilla's Fukuoka,with crystaline spikes protruding from the ground.Instead we get 3 versions of Los Angeles.Umm yay.
My original views on this game were a bit over the top in terms of praise and score. While there is no denying that at this point DAMM was probably the best Godzilla game to be released, it certainly did have it's faults, such as the puzzling choice of locales, the lack of a proper 4-Player battle and proper music being the main offenders, but the fact that you have to complete the game several times to unlock all the monsters is also a bit shady, especially when you consider you don't even get unique endings or stories or anything. I now admit I was rather foolish to dish out 5 Stars to this game, but I was head over heels for it in the initial month or so I owned it. Now, especially with the sequel out, it's faults are more clear, and I feel the game is probably a lot closer to a 3 in terms of score. I still recommend it, especially to Godzilla fans, and with the sequel's release Im sure it doesn't cost much now, but if you aint a fan of the King of the monsters, then it is quite possible to skip, although it may prove to be at least a decent laugh on 2-Player.
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