Alien attack would probably have been a better title
Written: Apr 20 '05 (Updated Apr 20 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fun,inexpensive
Cons: Default controls are horrendous,nothing new or exciting
The Bottom Line: The B-Movie of all videogames, Monster Attack will provide some entertainment to those who don't expect too much out of it.
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| flash-hammer's Full Review: Monster Attack for PlayStation 2 |
There are times when my obsession with B-Movies gets the better of me and leads me into all sorts of nasty situations. While, as of yet, I've still to try and fight crime in the style of Dolph Lundgren, or been convinced power-cuts or anything were due to small monsters, I have made a lot of quite simply stupid purchases based on this obsession. One such was Monster Attack for the PS2.
I have no idea what the situation is like in the America's, but in the UK, the popularity of the original PlayStation console lead to all types of shops that wouldn't ordinarily stock videogames selling a few. Now given the nature of the library of the original PSX, comprising of literally hundreds of absolutely worthless games made on a tiny budget with no promotion, usually of Japanese origin, haphazardly translated and bunged out into the western market at budget price, it was almost impossible to find a game amongst these you had ever actually heard of. This carried on with the PlayStation 2, and usually while I ignore these, one day Monster Attack caught my eye, probably due to the cover, featuring a bloody great dinoasaurian thing. If you've read my reviews in the past, you will probably know one of my biggest vices is Godzilla movies, so just this giant dinoasaurian monster caught my attention and I swooped in for a closer look.
Despite the fact that the back of the box told me very little other than it had a 2-Player co-op and versus option, I got the gist that you were actually controlling a character in some sort of Squad who protect the Earth from aliens and monsters, kind of like the folks in Ultraman(another of my vices), and it had a £6 price tag brand new, so I thought "ah, what the hell".
Upon getting home, I decided to do some research into my new game, only to come up blank on all fronts in terms of reviews, guides or anything. It seemed this game just didn't exist. After some more prodding and searching, I discovered that the game was actually released in Japan as 'The Chikyuu Boueigun, and released under the 'Simple 2000' label, which I assume is some sort of budget series in Japan.
The game takes the form of a third-person shooter where the idea is simply to halt an alien invasion by force. The aliens are attacking via UFO's,swarms of giant ants(ala THEM!),Walker Robots(ala War of the Worlds) and Giant fire-breathing reptiles, and you have to stop them via shotguns,assault rifles,sniper rifles,rocket launchers,flamethrowers,tanks,helicopter and hoverbikes amongst other weapons. That's generally the game summed up for you. 25 levels of absolute Carnage. There is no real plot, no real variation to gameplay, the idea is quite frankly to blow the bejesus out of all the aliens attacking the Earth, nothing more, nothing less.
The game's main mode can be played on single player and co-op. It is where you tackle the 25 missions, selecting two weapons out of the huge arsenal(most of which needs unlocked) and setting off to save the Earth. Also in there is a 2-Player deathmatch mode, which is basically thrown on because the game's developers could do so, or at least that's how it seems, because fact of the matter is that it's generic,pointless, and really won't be used by anyone. Ever.
The game has two control modes 'Technical' and 'Standard'. The latter is the game's default, and how I started playing. In this mode, basically all you have control over is running,jumping and shooting. Targeting is done automatically, and is absolutely useless. I actually really hated the game when I was playing it initially, because it was a real kick in the balls to not be able to actually aim myself, and the computer just seemed determined to not allow me to hit important targets, especially on the last stage. When playing like this, the best the game could have hoped for was 1-Star in terms of score, in genuinely was such a frustrating and just not fun experience. It wasn't actually until by sheer coincidence I changed the control setting to technical that I actually discovered the game could be played in such a manner.
When in technical, the game controls basically as a third-person version of a first person shooter, with both analogue sticks used, one to move and one to aim, and to be clear, the game is actually not only playable, but actually pretty enjoyable in this light. Whereas the normal controls allow you to semi-control a little guy and run about until he aims sort of near where you want him to and fire, hoping for the best, Technical actually allows you to hit things with precision, which is absolutely necessary for the final stage, and a real help when it comes to trying to take down the giant monsters, you wouldn't believe it, but in normal mode, the moron you control actually often manages to miss a Godzilla sized creature yards in front of him.
As I say, the stages basically revolve around shooting all the enemies, but to go a little further in depth, there are really a few types of these missions. First of all, there are the basic ants/walkers levels, where your attacks are all against ground based enemies in droves, similar, but a little different are the UFO stages, where your enemies are now skybound, the other recurring stage is the Godzilla-monster stages, where you are pit against first one, then two, then an enhanced Cyborg version of the monster, on your own. It should also be noted that these take place in vast areas(I've never found an edge), often in fully destructable cities. While it sucks to miss your target with a rocket, the fact that the building it hits by accident does come down in a realistic manner almost makes up for it. Monster Attack is actually a B-Videogame, and it's proud. It takes the B-Movie formula, and perfectly transfers it into the gaming medium, it isn't clever, or new, but it sure as hell is pretty fun, it's almost like the Roger Corman version of Brute Force.
The game does have it's downsides, the implementation of vehicles being a prime example. The tank is almost useful, but far too slow and weak in terms of damage take-in. The hover bike and helicopter are just useless to control, and also too weak, so it's sad that a nice idea went right down the toilet, mainly due to controls. The game is also a bit too easy when played in technical, with the 25 missions being breezed through on normal difficulty. But that's where the higher difficulties come in, if I said the highest difficulty level,'Inferno', wasn't tough, I would be lying, but on the whole, the game does feel it too easily completed, and the ending, one screen of text, is utterly lame as well. I mean given the plot, I wasn't expecting any sort of story-driven cutscenes, but a little video would have been nice.
Graphically, the game isn't really here or there. the cities look good, and while the destruction effects aren't completely realistic, they do their job. Your character isn't overly detailed, but enough to do the job, the same going for all your enemies, but the pyrotechnics are pretty awesome. A problem that you will often hear cited in the game is that the framerate takes a battering, due to the sheer amount of beasties on screen at a time, especially in stages where the ants are kicking about, personally I didn't notice, mainly because I was too caught up in trying to shoot down these hordes of enemies rather than paying critical attention to the framerate. If I watched someone play it, I may notice more, but to be honest, the graphics here, to link it to the anology I've been using, are like the effects in a good B-Movie, nothing brilliant, or even very good, but for the budget spent, they suffice and contain a few nice surprises.
The sound in the game is a bit bleh. Music is just really sort of there, same with sound effects. Sure they don't offend, but the fact is they don't interest either, and this is truly a mute and CD player game if ever there was one.
Controls in normal mode look like this:
Triangle:Change Weapon
Square:Fire Weapon Upwards
Circle:Jump
X:Fire
L1:Strafe Left
L2:Roll Left
L3:Zoom
R1:Strafe Right
R2:Roll Right
Technical:
L1:Jump
L2:Roll(press with movement)
R1:Fire
R2:Switch Weapons
L-TStick:Move
R-TStick:Aim
Select enters/exits vehicles in both sets of controls. The response times of the controls cannot really be faulted, and while, as I say, you really do want to change off the default controls, once you do, the game handles just like an FPS, and complaints aren't something I can really talk about. As I say, the normal controls are just plain crap, but I mentioned why earlier, so won't repeat myself.
In general, because it basically is one, I'm going to score Monster Attack in the way I score B-Movies. For a game of it's type, it's actually really good fun, but the basic fact is, it isn't really of that high a quality, and not exactly a game you would shout out if you were trying to sell the PS2 to someone over a rival console. It's not a heavy hitter, or a huge masterpiece, but to deny it's entertaining would just be nasty. My standard score for a B-Movie, if it's good, is 2-Stars and Recommended, but if I feel it does enough to impress me more than the average B-Movie, I knock it up a notch to 3-Stars. Monster Attack is like that. Had I went into this game with any form of high expectations, a huge advertising campaign and so on, it would have seemed like such a failure. However, given the nature of it, a no name game, that I think only about 10 people in the UK will ever even hear of, it was a pleasant surprise and a fun little way to waste some time after my work at night.
The game comes recommended to those who like their shooters, and those who love B-Movies, because it basically is as close to playing one as you will get on your PS2.
thanks to kjell1979 for adding this for me
Recommended:
Yes
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flash-hammer
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