Godzilla: Unleashed

Written by David Taylor  on February 26, 2007

First Impressions: The biggest thing to hit the Wii since Rosie O'Donnell fell at EB games.

Tweet

Comments

There are few cinematic experiences more rewarding than a Godzilla movie. From the classic original film to the cheesy 60s and 70s entries, the franchise has entertained fans for years by providing them with what they love best--- men in rubber monster suits destroying cardboard cities (with a side dish of horrible dubbing). As the movies became more popular, Toho (Godzilla's production company) added a menagerie of monsters to the fray. With the rise in popularity of video games, it was only a matter of time before a game company translated this monster-on-monster action into pixel form. This began with the original Rampage and continued with SNK's King of the Monsters series in the 90s. More recently, Pipeworks Software created two Godzilla themed games, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee and Godzilla: Save the Earth. Both titles were 3-D brawlers that received attention for their fun multiplayer modes. Pipeworks plans to bring this successful template to the Wii and go monster mashing one more time in 2007 with Godzilla Unleashed.

The game will feature sixteen playable characters. Two of these will be original characters created solely for the game. The ones shown thus far are the series' regulars Godzilla, MechaGodzilla, Gaigan and Megolon.

Godzilla Unleashed's story largely depends upon the player's choice of character. The characters are divided up into four factions: earth defenders, aliens, mechas and mutants. The character's individual faction affects who the player must fight and team up with during gameplay.

One of game's highlights is the control functionality. The nunchuck is used to move and jump while the remote is used for most of the actual fighting. The A and B buttons on the remote in combination with certain motions is how the player pulls off the majority of moves. This goes further into a whole new realm of 3-D interaction. For instance, when your character emits a beam (such as Godzilla's patented radio-breathe) you must turn their head in the right direction with the remote. Certain buildings can also be picked up and thrown at your opponents by using the Wii-mote and nunchuck together in a scooping motion.

As with the Pipeworks other Godzilla games, the Wii title will feature a four player multiplayer mode. The developer also hinted at some sort of Connect 24 online support, but did not mention anything specific.

Graphically the game is shaping up very well. The monsters look well detailed, even more so that than many of the movies (which I must admit, in most cases is not saying much). The cityscapes each have their own distinctive look, so it won't look like you are destroying the same buildings over and over. An added bonus is that almost everything seems to be destructible.