Silicon Fusion >> Reviews >> War of the Monsters

	All Platforms
	Xbox
	GameCube
	PlayStation 2
	PC
	Game Boy Advance

Site Sections:

	Updates
	News
	Games
	Publishers
	Developers
	Reviews
	Previews
	Release Dates
	Editorials
	Glossary
	Contact Us

Review:

4th May 2003:
War of the Monsters
What happens when you mix Smash Bros, Power Stone and Rampage together? A recipe for disaster or perhaps a fighting game like no other? Find out in our review.
Posted by John Wasabi - PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe

The game idea with War of the Monsters is something straight out of a B-movie, alien goo spills all over Earth creating giant monsters that cause havoc across cities. That is the jist of the back-story and really doesn't get any deeper than that. At its core, War of the Monsters is a fighting game and one that is all about destruction and mayhem.

All is not as it seems though; War of the Monsters is far more than just your average fighting game. War of the Monsters combines elements of tactical fighting and all out rampage and destruction of cities. Each of the ten monsters has two attacks and two special attacks that can be used when they've filled an energy meter. Compared to a typical game like Tekken, the combo system is relatively easy but that's not to say that War of the Monsters is a mindless basher. There's ranged attacks, impressive combos that can link up to 20 hits, and your surroundings all play host weapons. I love the idea of being able to pick up buses and smacking it on your hapless foes, its just one of the many cheap thrills I get when playing this gem.

Graphically the monsters are amazingly detailed and the stereotypical cast that you would expect are all here. There's a King Kong like character, an Iron Giant military style robot, a Japanese robot from those cool cartoons you woke up to on Saturday mornings, a giant preying mantis, and a plasma energy eyeball to just name a few. In fact War of the Monsters is so pretty we had a hard time believing that it was running on the PS2. The backgrounds are well textured, there's lots of detail to the surroundings showing off a believable bustling city with tiny pedestrians running around.

Quite possibly the most unique feature we've noticed about War of the Monsters is simply that you can interact with literally everything you see on screen. You can smash buildings to find power-ups inside, you can use a radio antenna to impale an enemy, you can grab an enemy and throw them or knock them into buildings and watch it collapse on them. That's not all either; you can set off some really cool natural disasters that are hidden throughout the levels causing added damage to your opponents. These disasters can range from toxic spills to erupting a volcano so that it spews deadly balls of molten lava at your opponent.

Probably the biggest gripe I have with this game is the repetitiveness of the single player adventure mode. The only reason to constantly play it over and over is to collect tokens so that you can unlock bonus goodies such as new levels, monsters, and mini-games. The bonus stuff is adequate but not really enough and it will only be the hardcore that will have the patience to unlock everything. Multiplayer is a different story though; it is perfectly balanced for beginners and experts. You'll constantly find yourself coming back for more to explore the maps further even if you've mastered quite a chunk of the game but for the beginner, they'll be able to pick it up and be competitive fairly quickly. How is this possible you ask? Simple, the control scheme is easily accessible but at the same time hides a rewarding combo system for those willing to invest time in it. It would have all made for co-op heaven, but unfortunately is not in here. Would have brought great memories of my wasted youth at the arcades playing Rampage. Maybe next time eh guys?

AI is damn impressive, even when playing in easy mode; they'll give you a thorough bashing. You'll see your opponents scaling buildings to avoid you while they grab power-ups and they'll hunt you down to unleash their super power on you when their super meter is filled. You will feel constantly challenged by this game and that can be a good and bad thing. The bad being it can all get too frustrating for some and they may just stop playing. Boss battles feel like a bout of Zelda puzzle solving than actual combat, it's all about finding opportunities to attack bosses and when they are vulnerable rather than mindless button mashing. The developers have really outdone themselves in the design department.

This is without a doubt one of the most enjoyable games we've played in a while. Its entertainment value is unsurpassed and the only things that let it down are its repetitive single player adventure and lack of co-op and extra multiplayer support. All we can hope for is that a sequel is planned to address these two issues but if you decide to miss out on this, your library of PS2 games will be missing something quite special.

John Wasabi

Latest Images:

Review Scores:

Graphics:
Sound:
Gameplay:
Length:
Overall:
Click here for our Review Score Guidelines .

Review Summary:

This is without a doubt one of the most enjoyable games we've played in a while. Its entertainment value is unsurpassed. If you decide to miss out on this, your library of PS2 games will be missing something quite special.

Related Games:

War of the Monsters
for PlayStation 2

Screenshots

Review

Click here for
All Game Information .

Go Back To Main Page

Go To Top Of Page