Godzilla: Unleashed review

This is the third attempt by Pipeworks to provide a definitive Godzilla beat-em-up. Destroy All Monsters Melee was competent, while Save the Earth was nothing but an expensive expansion pack. We have to wonder what Atari meant when they have repeatedly claimed that this game could only be done on the Wii. Were assuming they meant showcasing the problems brought on by making bad decisions about what to do with the Wiis unique hardware.Its this issue of the controls that really drags this game through the quagmire, and squashes out almost any potential fun to be gained from controlling giant monsters who beat the living daylights out of each other. Atari apparently have tried for a halfway house between games like Wii Play (which is entirely dependant on motion control) and Super Mario Galaxy (where the motion-sensing is used only rarely). The result is a system that requires you to swing the Wiimote in a certain direction while holding a button or two for more powerful punches and kicks. Not only does this make your arms tired from flailing the Wiimote about, it also frustrates when you learn how unresponsive and unreliable these controls are. Sometimes the game doesnt even register the direction you flick the Wiimote; often we would try to perform a high kick and just end up stomping the floor.One of the worst examples is when you try to grab something. Since the movements for grab and jump are almost identical, we would end up launching off the ground when what we wanted to do was grab something to try a throw. The only appropriate use of the Wiimotes controls occurs whenever two monsters beams lock, and you must knock the excess energy back at the opponent like a game of ping-pong. Other than that, the controls cause no end of aggravation, and we highly doubt they can be properly mastered, even with copious amounts of practice.Control issues aside, there are other gameplay issues that act as irritants. The camera is often unhelpful, suddenly zooming out or in seemingly at random. Almost every fight in the story mode is a multi-man brawl, which is awkward when monsters either decide to gang up on you, or you end up hurting over-enthusiastic team-mates. The new health system, taking more than a few cues from Halo, is problematic, as it requires players to knock down several rechargeable health bars. It becomes a big pain when the enemy AI does nothing but block your strongest moves and beams (the ones you can get to work anyway) then suddenly unleashes a barrage of death upon your unfortunate beastie.The graphics fail to impress. We know the Wii isnt that powerful next to the Xbox 360 and the PS3, but this hardly makes use of the Wiis potential. It actually looks more like a PS2 game, complete with copious slowdown on busy occasions. Also, while there are a ton of unlockable monsters, stages and concept art, the big problem is that almost every scrap of game content has to be unlocked. With only three monsters initially available and all kinds of odd tasks required to be able to just buy new monsters, coupled with the time it takes to earn enough points to buy them, it will take ages before you have enough unlocked for decent multiplayer scraps (unless you cheat). However, the total lack of online options hurts the multiplayer aspect considerably, especially since its hard to find anyone in the UK interested enough in Godzilla to play multiplayer brawls. Even the music sounds tired and generic.So is there anything to actually like about this game? Well, yes, actually. The story mode has been given a major overhaul, with comic-book-style cutscenes and suitably hammy English and Japanese voice-acting. The stages have actual objectives, and theres an interesting faction system in place, where your actions during a brawl and what objectives you complete will determine which monsters will fight on your side, and ultimately the outcome of the plot. The only downside to this is that its sometimes hard to tell what your objectives are unless you pause the game. The full roster is also fantastic, reading like a veritable rogues gallery of monsters from the movies, and if it wasnt for the controls several of them would be fun to play. Our only disappointment with the roster is that Atari couldnt get the American Godzilla in there for us to beat to a pulp.If it wasnt for the controls, then we would be prepared to say that this is a decent, if unspectacular, Godzilla brawler. The controls are a huge issue, however, and the utterly ludicrous way Atari tried to shoehorn the motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii is likely to put off many a player. We would normally say at this point this is a game for the fans only, but to be honest we dont know if even the fans will be able to endure such slipshod controls. As it is, this game is wrecked by bad ideas and poor implementation of said bad ideas.We long for a good Godzilla game, but this isnt it.