Infogrames and Pipeworks

Due Spring/Summer for Gamecube.

Of all the possible movie franchises, Godzilla seems like a no-brainer for a classic video game. I mean, really, all of the elements are already there: huge, fearsome, monsters with super powers brawling across the largest populated cities in the world. The King of Monsters series on the Neo Geo did a good job with this premise, and Rampage had a little fun parodying it, but c’mon, we want Godzilla! Well, Infogrames and Pipeworks are currently making this dream a reality for Gamecube owners in the form of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.

The story has aliens trying to take over the Earth by unleashing Godzilla’s most fearsome enemies to destroy the biggest cities on the planet. Fans will recognize this as the exact “plot” from Destroy All Monsters, the classic cult film and basis for the game.

Game features include 14 different playable monsters and 8 cities to demolish. Screenshots show Godzilla, Mecha Godzilla, and Rodan. Given the game’s namesake, we can probably count on Mothra, Angilas, Minya, and King Ghidrah showing up as well. Each monster will be able to fight using hand to hand and close range combat, as well as special moves and specialized projectiles, such as Godzilla’s blue flame. During the course of battle, the cities will be demolished realistically with real time physics. Also, human military forces will enter into the fray to try to take the monsters down and save their fair cities.

But I haven’t gotten to the best part yet…the 4-player multiplayer mode. Your favorite monsters from Godzilla, destructible cities, human interlopers, and three of your buddies to duke it out with, I don’t have to tell you how cool that sounds.

The graphics look terrific. There are huge, sprawling cities complete with detailed billboards, street signs, landscaping, and rivers. And the cities look as if they have been modeled pretty closely on the real thing (I am no world traveler, so don’t ask me which cities I am looking at, but it is a pretty safe bet that Tokyo will be included). The sense of scale is dead on—these monsters are huge. There is a lot of detail worked into the monsters as well. The texture of Godzilla’s skin is wonderful and the different facial expressions (snarl, glare, roar) show promise. He even has that dead-eyed stare going on. Amazing real time effects like lighting, particles, and building deformation top it all off.

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee is still listed as coming soon. As far as I am concerned, it can’t come soon enough.

Jeremy Kauffman (04/09/2002)