GORMARU ISLAND REVIEW: GODZILLA SAVE THE EARTH Lets be honest, when the sequel to Destroy All Monsters Melee was announced, a lot of us G-fans had epic-sodes and fangasms. And if you had internet at the time, you were either constantly checking Tokyomonsters for updates or mindlessly refreshing the Godzilla game page for anything new! It was a time for excitement! How large was the monster roster going to be this time? Who was going to make the final cut? What changes were going to be involved? What was the story mode going to be like this time? So many questions, during a glorious era of gaming. I still remember when early footage of SpaceGodzilla was released, players could summon crystals, engage in beam struggles, and the epic addition of SpaceGodzilla, everything was always turned up to 11 when anything regarding Save the Earth was issued out to us. From screenshots, to trailers, to website updates. None the less, that special time has passed, and the game is 10 years old now. Time for a review from Gormaru Island! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Godzilla: Save the Earth (PS2 and Xbox) When a sequel of any game is brought to the table, all that matters is that its bigger, better, and more fun than the previous installment. From gameplay scope, to mechanic revisions and updates. Because in order for a sequel to be deemed a worthy successor, it has to be deemed a worthy game first. And STE had all the aspects in being a successor! Positives: -Gameplay: STE had several huge updates within its game mechanics, additions that would make combat more fun and feel just like the Toho films to a fair degree. In-Game Metamorphosis, Beam Struggles, Diverse Air-Strikes, Unique character abilities and attributes, improved environment interactions, and last but not least..Greatly diverse movesets and Rage techniques. The gameplay flow was paced down a bit, but overall everything felt creatively refreshing, expanded, and well executed. ------------------ -Story Mode: STE really went the extra mile in providing an unforgettable story experience. It wasnt going to be another Arcade-story mode like DAMM, it was aiming a bit higher then that. Involving unique challenge levels like: Destroy Battleships, Basketball, Destroying Osaka, Monster Bowling, Demolition, UFO Attack, Monster Round-Up, Defeat Mecha-King Ghidorah Replicators, etc. All of this made the story feel massive and amazing. Add on with the stellar Asteroid Field with Moguera, the Deep Sea Battle against Ebirah, and fighting on the Mothership against Orga, all of this made the experience even more fantastic. Attaining G-cells were a fun time, although felt extremely tedious later on. And while the story-mode could have used more focus, it is a monstrously fun time. At least when playing Godzilla 2000 during Hard Mode! ----------------------------- -Game Modes and Challenges: STE shows more of its strengths by bringing back its wonderful game modes, but also adding on its new playable challenges. Everything is a unique poison for you to pick, serving a solid experience and fun time! ==================== -Monster Roster and Content: Sporting 18 fantastic monsters, consisting of both new and old contenders! Everyone lost their minds when Mothra was playable and no longer an air-strike. People were shocked when Jet Jaguar, Baragon, SpaceGodzilla, and Megaguirus stormed into the roster as well. They were epic additions after all! Solid work in this department. Unlockable Monsters, Unlockable Arenas, Unlockable Gallery Pictures, all of these specific areas provided the game with plenty of content to enjoy and attain. Who didnt love looking at production stills from Final Wars on their TV from their console :D -------------------------------------- -ONLINE Play: Why many G-fans set STE high as one of the best of the Godzilla Trilogy from Pipeworks, is that it is presently the ONLY Godzilla fighter to have online play. If you were on PS2, you had the PlayStation Network. If you were on Xbox, you had Xbox Live. You can battle against friends, your team up and fight against other players. While the PS2s online system did not last long, Xbox Lives system continued up until either 2012 or 2013, after that, it was shut down after wonderful years of service. This feature made STE worthwhile with strong replay-ability compared to the other installments. ----------- Negatives: -Uneven Graphical Presentation: STE had pretty good graphics and monster models, but they were fairly uneven, especially depending on which console version you had. Some areas appeared less detailed, almost watered down when comparing to Destroy All Monsters Melee. The monsters would look their best, but several of the environments would look less detailed and popping. While these areas are few, they are noticeable. Xboxs version however did looked better, almost appearing as the definitive version of what STE would be if this department was better worked on throughout development and production. ------------------- -Music: The themes played in STE werent as monstrous or loud as the themes from DAMM, they were very subtle within the arenas. And at most times, are unnoticeable, which doesnt speak well if youre trying to create atmosphere throughout a kaiju game. None of the track were bad, dont get us wrong, but how they were handled were extremely poorly. With a bit more imagination and presence, it could have been a strength for the game. ============== -POINTS/Purchase Shop: Gamers, despite the advancing era of gaming, most of us still love having unlockable content that we can achieve in-game. DLC is fine, but in-game content is still great! STE had the right idea, but their execution was a misstep. The points and purchasing system was solid, but the means to attain points were a grueling chore to deal with after 3-5 playthroughs. Wining battles and challengers earned you points to spend later, attaining G-cells however earned you bonus points. Depending on the mode, depends on how much youll inevitably earn at the end of the playthrough. If you earned a larger sum of points than what was coded to begin with, everything would have been fine.But as it is now, it remains a chore. At least with DAMM unlocking monsters and arenas were done by simply beating the story mode playthrough depending on the monster you choose. That was simple, fun, and not a chore. ================== Overall, STE is a worthy successor within the Godzilla Trilogy, it has everything expected within a sequel and much more! Who would have known that this would have been the last good installment from pipework. Despite its flaws and shortcomings, Godzilla: Save the Earth will forever remain a treasure among the Godzilla community. 8.7/10! END Gormaru Island Review!
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 20:37:43 +0000
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