The King of the Monsters returns to home entertainment consoles in an idiotically captivating, third-person adventure Godzilla (Bandai Namco Entertainment, rated Teen, reviewed on PlayStation 4, $59.99).
Taking back game development at least a decade through clunky game mechanics and sparse presentations, this disappointing fighter allows a player to control 20 Kaiju (the Japanese word for monster) as they pound upon one another while destroying the Land of the Rising Sun.
Within a primary God of Destruction campaign, spread out over a 20 branching mission levels, a player’s goal is to increase Godzilla’s size by absorbing G-Energy as he destroys everything within the boundaries of a coastal metropolis that looks about as realistic as a backlot studio from a Kaiju film in the 1960s.
Opposing forces try to stop his rampage while also collecting intel, seen via images shot during the attacks and heard through the Dualshock 4 controller’s speaker as G-Force agents lament about their situation.
A player controls the monster’s lumbering movements by using two top shoulder buttons to turn left and right and analog sticks to walk and change camera angles. It’s as cumbersome and finger fumbling as it sounds.
His attacks use a button mash that never quite reacted as quickly as I wanted it to, be it swinging Godzilla’s tail around or his short punches to waiting for a meter to refill to use his atomic breath. It’s especially painful when two Kaiju fight, playing out like a graceless, stuttering mess.
Now, taking a city area down to a pile of dusty and fiery rubble is fun, but the multistory buildings are just exploding walls, and they all start to look the same. Worse yet, the collision detection between monster and building has our multistory beast’s body or appendages occasional disappearing into the structure.
Even stomping on tanks or swatting the helicopters can get tiresome despite hearing the amusing screams of anguish from the drivers crying out “help me.”
Despite the horrible game mechanics, fans of the mutant lizard and his buddies will appreciate the game’s monster models and devotion to the film genre.
It’s obvious that developers worked hard to offer accurate representations of some legendary monsters such as Rodan, Mothra, Jet Jaquar, the smog creature Hedorah, Destoroyah and multiple versions of the Godzilla (including the one from the 2014 movie). The developers also piled on an abundance of special effects sounds, wonderful roars and cheesy dialogue worthy of any classic Godzilla movie.
It was a gas to see Godzilla emerge from the smoke and fire, unloading his blue atomic breath on unsuspecting jet fighters.
Or, taking control of the golden-colored, three-headed and duel-tailed dragon King Ghidorah — with its limited flight skills and yellow lightening blasts shooting out from each of its mouths — was pretty slick.
As appreciated is the deadpan chatter that finds bureaucrats who are either bewildered or keep apologizing for Godzilla’s and his pals’ behavior, or the dramatic performance of a female G-Force operator (popping up as a still frame in the corner of the screen) as she comments on the chaos.
Additionally, other modes might peak a player’s interest. A player can choose other Kaiju to rampage or defend the city in God of Destruction or attempt to defeat six monsters in a row in the quickest time possible, each stronger than the last.
Two more goodies partially help make up for the underwhelming action.
First a monster field guide that presents short biographies and stats on 46 Kaiju including their cinematic career as well as a photo. Who knew that Mecha-King Ghidorah’s full-body costume weighed 400 pounds and was operated without a stuntman inside during filming?
Next, a player can unlock models of the monsters and place them into dioramas. After positioning them in the perfect spot using a gridded guide and setting their size, height and static action pose, builders can take a screenshot in color or black-and-white and share it around the world.
I had such high hopes for this game after appreciating such titles over the years as “Rampage” and “Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.”
Unfortunately, the latest Godzilla for the PlayStation 4 takes zero advantage of the systems power and does little to help introduce the legendary franchise to a new generation of gamers.
However, it does make me want to go back and watch the classic 1964 movie “Mothra vs. Godzilla.”
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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