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Monsters vs Aliens
One plays and then stays to watch characters that are such fun to
control- they move so well and do such unusual things.
These monsters are called in to defend the earth from an alien attack that has overwhelmed our defense forces.
The three monsters, who are now freed from confinement,
have special skills which makes for three different game styles; Ginormica AKA Susan a 49'-11" tall
woman on jeep-made roller skates is immensely adept at maneuvering away from hazards.
A joy to watch as you maneuver her crouching, wall and rail riding and using her feats of strength;
B.O.B. the one-eyed blue goo pod, swallows, aims and spits projectiles,
oozes through grids and bashes opponents as he skootches smoothly over floors walls and
ceilings - a perfect stealth adversary;
The Missing Link- an ape with a fish head is the strongest fighter and best jumper,
making him the perfect platformer.
His many attack combos offer satisfying explosions and little seems to hurt him;
Insectosaurus - a 350-foot grub is in the background ready to get our heroes out of
inescapable situations - the equivalent of "suddenly he broke free";
and finally, Dr. Cockroach who appears mostly in the lab scenes,
can be called upon in two person play to assist in shooting and fighting the aliens.
The scenery is like being on a big space ship, space moves outside the windows and
swirls about from the top of the turret.
Susan's fighting in open air is a nice change.
Once the explanatory cut scenes are over and you are skating along with Susan, skootching along with B.O.B.
and experiencing the snot saving action of Insectosarus - it's pretty much unrelieved fast action.
Tips, encouragement and paternalistic concern are voiced by Dr. Cockroach,
meanwhile background intercom voices of soldiers are all well balanced and add depth to the ambience.
The graphics are pretty impressive when you can spare the attention to look at them instead of playing the game.
The game has 25 levels and runs out of steam towards the end - maybe the movie does too - don'no.
By isolating each character in their own levels, Susan's gigantic size doesn't register.
I was hoping the game/movie could have been used as an opportunity to create a new heroine.
I say it's time to bring back Wonder Woman.
Reviewed by: Editor - 04/09
Ages: Everyone +10
Fun Factor: The amusing characters add a lot to the fun.
Female Factor: Hooray for the 49'-11" woman.
Player Friendly: Good list of character controls in manual plus some in-game instructions.
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