Preview : Monster Madness (gamedaily.com)
Straight-up horror can be a godsend to some people, but others prefer a little bit of humor with their morbid content. To these folks, Shaun of the Dead is worth a viewing just as much as the remake of Dawn of the Dead. The same goes for games. While Resident Evil 4 is still a must-play, there's also plenty of room for something along the lines of LucasArts' classic zombie-shooting fest Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Where else can a girl be found turning into a giant Purple People Eater? SouthPeak Interactive has begun its own take on the classic schlocky horror theme with Monster Madness: Battle For Suburbia.
For some inexplicable reason, monsters are plaguing the neighborhood. All that's known is that they're rampaging through houses, rummaging around the local school yard, laying waste to city dwellings and even creeping around the graveyard. Many of the older and more responsible folks are out of town (again, it's inexplicable), leaving various high school students as the only ones who can stop the monsters. The game unfolds over a course of various locations around the city as the kids fight for the return to normalcy.
The cast of characters featured in Madness is a stereotypical helping of the high school circuit, whether it's the jock or the anti-social Goth girl. Each of these characters has a particular weapon that best suits them, although they can use both guns or melee attacks with swords, axes, or whatever cutlery becomes available. It hasn't been announced if these characters will have a back-story, but something is bound to tie all these kids to the presence of these nightmares.
On top of this, each character has a specific attack that lets them build up power through a gauge. The control mechanism for attacking follows the Smash TV set-up, with one analog stick controlling movement and another directing the player's line of fire. Through up-close and distant attacks, more energy is gained. Once this gauge is filled, the student can then change into a monster for a short period of time. Four kinds of power monsters including a zombie, a mummy, a werewolf, and a blood-sucking vampire are available. These attacks come in handy during some portions of the game, particularly when the monsters are so overwhelming that even a bazooka can't clear the room.
The game's graphics definitely lean on a more comical style, between the warped designs of the monsters in the game or the geeky animation of the main characters. The levels are bathed in darkness, but never to the point that the player can't tell where the characters are going.
Despite the game's action-filled content, its tone is relatively tongue-in-cheek. Monster Madness thrives on a series of cliches from the horror and sci-fi realms, including some parodies and other bits of humor that will keep players giggling.
Madness supports up to four players in a single-screen co-op mode instead of the more common four-player split-screen presentation. For those who prefer something a little more, various multiplayer modes where players can fight against each other competitively via Xbox Live are also available. Deathmatch and capture the flag modes will be present, and some others may be thrown into the final product as well. Hopefully, a mode will be included where large monsters can brawl against each other, just for the sake of creating dream match ups such as vampire versus werewolf.
Monster Madness features some excellent old-school flavor for the Xbox 360 and PC alike. Its very unconventional, but its offbeat humor is a refreshing change of pace. Besides, any game that follows in the spiritual footsteps of Zombies Ate My Neighbors deserves a warm welcome, even with bloody zombie arms. Look for more coverage on this game as it gets prepped for its second quarter 2007 release. In the meanwhile, prepare for Madness.
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