I think the King of the Monsters has never been given a fair shake in video games. Ignoring the adequately fun sixth generation titles — Destroy All Monsters Melee and its kin — the big lug has had little success in gaming. Its easy enough to understand why, Godzilla is a little too much like Superman. So powerful that very little poses any serious threat and those that do undermine the entire concept of feeling as powerful as a character like Godzilla. I suppose alternatively you can make the game about fighting against Godzilla, which some games have, but ultimately the appeal is playing as him or one of the other giant monsters available.
The newest Godzilla, released last month to little fanfare on the PS4 and PS3, isn’t going to do anything to change that long-standing law of Godzilla games. Despite the fact it does a considerable number of things right, the end result is too bland to hold the interest for anything longer than a weekend. It doesn’t help that it does also does a considerable number of things wrong.
Godzilla is an arcade action game where the player assumes control of Japan’s favorite giant lizard or one of his friends as they progress level to level either wreaking havoc on major city locations or defending those same locations. Each level has a certain number of generators that need to be destroyed as well as other buildings and occasionally other kaiju. Players choose their progress, Star Fox style, but each level plays out in the same order regardless. Choosing which path to take only affects the difficulty of the stage which only changes the potential size of the enemy kaiju and the rate at which the military increases their efforts against Godzilla. But the only thing that really matters on that list is the size of the enemy kaiju as these are the only things in each level that pose a threat.
In a baffling turn, Godzilla‘s understanding of size and scale is both its biggest weakness and its biggest strength. The army is technically present throughout the game, but except for some fighter jets who can fire missiles that stun Godzilla, their presence is meaningless. At most, the serve as extra things for Godzilla and co. to destroy. This is somewhat important, as the biggest aspect of the game is making sure to destroy as much as you can as quickly as you can each level, for this release G-Energy, which increases Godzilla’s size. Destroying buildings and military vehicles fast enough builds the destruction multiplier, which increases that rate that Godzilla grows. And Godzilla needs to grow.
Failing to grow too big results in getting outclassed by invading kaiju, which get progressively bigger per level. The monster-versus-monster combat is present but woefully underdeveloped. Godzilla and friends each have a quick attack, a heavy attack, a mobile attack, a projectile, and a super. That’s it. Each of these attacks can be loosely combined by a interesting taunting mechanic. By pressing L1 and R1 simultaneously, your monster roars, cancelling certain attacks, buffering itself with additional super armor and, if timed properly, changing the properties of some of the basic attacks. Unfortunately, even the best timing in the world can’t escape the fact that monsters bigger than you will almost always win unless you cheese the fights. Size directly affects a monster’s health, resistance to interruption, and damage. All monsters are not created equal and some attack strings will consistently leave you in a stunned state. Blowing your super works as a keep away mechanic, but can only be use intermittently. It doesn’t help that the monsters move at such a sluggish pace, accurately parodying the men in suits they imitate.
This leaves the game in a weird limbo. On one hand, here is one of the most accurate depictions of Godzilla in gaming, moreso than the more entertaining yet too WWE run of the Destroy All Monsters titles. Godzilla is slow and bulky but hefty and powerful, knocking through buildings with ease and purpose. It also leaves the the levels void of any fun on their own, at least until the other monsters show up. At that point, the problem presents itself in a different way. If the opposing monsters are too varied in size, then the fight is over before it began. Two similar-sized monsters make for an actual fight, but the execution is too cumbersome to be considered anything but adequate at best.
The game itself is quite small, ironic for a title so preoccupied with size. Besides the basic arcade mode, there is a Boss Rush mode and online multiplayer, for a surprising three people at once. A simple leveling structure exists to add passive bonuses to monsters by defeating other monsters in the game modes, but they mostly just serve as unlocks for extended play times. There’s also a Diorama mode, which let’s you view models and construct different variations of the same forms of gameplay. And even through the pomp and circumstance of a Godzilla game,the budget shows through in the worst ways. For a game that demands mass, sprawling destruction, Godzilla is a but a blip on the radar, an impotent rage instinctively destroying what little it can in an flaccid wave of futility.
Simply put, Godzilla has a small penis.
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