Godzilla: Unleashed on the PS2 isn’t nearly as bad as Double Smash – but that doesn’t mean it’s good. If you’re a fan of Godzilla and have already played Save the Earth, don’t bother reading after this next sentence. Godzilla: Unleashed is the same game as Save the Earth, but it’s gotten much worse.
The most noticeable thing is that this game looks like it came out on the PS2’s launch day. Even then it would be getting criticism for looking worse than the other titles. Not only are they poor on a basic level, but the little things we’ve come to expect that make you feel immersed in the game – or make it seem real – don’t exist. There’s no real sense that your monsters are big and in this world; hell, a huge beast like Godzilla doesn’t even cause water to ripple when he steps in it. It looks more like Godzilla toys wreaking havoc in a toy city than the Godzilla monsters destroying a major metropolis.
Like Double Smash, this has a fairly simplistic combat gameplay where no real skill is needed, and whomever pushes the most buttons the quickest will usually end up the victor. Add that to the fact that every monster shares the same attack combinations (although their attacks are different, at least) and anyone can succeed in this game. It would be no news item if a chimp beat a human this time around.
There was one mode in Saving the Earth that redeemed it for many (or 20) people: online play. In Unleashed, online play was completely cut out. I can understand that they probably expected few people to get this, but to remove a feature that was integral to what made the first one liked and still played among the hardcore fans…
If Unleashed has one thing it does well, it’s the number of monsters. With over 20 to pick from, there’s a plethora of Godzilla creatures to use. Unfortunately, to unlock most of these monsters you’ll need to play through the story mode. Again, and again, and again. It’s always the same thing: cutscenes with no moving animation, monsters fight, repeat. It’s a boring formula, and implemented very poorly.
Unleashed also does a horrible job of telling you what you’re supposed to be doing. You’ll likely end up pausing the game once you get done with the cutscene just to see what’s going down, and what you’re expected to do.
In the end, what hurts Godzilla: Unleashed most is all of the things it doesn’t do that it should have. There should be more environmental destruction. There should be easier and less painful ways to unlock monsters. The graphics should at least look like the developers know their way around a PS2 devkit. But none of those are true.
Godzilla: Unleashed is a step back for a series which was already below average. The feature Save the Earth’s hardcore fans loved most was removed, and the rest of the game just isn’t as fun as it should be. Not once did I feel like I was controlling a giant monster and laying waste to a city. Remember how a random toddler who’s never played a game in his life can always go head to head against a fighting game fanatic and still win the occasional match? Godzilla: Unleashed does. Quite fondly.
