Monster Madness: Grave Danger
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| Monster Madness: Grave Danger | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Psyonix Studios Immersion Games |
| Publisher(s) | Southpeak Interactive |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 3.0 |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3 |
| Release date | NA April 22, 2008 EU April 25, 2008[1] AUS April 19, 2008 |
| Genre(s) | Shoot 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, 4 Player Online Co-op, Online Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen PEGI: 12+ |
Monster Madness: Grave Danger is a video game for the PlayStation 3. Developers Psyonix Studios have taken the game Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia and ported it to the Playstation 3, adding 25 new challenge modes, adding full 4 player online co-op for the adventure mode, reworking the control scheme, adding 100 character-specific purchasable accessories, new unlockable character costumes, and changing the camera system.[2] While Battle for Suburbia was originally developed by Artificial Studios, publisher SouthPeak Interactive brought the title to Psyonix to rework the core gameplay and port the game to the Playstation 3.
Like Battle for Suburbia, players will be able to create many big and powerful weapons to destroy the monster menace that's attacking the town of Suburbia. The game was influenced by, and is often referenced with,[3] the LucasArts' cult classic Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis game, Zombies Ate My Neighbors.
Contents |
[edit] Story Mode
Players control one of four playable characters and attempt to escape the monster-infested locale, defeating various forms of zombies and other monsters and boss creatures in order to progress through the game. There are five chapters in Monster Madness: Suburban Nightmare, Shopping Maul, High School Hell, Cemetery Scary, and Evil Castle. Each chapter contains 3 to 5 stages.
Each character is armed with unique weapons and special moves. Zack is the nerd character and his special weapons are ax-type weapons. Andy is a skater who wields random objects such as a toilet plunger and rolling pin. Carrie is a goth girl who favors swords. Jennifer is a stuck-up cheerleader who wields dual batons.
While many items in the game can be picked up and used as melee weapons and throwable items, the main focus will be on the character's signature melee weapon and the various buildable and upgradeable guns. Each character has a class of melee weapons that they feel most comfortable with. By using their favored weapon, a meter will begin to fill up as they kill enemies. When the meter reaches full charge, the players can unleash a special power attack that is unique to each character. Zack's power attack is a powerful shot to the ground with his ax which produces a shockwave that kills enemies. Carrie's power attack is a dash attack where she leaps forward and dashes from enemy to enemy dealing powerful blows to each enemy she hits. Andy's power attack involves him jumping on the end of his current melee weapon and spinning in a circle, kicking enemies around him. Jennifer's power attack has Jennifer spinning on one foot creating a tornado that sucks in enemies as it kills them. In addition to the melee weapons, there are also 15 different guns that will be built using 18 different types of weapon parts featured in the game. The weapon parts are collected by locating and opening weapon part tool chests which are hidden strategically throughout the levels. This is another point where Grave Danger differs from Battle for Suburbia; where weapon parts were then randomly generated all around the levels, they're now contained in set locations inside the tool chests.
Each of the 15 guns has 3 different levels of upgrades which not only makes the gun more powerful, but can change the way it operates as well. For example, the level 1 nailgun weapon, featured early in the game, has players wielding two semi-automatic nailguns. The level 3 nailgun, however, has an extended clip and is fully automatic. The arsenal is made up of the following weapons: nailguns, cellphone tazers, bicycle grenade launcher, defibrillators, CD launcher, rocket launcher, pipe shotgun, bee mine launcher, flame thrower, mini-gun, rail gun, radioactive flashlight, sonic shield gun, glue cannon, and boomerangs.
There are also features such as online play competitive play with up to 16 players, and costumes for all players that can be unlocked during or after the game is complete. Monster Madness: Grave Danger also includes full online co-op capabilities, letting 4 players join together and play through the adventure mode with other players on the internet. This feature was much requested, but sadly omitted from Xbox version "Battle for Suburbia."
[edit] Challenge Modes
Introduced into this game by Psyonix Studios is the Challenge mode. This mode of gameplay features 25 new mini-games which the players must complete to unlock costumes for Zack, Carrie, Andy, and Jennifer. The mini-games include such games as "Zombie Cats", where players must see how many zombie cats they can wipe out in a given amount of time using only the flame thrower.[2] Another one of the mini-games has players driving the game's UFO vehicle from a top-down perspective to destroy enemies while the terrain scrolls by. Other challenge modes include defeating a certain number of monsters in a given time limit - similar to adventure mode play - various vehicle races, and more.
[edit] Criticisms Assessed
With much of the feedback and criticism of Battle for Suburbia coming from the control scheme (once referred to as "counter-intuitive and overly complicated for a simple top-down shooter")[4] and camera systems, Psyonix and Southpeak made these two of the main issues addressed in the PS3 port of Monster Madness: Grave Danger. In Monster Madness: Grave Danger, your character's movement is controlled by the left joystick on the PS3 controller, and the direction in which you aim as well as the firing mechanism are both controlled by the right joystick. This is similar to such games as Geometry Wars for the Xbox Live Arcade and Blast Factor for the PlayStation Store. In addition to the new controls and camera system, there is four-player online co-op mode added, allowing players to play through the adventure mode of the game with other users across the internet[5]
[edit] Voice Cast
- Carrie: Ari Brooks
- Zack: Yossi Shuman
- Jennifer: Regina Stuzin
- Andy: Jaime Sherman
- Larry Tools: Steve Brooks
