Godzilla: Unleashed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Godzilla: Unleashed
Developer(s)	Pipeworks Software, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Atari
Platform(s)	Wii, PS2, PSP
Release date	North America: Wii: December 5, 2007 PS2: November 20, 2007 Europe: Wii: February 29, 2008 PS2: February 29, 2008
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E10+ OFLC: PG
Media	PS2 Optical Disc, UMD
Input methods	Wii Remote and Nunchuk

Godzilla: Unleashed is a 3D fighting video game based on the Godzilla film franchise for the Wii and PlayStation 2, developed by Pipeworks and published by Atari. The PS2 version was released on November 20 and the Wii version on December 5, 2007 in North America and both versions on February 29, 2008 in Europe. A PlayStation Portable (PSP) version was planned, but was not released with the other versions of the game, but still planned for 2008.

The game is set during a series of unnatural disasters across Planet Earth due to unexplained apparences of large crystals, where the Vortaak alien race are invading once again. The game features over 20 kaiju and Mechas from all three Godzilla eras; Shōwa, Heisei and Millennium, as well as two newly created Toho approved creations; Krystalak and Obsidius.

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Playable monsters 3 Story 3.1 Plot 3.2 Endings 3.3 Characters 4 Development 5 Reception 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Gameplay

Like its precedessors Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee and Godzilla: Save the Earth, Unleashed plays as a 3D fighting game with the option to play with two to four monsters at a time, with or without teams. While the PS2 version involves button pressing for attacks and combos, the Wii version, along with button pressing implements it's motion sensing control via the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Basics punch and kick attacks are through the A and B buttons^[1] whiles more powerful and aggressive strikes require swinging of the remote up, down or side to side while pressing A and/or B.^[1] Movement is done by the analog on the Nunchuk and by shaking it allows players to jump, where combined with shaking of the remote allows nearby opponents or objects like small buildings and boulders to be lifted and thrown by shaking the Remote or pressng the A button.^[2] Weapon/beam attacks also return but are less powerful and accurate. Rage Mode from the previous games^[3] is absent but in its place is "Critical Mass" where through destruction of energy crystals found in arenas monsters temporarily glow red (similar looking to Godzilla's out of control radioactivity in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah) and increase in size, boosting damage and endurance, but decreasing defense.^[4]

Monsters can also use one of seven "Power Surges", which are temporary abilities that can be used only once per battle, per monster. Surges increase certain traits, like for example the Fire Surge increases damage dealt and Speed Surge increases speed. They can also decrease abilities like Shield Surge, which increases defense while slowing movement. Others can improve and damage others like Radiation Surge that improves health regeneration while impairing that of nearby monsters. Before the Surge is over, monsters can induce a powerful shockwave attack. In the single player Story Mode, multiple Power Surges can be collected through defeating an enemy monster afflicted with the Surge.^[5]. In multiplayer mode, the Surges are obtained by destroying Surge Crystals that pop up in the environment.

Along with destructable environments, Earth's Military or the Vortaak's Forces are present, depending on the areana/city. Both will attack certain monsters each times, while others can still get caught in the cross fire. Monsters are attacked on differing circumstances. For example Global Defense Force monsters will be attacked by humans if they go out their way to destroy human buildings and military units being on the same side. The same goes for Alien monsters and the Vortaak. Destruction of crystals and use of Power Surges and Critical Mass can also affect military attitude towards certain monsters.^[6] In Story Mode, Atragon appears multiple times throughout but due to the personal attitude of its Admiral, it will attack regardless of actions or faction.

Levels, or "Arenas" are set in well known major cities of Earth, but have all succumb to a form of disaster brought on by the crystals. These include New York that has been damaged by a series of meteor impacts, San Francisco has been ravaged by earthquakes, Seattle is damaged by an erupting volcano, creating rivers of lava, Osaka is covered in nuclear fallout, Tokyo has been flooded by tsunamis, Sydney has been turned into a frozen waste-land and London has become airborne from an anti-gravity field. Monster Island is also present but with only minor damage from the crystals, which also includeds a Global Defense Force base and ruins of an ancient civilization. At one point in the Story, the Vortaak Mothership crashes into San Francisco Bay and so serves as an level also. Monsters can re-visit these cities multiple times through Story mode.^[7]

[edit] Playable monsters

In Godzilla: Unleashed, there are 26 playable monsters divided between four factions. In Story Mode, monsters of particular factions have different goals and so take a different order of missions. Each Faction also has different styles of play and what they consider friend or foe. Some choose to use the crystals while others intend to destroy them and so will reflect this depending on how the player chooses to act throughout. The total number and look of playable monsters differs between the Wii and PS2 versions. While you gain points with some factions for obtaining Power Surges, obtaining all seven Power Surges will null any allegiances the player has and unlock a secret level called "Tyrant", in which the player's chosen monster is given unlimited Critical Mass but is forced to brawl against several monsters which may or may not have been former allies.

Earth Defenders

These are natural monsters who are very instinctive and protective of their territory, Planet Earth. They see the crystals and Vortaak as threats and go out their way to destroy them, even if it means destruction of human cities. Earth Defenders ally themsevles with monsters that destroy crystals but because of this, they will attack those who use them to attain Critical Mass. The Earth Defenders are Anguirus, Baragon, Fire Rodan, Godzilla (all three versions; 2000, 1954 (Wii only) and 1990's), King Caesar (Showa/Millennium hybrid, Wii only), Mothra (Heisei/Millennium hybrid) and Varan (Wii only).^[8]

Global Defense Force

Human engineered Mechas, built to protect humanity from other monsters, the Vortaak and the crystals. They usually ally themselves with monsters that don't destroy human structures and those who fight Alien forces,and fight those that do the opposite. Due to their autonomous minds, Global Defense Forces mechas can fall victim to and become corrupted by the crystals energy. The Global Denfense Force mechas are Jet Jaguar, Kiryu, Mechagodzilla 2, Mecha-King Ghidorah and Moguera.^[8]

Aliens

The Alien faction is made up of monsters that have allied themselves with the Vortaak invaders and thus their prime goal is to destroy the humans and conquer Earth. Alien monsters are driven by power surges and so attack monsters that destroy Surge crystals or Vortaak forces. They will on the other hand ally themselves with those who preserve crystals or destroy human forces. The Alien monsters are Gigan (Millennium version for the Wii, Showa version for the PS2), King Ghidorah (Showa/Millennium hybrid for the Wii, Showa/Heisei hybrid for the PS2), Mechagodzilla (Wii only), Megalon and Orga.^[8]

Mutants

Monsters from the mutant faction are driven by lust for power more than anything else. Because of this they are drawn to crystals and so will destroy all in their path to get such power; monsters, humans and even Vortaak, and so Mutants will ally themselves with others monsters that do just this and attain Critical Mass. The Mutant monsters are Battra (PS2 only), Biollante (Wii only), Destoroyah, Krystalak (Wii only), Megaguirus, Obsidius and Titanosaurus (Wii only). SpaceGodzilla is also a part of the Mutant faction and is responsible for the emergence of crystals and so appears in the final stage of Story mode.^[8]

[edit] Story

[edit] Plot

The storyline of Unleashed, taking place 20 years after Godzilla: Save the Earth, begins with a meteor shower raining down on earth ,causing climate shifts and earthquakes. Simultaneously, the kaiju of Earth begin to attack cities across the globe as a result of crystals growing on the ground.

Factions form among the members of Earth as well as the monsters attacking them, totaling four monster factions. Choices within the story affect later events, including the relationships between Earth factions and the monster ones. Earth Defender, Global Defense Force, Alien and Mutant are the factions in Unleashed. In the PS2 version, it turns out at the end that the source of the crystals is from SpaceGodzilla trying to escape the alternate dimension he was imprisoned in at the end of Save the Earth. In the Wii version, the crystals were transferred onto the planet by the meteor shower while Krystalak, a creature born from the same meteor shower, attempts to absorb the energy of the crystals in order make himself the most powerful monster on the planet, with SpaceGodzilla using the crystal radiation to escape from the alternate dimension.

After Destroy All Monsters Melee and Save the Earth, the Vortaak return for the game, as their mothership crashes into San Francisco bay after one of their monsters is defeated by another kind of monster (Godzilla, Kiryu, Anguirus, Fire Rodan, etc.) and they send their monsters to attack the earth to seize control of the planet as an opportunity. In Unleashed, the Vortaak's role as the main antagonists is usurped by SpaceGodzilla, who is now a member of the Mutants, one of the monster factions which includes Godzilla's original adversaries, and the one who is responsible for the creation of Krystalak and his counterpart, Obsidius.

[edit] Endings

There are endings in Unleashed for all four factions.

Aliens: There is no hope for Earth while, Vorticia, the queen of the Vortaak laughs while watching the monster the player chooses destroy a city.

Mutants: Several cities are seen being destroyed by the crystals when SpaceGodzilla and the Mutants have won, when suddenly SpaceGodzilla appears and roars in triumph.

Global Defense Force: The GDF unit destroys SpaceGodzilla's army and saves the world.

Earth Defenders: The monster the player chooses is thanked for their bravery against SpaceGodzilla while the world becomes normal again.

[edit] Characters

Base Commander Tagaki: The base commander is the man in charge when it comes to evaluating situations and ordering GDF's mecha forces into action. He's the cool head in chaotic situations--always keeping his emotions in check. Commander Tagaki began his illustrious military career as a young, hotshot G-Force pilot assigned to "Project-M" (Mechagodzilla). His mettle was put to the test during the Vortaak invasion of 2004 while piloting Mechagodzilla (II) into battle against the alien threat. It was then, in the heat of battle, that Tagaki witnessed firsthand how Earth's monsters seemed to join forces against the aliens to protect the planet. The experience changed his personal views on Earth's monsters being a threat to humanity.

Specialist Kenji Miku (Miku): Miku is one of many GDF technicians who monitor the global defense grid and all monster activities. She reports directly to her superior, Commander Tagaki. Miku has been fascinated by monsters since childhood and has devoted her life to the study of Kaiju. Because of her knowledge and expertise, Miku has become the commander's top consultant and right hand in all monster-related matters. A mutual respect exists between the two.

Miku is among those who believe that Earth's monsters are noble defenders of the planet who rage only when their fragile world is threatened by human arrogance or extraterrestrial forces.

Admiral Gyozen: The admiral is a semiretired, hardcore military man who serves as military advisor on the GDF council. But he is a bitter man, having fought and lost many battles with Godzilla and having the scars to show for it. The admiral lost command of the battleship Atragon after a particularly humiliating defeat that resulted in the death of his crew. As a result, he harbors a deep-seated hatred toward all monsters. Though no longer in active command, the admiral has considerable sway within the council with his bombastic, overbearing nature.

He is driven insane by his own hatred, which is amplified by the crystals brought onboard the Atoragon to power a "Crystal Cannon" weapon, but comes to his senses after being defeated.

Dr. Shiragami: A brilliant GDF scientist and the world's leading expert on giant monsters, Dr. Shiragami makes some "fascinating" discoveries regarding the properties of the crystal formations and the alien radiation they produce. He accidentally makes Biollante while experimenting with combinations of G-cells (Godzilla's cells), crystal radiation, and a bioagent designed to eat G-cells.

[edit] Development

An IGN interview with Pipeworks states that the title is completely new and is specifically designed with the Wii Remote in mind. There were also plans to use WiiConnect24 support for downloading purposes, but they seemed to never have happened. IGN has a development blog running, but it is updated irregularly. The Wii version of the game, while much more developed than the PS2 version, has been criticized in early reviews for somewhat unresponsive controls.

The Wii, PlayStation 2^[9] and PlayStation Portable versions of Unleashed are in development by Pipeworks Software. The PlayStation 2 version has two exclusive characters unavailable to any other console apart from Double Smash. The PlayStation 2 version has 20 monsters, including the two exclusive characters. While the game was in early development, a screenshot was also shown with the press release on some websites, but it was revealed to be a falsely edited from screenshots of Unleashed and Godzilla: Save the Earth.

On September 14, 2007, two screenshots from an early build of the PS2 version of the game were released, revealing Godzilla 2000 and Anguirus with similar models to their Godzilla: Save the Earth designs, and crystals on a Monster Island arena.^[10] It has been speculated that the gameplay would be a rebuild of the Save the Earth mechanics.

On September 27, 2007, IGN posted a new PS2 video showing Godzilla (2000), Destoroyah, Orga, Anguirus, SpaceGodzilla, Moguera, Fire Rodan, Megalon, King Ghidorah, Baragon, Jet Jaguar, Mechagodzilla (Heisei), Mecha-King Ghidorah, Megaguirus and Gigan (Showa). This left five monsters to go. It also furthered the idea that it is a rebuild of Save the Earth as several characters are completely unchanged, including King Ghidorah, Megaguirus and Gigan, who were revamped for the Wii version. On the following day, Tohokingdom.com posted an area for PS2 holders to watch. They have placed a character confirmed list on it which shows all of the characters that were seen in the PS2 video.

On October 10, 2007, it was announced that summonable monsters would not reappear, according to an interview. Two days later, IGN's development blog has revealed that Heavy Melody created the soundtrack for the game and that every monster has a unique theme song that ties to the overall feeling of their faction for the Wii version.

On October 19, 2007, IGN stated that the PSP version of Godzilla: Unleashed was canceled; however, if the Wii version of the game sells well there could be a PSP version coming out in 2008.

Atari stated that the Wii version of Godzilla: Unleashed would be released on November 20, 2007, the same day as the Nintendo DS version.^[11] Atari later stated that the PS2 version of Godzilla: Unleashed would be released on November 20, 2007, along with the Nintendo DS and Wii version.^{[citation needed]}

On November 9, 2007, GameSpot posted its sixth and final designer diary with Simon Strange talking about the factions' importance.

On November 19, 2007, GameSpot put up a Monster Battles feature to have people vote for which monsters they want to face off. Also, Battra was revealed to be in the game, as he is one of the monsters in the character pool.

The PS2 version of Godzilla: Unleashed has 20 monsters. Beyond Battra (exclusive to the system) and Obsidius, the roster is completely lifted from Save the Earth, featuring none of the other new characters in the Wii version. The PS2 version is a modified version of STE only with Battra and Obsidius. However, Battra is just a clone of Mothra and Obsidius is just a clone of Orga.

On November 30, 2007, Atari put up a contest for the upcoming Wii version. The contest was a trivia game. If the players guessed the answers correctly, they would have a chance to win a poster of Godzilla: Unleashed, 10% off digital downloads at Atari, or Atari T-shirts. Also on the same day, all of the "monster cards" on the official website were revealed.

On December 16, 2007, King Caesar won the Gamespot Monster battles while Baragon was in 2nd place. Obsidius got the least amount of votes (9380 votes).

On December 23, 2007, Tohokingdom.com came out with the Godzilla: Unleashed Soundtrack.

It was revealed in an interview with one of the producers of the game that there is no plans for a PSP version. However, it was also revealed in the same interview that if the Wii version of the game sells well there could be a PSP version coming out in mid 2008.

[edit] Reception

Reviews
Publication	Score
Game Informer	4/10
GameSpot	3.5/10
GameTrailers	5.0/10
IGN	4.9/10
Nintendo Power	5.5/10

Upon release, the Wii version of Godzilla: Unleashed was met with negative to mixed reviews from critics. ^[12][13]

Play Magazine called it "among the best fighters for the system"^[13] while GameSpot called it "the worst thing to happen to Godzilla since getting killed by Mothra's babies.^[14]

GameSpy praised the large lineup of playable kaiju as "ample fan service" while showing disappointment over the new original kaiju, Obsidius and Krystalak, being "a shame that these guys make the cut while classic foes like Hedorah and Battra are MIA (or confined to the PS2 version in Battra's case)".^[15]

The controls were criticized the most by critics, reportedly being unresponsive at times. Nintendo Power said that "though Godzilla Unleashed is fairly accessible, even casual gamers may wonder why their creatures don't always do what they want"^[13] while IGN experienced "a good deal of lag between when you swing the Wiimote and when your monster attacks".^[16] Game Informer, however more bluntly called them a "complete slop".^[17] It is also on Gamepro's "Top 10 worst games of 2007" list.

Graphically, the game has been said to lack detail,^[16] with Game Trailers stating that "the films are often seen as classics because of their low production values and hokey monster designs. Still, Godzilla Unleashed is simply unattractive with its low-res textures and washed-out color palette",^[18] whereas GameSpot said it "Looks like a Godzilla game should look."^[14] The game was also criticized because of the fact that Godzilla 1954 and Godzilla 90's are the same monster, just re-skinned and with a different roar.

The PS2 version of Unleashed was met with more disdain from journalistic reviewers. ^[12] Games Radar claimed the PS2 version's graphics were it's biggest handicap,^[19] being chuggy and jerky in comparison to the Wii, which supposedly runs "gracefully as a ballet dancer 99% of the time."^[20]It has also been noted that despite the PS2 version having an exclusive kaiju, Battra, some critics felt it was a re-skinned version of Mothra, also playable.^[19]

Fan and player reactions to the game however have been more much positive.^[21][22]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Godzilla Unleashed Site
• Godzilla: Unleashed guide at StrategyWiki
• Toho Kingdom Godzilla Unleashed Wii site

v • d • e Godzilla video games Monster of Monsters · Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters · Super Godzilla · Battle Legends · Destroy All Monsters Melee · Domination! · Save the Earth · Unleashed · Double Smash