Monster Mayhem: Build and Battle

A monster is tearing down the neighborhood! Don't be alarmed, though, because you're controlling that hulking beast. In Monster Mayhem: Build and Battle, you design your own hideous being in your secret laboratory and then introduce him to your neighbors by smashing their cars and tearing down their fences. It just goes to show that even if you create sentient life out of nothing more than discarded graveyard scraps, you still can't teach the thing manners. The kid-friendly action game is scheduled for release this August for both the Wii and DS.

We didn't get a chance to build our own monster today, but we did get to take him around the peaceful suburbs, smashing everything in sight. You can scoop up people walking around the street and pop them in your mouth like they're living popcorn, as well as knock down the various objects that you encounter. When you destroy something, you can collect whatever it dropped and use that to make your monster even stronger. Different objects have different properties, so you can get wood from a fence or metal from a car. We were told that you can combine these elements in your laboratory to make tonics, though we didn't see this feature in action.

When you grow weary of tormenting tiny people, you can pick on someone your own size. Other monsters are knocking down walls and houses in other parts of the city, and you have to show them who the real monster boss is. These encounters are all turn-based, rock-paper-scissor fights. You have three different attacks--strong smash, weak slap, and a blocking move--and each move is strong against one attack but weak against the other. For instance, your defensive move can counter a weak punch, but will lose to a strong bash. Every opponent has its own pattern, so you have to figure it out to damage it. The monster that we fought selected its attacks in a clockwise motion, which was easy to learn. Harder monsters will be more complex, though.

Monster Mayhem isn't a very complicated game, so it should appeal to younger players who wish they could have their own hideous buddy. The game is scheduled for release this August, so check back later to see how it turns out.