Over the last decade, video game consoles have become incredibly powerful machines capable of churning out arcade-quality graphics and deep gameplay. However, despite all the benefits of superior technology, the simple and addictive pleasure of smashing things and leveling cities never does seem to go out of style. Case in point: Incog's upcoming War of the Monsters, which is a destruction-laden brawler with mutated creatures that tower over mortal men. We recently had the opportunity to visit Incog's Utah offices to get a closer look at the game, and we've come away impressed by the promise that the game is showing.

You can never really go wrong with big apes.

The game's premise is a thin but effective one that owes quite a bit to the B movies of the '50s and '60s, which have clearly influenced its presentation. It seems that in the wake of an alien invasion that was thwarted just in the nick of time, toxic waste that leaked from the wreckage of an alien armada of flying saucers has had some peculiar reactions with just about everything it has come in contact with. As is always the case in a situation like this, a scientist has chosen to use the waste to do experiments, which, not surprisingly, go awry. Earth is soon in peril once again as a crop of fearsome monsters pop up and begin stirring up trouble. Fortunately, the game will put you in the role of one of the aforementioned creatures and not one of the fleeing masses.

You'll find single-player and two-player gameplay modes in War of the Monsters. The single-player component will offer three modes to choose from: adventure, free-for-all, and endurance. Adventure is a linear mode along the lines of your standard story mode. You'll select one of the creatures and participate in a series of battles against the other monsters as well as against boss-type characters. At the end of each fight, you'll earn tokens that you can use to open up more options in the game, such as extra skins for your monster. Free-for-all is a customizable brawl that lets you duke it out against up to three CPU opponents at once. Endurance is a survival-style mode that tests how long you can stay alive when facing a constant wave of enemies. The game's two-player mode also offers three ways to play: free-for-all, elimination, and minigames. Free-for-all lets you and a friend duke it out by yourselves or with up to two other opponents in a property-damaging brawl. Elimination is deathmatch-style mode that lets you work with or against a friend in a four-way brawl against CPU opponents. Finally, minigames lets you play three unlockable minigames--dodge ball, big shot, and crush-o-rama--against a human opponent.

You'll find an eclectic cast of characters in the game.

If you're concerned that controlling a massive mutated creature may be difficult, don't lose too much sleep over it. War of the Monsters features an accessible and flexible control scheme that's pretty easy to pick up. You'll move your monster with the left analog stick. The square button will perform a light attack when enemies are near you or fire a projectile attack if they're farther away. Triangle serves as a heavy attack, and X will let you jump. Circle is an all-purpose action button that will let you pick up and throw items, catch objects thrown at you, grab and throw your enemy, climb up the side of buildings, and counter your opponent's blows. The L1 and R1 shoulder buttons will let you strafe right or left when used separately. If you hold both buttons down, you'll be able to lock on to your opponents and move relative to them during a fight. L2 will serve as a free-look button, while R2 will let you block when needed. In addition to your standard array of attacks, you'll be able to perform two types of special attacks. Holding down square and X will trigger a powerful short-range attack, while holding down triangle and circle will fire off a long-range attack. Finally, the select button will let you taunt your opponent. If this default setup doesn't feel right, you'll find other preset configurations to choose from in the game's options. The game's pick-up-and-play control scheme works very well in the battles you'll find yourself in, which can get chaotic.