Hands-onGodzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee

Infogrames has shown us an updated build of its upcoming Godzilla-licensed fighting game. The title has undergone a bit of work since it was last seen at E3 in May. Aside from the expected graphical tweaks and gameplay balancing, developer Pipeworks has gone ahead and added a few more elements to the game to give it some polish.

In terms of the graphics, the game is looking quite sharp. The various selectable monsters have had their models tightened up and are looking good. The effects for their individual attacks have also been polished. The particle effects have been finalized, resulting in some impressive debris when buildings are knocked around. Various elements in the backgrounds of the arenas have been tightened up as well. The game now features an intro cinema that introduces the cast of creatures and does an excellent job of setting the tone for the game. We were also pleased to see that the game now supports Dolby Pro Logic II in addition to progressive scan.

The gameplay has been balanced a bit--specifically, Mothra and the Smog Monster, who appear randomly throughout levels, have been refined. A new hazard has been implemented in the form of the freeze tank, which is a new addition to the armed forces who try in vain to attack you during a battle. The freeze tank will actually immobilize you for a few moments if you're hit by its blast. While the effect will wear off in time, you can speed the process up by madly pushing buttons--though you'd be smart to avoid it altogether.

On the content side of things, the story mode was more complete in this build of the game and featured some pleasantly campy CG for its intro that stays true to the "so bad it's good" charm of the English dubbing in the original films. The game's bonuses are also being rolled in, and they mostly revolve around art assets that you'll be able to view and should present a nice payoff for the time you'll spend on the game. Fans of the film series may also notice some little extras tossed in, some of which are accessible only via cheat codes.

While it's not too surprising to see that Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee is coming together well, we're pleased to see Pipeworks going the extra mile and cramming everything it can into the game before it ships this fall. Look for much more on the game in the coming weeks.