Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia

"Pretty close to what I think a 3D sequel to Zombies Ate My Neighbors would be."

Introduction:
Monster Madness is a fast paced game from Immersion Software and Artificial Studios. The easiest way to explain this game would be to think of a game like Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance or Gauntlet Legends... but instead of swords, you get guns. Instead of medieval times, you get a present day world. Instead of sorcerers, you get zombies. I think of it as an unofficial 3D sequel to the SNES and SEGA Genesis game Zombies Ate My Neighbors. This game has everything that any horror movie or game should have.

I would like to mention that I have yet to be able to take my 360 online therefore I can not review the online material for this game. Though I do know there are online co-op modes, a leader board that keeps track of your highest score for each level, and soon to be downloadable patches to fix some of the "bugs" in the game. So there is alot of support for this game online. The developers are using patches to fix actual concerns from gamers as suggested on our very own GameFAQs boards.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics for Monster Madness are in no way bad, but they are not quite what is expected on the X-Box 360. For the type of game/camera angels everything looks quite nice. Lots of little details and effort have been placed into each environment and character. Looking at the artwork for enemies in the Bestiary gives me a chuckle every time. Some of the monsters are silly while some look pretty cool. So hopefully there will be a sequel to this game so that the awesome character designs and artwork are not forgotten.

Music/Sound: 8/10
There are certain levels that have some really good music. Level 10's music is so good that I found myself just standing there listening to it. The voices however are not as great. They don't detract from the game, but they could be a bit better. Some lines feel like they are being read directly off a card, then some others sound perfectly fine. More often than not though, the voices are fine, and you won't really notice anything too wrong with them.

Story: 7/10
You can play as either Zach, Jennifer, Andy, or Carrie. All four find themselves at Zach's house at the beginning of the game. Zach's house is being invaded by zombies... and that's about it. The story does get better but you have to play through each level to gather parts of the story. So without spoiling anything from you, the game starts with a mysterious zombie invasion. It does pick up pace though and does have some decent surprises.

Gameplay:7/10
You play as one of four characters with a top down view, unless you are playing single player then you can move the camera behind you. Some people have complained about the controls, yet I have no real complaints about them. May take a short while to get used to them though. You have a melee weapon for hand-to-hand combat and as you progress through the game you can unlock an arsenal of over a dozen weapons such as nail guns, rocket launchers, CD launcher, and so on. You can also carry various items that can be used to aid you in battle or heal your character. Items and weapons can be purchased with monster tokens that you receive by killing monsters. You also need weapon parts to create weapons though. These can be found simply lying around the levels. However the better parts require more effort to get!

Almost each level plays differently. For example, on one level you may simply have to make your way to the end of the level killing everything as you go. There are events in which a counter appears at the bottom of the screen and you must kill that many monsters to advance. Some levels have mini-games such as basketball or flying through hoops placed inside them. These mini-games must be completed to move forward, but they are not too difficult. Some levels require you to collect a certain number of special items. And so on.

On some levels you can find vehicles to aid you in your quest. Some are made to be used by one person such as the buggy or mech. But there are some vehicles that can only be used properly with 2 or more people. There is a jeep that requires one person to drive and another to control the turret on the back.

Story mode can be played with 1-4 players. The game compensates for more characters by adding in more enemies though. This keeps the game moderately challenging for the team on whichever difficulty they play on. There are four modes of difficulty to play on. Child's Play is the "easy" mode which I found to be more normal difficulty than anything. This is the mode you'll want to play on if you're not that good or if you're showing the game off to a friend. Thriller and Horror are both pretty challenging, and some parts can be almost impossible. Then there is Madness mode which is... well, madness. I still haven't even beat the first level on Madness yet. Truly for the most skilled.

The only major flaw I found was the checkpoint/saving system. The game only saves your progress at the end of each level. Some of which can take an hour, two hours, or even more depending on the difficulty you are playing on and how much trouble you have with it. There are checkpoints in the level, but if you need to quit the level or stop playing entirely you lose everything. Also if you spend a long time collecting parts and then die a cheap instant death, BAM! all the stuff you just collected is gone. You have to recollect everything. Any upgrades/items purchased are reset. It goes COMPLETELY back to your last checkpoint. Can be frustrating. Especially if you spend 2 hours on one level and then your 360 freezes on you...

Replayability: 10/10
The game has 4 modes of difficulty, 4 characters each with their own inventory and arsenal, 4 costumes to unlock for each character, 50 achievements to unlock, and much more. Besides the normal story mode taking a surprisingly large amount of time to finish, going back to unlock everything will add ALOT more gameplay to the game. Plus you can always jump online and rank up some time with friends.

Overall: 8/10
Monster Madness does have it's flaws, but if you are looking for a fun game to play at your next party, pick this one up. It is easily one of the best X-Box 360 titles out at this time. Nothing more to say but GET THIS GAME!!!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/07