Monster Force

"Spooky, funny, challenging - an atmospheric 3rd person shooter with small flaws"

Monster Force

Introduction

Monster Force is a game developed by Digital Eclipse Software Inc. and published by Universal Interactive for the Game Boy Advance. They created a challenging and atmospheric 3rd person shooter a bit similar to, say, the Gauntlet games. Although the game had been announced for the Playstation originally by Konami, its development has been stopped (as far as I could find out on the internet), until it has been overhauled and re-made for the GBA. I got my hands on it on a second hand shelf, and I didn't regret the (little) money I paid for it.

Story - 5/10

The two brothers Victor and Percy Frankenstein, two great scientists experimenting with the creation of life, had to retire to a new land because their 'creations', also dubbed 'monsters', were scaring the people. Thus, Monsterland was born. The brothers shaped this new land into a vast world, which soon also became inhabited by other misfit creatures.

The brothers had labs on two opposite sides of this world. But one day, Victor was missing, and the whole of Monsterland was infested with strange, unfriendly pumpkin creatures. Victor's three favorite and most loyal creations, Frank, Drac and Wolfie (nice - young versions of the three well known horror movie characters Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman), thus made it their task to go and find their master. And this is, where the game starts.

The story is nothing extraordinary, but it is nicely told with nice visuals. However, even though there are two or three story advancing bits between some of the levels, most of the time you just go from level to level and from zone to zone without any info why or how they are connected. The locations all fit the theme well, but they are just lined up one after the other and it would have been nice to get some story parts that actually tell you why you go from the Cemetery to the Village and to the Garden...

+4 Ok story
+4 Nicely told
-1 A bit short
-2 No connection between the levels

Gameplay - 6/10

Controlling one of the junior monsters (they vary in their starting stats) in third person view, you make your way through 37 levels, distributed on 9 zones. Every zone has a different theme and consists of 2 regular maze-like levels, one trial level and one boss fight level. In the non-boss fight levels, you not only need to get by enemies - sometimes hordes of them -, but you're also required to find keys for locked doors or find your way through spikes and one-way doors in order to make it to the level exit. Luckily, you are able to shoot enemies (switches and pumpkin blocks, too, but enemies are the most fun, of course ^_^). For this, you have normal shots, triple shots and charged shots.

To help you on your way, you can hold up to 4 tools at a time such as bombs, damaging all nearby enemies, X-ray shots, short Invincibility tools or Health refills. These tools can be found in the levels themselves or you can buy them in Igor's shop (Igor is Percy's servant). There you can also buy up to four relics - these are especially helpful as they increase your stats as long as you hold them (e.g. HP, shot power). However, in order to be able to buy things, you need to collect atoms. Atoms are left behind when eliminating enemies with a charged shot, can be found in pumpkins and are awarded after each level, depending on your performance.

The game's controls are mostly accurate, but there are some things that are awkward. First of all, the camera is always centered around you, which decreases your field of vision. Secondly, the dashing... while actually a useful thing which is often required in order to manage timed puzzles, beat trials or bosses, the game does not allow you to dash right away. You need to first start walking and then press the dash button. This is especially annoying when hitting a corner, you first have to release the button and press it again to start dashing again. While this may force you to steer more precisely and thus increases the difficulty a bit, I found this more annoying than challenging. Especially considering the already high difficulty of the game.

The game has a good learning curve in the beginning, but most of the later levels are quite hard, especially due to the length and complexity of the levels and some very hard boss fights. There even is one level that is downright unfair and unbeatable if you don't keep the right tool on you. While I liked the highly challenging parts, these may not be liked by everyone, so beware. To make up for this, the game allows you to save after each level and you have infinite continues. And you can always repeat already beaten levels to gain more atoms and buy more or better tools and relics.

Last but not least there's the multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, only two players can connect and fight it out on a battlefield. And there's also no co-op mode, only a versus mode without any additional enemies. But I can't say how much fun it actually is as I've never tried it out due to a lack of a friend with a copy of the game.

+3 Good mix of shooting, puzzles and boss fights
+4 Long and challenging
+2 Save after each level
+1 Multiplayer mode
-1 Multiplayer is only two player versus mode
-2 Awkward dashing
-1 Small field of vision (camera always centered on you)

Graphics - 8/10

First of all, the overall presentation of the game and its story is awesome. Even though there isn't much animation, the pictures that accompany the story text are held in flickering old school, black and white Frankenstein-movie style. The graphics of the game itself are very colorful and good, too. The heroes you control are well animated, the different zones (sets of four levels) have their own theme and atmosphere. Everything is well distinguishable, and enemies and bosses are well done and fit nicely. The only small downside is that there is only a relatively small number of enemy types, which later are re-used in a different color.

+4 Excellent presentation
+5 Colorful levels and good animations
-1 Repeating enemy design

Sound - 7/10

The sound in this game goes together with the excellent presentation. The music in the levels is nice and of good quality, thus creating a good atmosphere. There are creepy and darker tunes mixed with a few neutral ones. And I never had the urge to turn down the volume and listen to something else. The sound effects, however, are weak and dull compared to the good music, but they are far from being annoying, so I guess that counts for something, too.

+5 Nice tunes of good quality
+3 Fits the overall presentation and atmosphere
-1 Sound effects are a bit weak

Replayability - 7/10

First of all, the main game will take you some time to beat, given the difficulty of some of the levels and bosses. Then, after you beat the game, you can replay the game with another character, e.g. the newly unlocked one, which may not be too exciting. What's very motivating, though, is that you can replay each level trying to improve your rating. You'll only get the best rating (crystal) when you beat a level in the given time while taking no hits and gaining a given amount of atoms. And trust me, beating most of the levels with these requirements is very hard. The multiplayer mode does not add any real replay value, there are better alternatives.

+5 Highly challenging rating requirements
+2 Unlockable characters and multiplayer arenas

Overall - 7/10

From the technical point of view I have to highlight the excellent presentation of the game with very good visuals and optics, the cool playable characters and a fitting music score, together creating a great atmosphere. The gameplay itself is somewhat above average, with only a few flaws. So if you like 3rd person action shooters with some puzzle elements, this game may be for you. If you like very challenging games, this game is definitely for you. If you're not into these things, try to rent or play a friend's version first... Content-wise you certainly won't be disappointed, with a lot of levels and several two player arenas.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/24/07