 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | Pipeworks Software |
| Publisher: | Midway | |
| Genre: | Action | |
| ESRB: | Everyone 10+ | |
| # Of Players: | 1-2 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Memory Card | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Although I’ve played several games in the Rampage series, it’s always seemed a little too basic; run around, smash buildings and other assorted things up real good, then run around and smash things up some more. Nothing wrong with that in small doses, but not exactly the deepest gaming experience around. However, when I discovered that Rampage: Total Destruction featured 30 different monsters and plenty of pseudo-3D environments to mess up, I have to admit that I was intrigued. Plenty of extra monsters to spice things up and a chance to get off the strict 2D plane found in previous games seemed like just what the series needed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help out as much as I hoped thanks to other problems in the implementation.
The story’s not important, but it’s so paper-thin I won’t waste more than a couple of sentences on it anyway. While taste testing a new soda, Scum Labs Corporation accidentally turned all 30 of its test subjects into hideous mutant monsters. As one of those monsters, you set out to smash everything in one of seven different major cities (London, Los Angeles, etc.) and free your newfound mutant friends. Thus, the mashing begins, with the goal on each level being to utterly destroy the city block before time (or health) runs out.
On the plus side, the monsters have more moves than ever. The 30 different monsters (most of which must be unlocked) have different Crush, Jump, and Run attributes, each of which determines how effective that monster will be in attacking and obliterating things. There are also several different punches, kicks, and special attacks that can be performed, with unlockable special moves (such as spin attacks) obtained by meeting various goals during a particular level. These goals include things like popping a monster balloon, eating SWAT members, and destroying a certain number of tanks.
Unfortunately, there are problems in the actual implementation of these moves. The monsters are better animated than they’ve ever been, meaning they’re a little smoother as they jump from tile to tile as you work your way across a building destroying it. Moving across a building’s exterior isn’t as “jumpy” as it was before. While this does make the game look better, it also makes it harder to determine exactly where punches or kicks are going to land. With practice you’ll figure it out most of the time, but you’ll still find yourself attacking above, below, to the left, or to the right of where you’re actually trying to on a regular basis. Since damage is still localized to certain areas of each building, this means you waste attacks in areas that have already been completely destroyed that don’t count towards toppling the entire building. You’ll also ingest things that are bad for you accidentally from time to time too while you’re reaching (or trying to attack) something else. Hopefully in the next installment, Midway will find a way to change the damage system so attacks in an area already “attacked out” won’t be meaningless.
The other problem is with the pseudo-3D levels, which offer some rudimentary moving in and out of the background and buildings two deep. The monsters usually won’t automatically attach themselves to the building you want to attack unless you press up against it for a couple of seconds, but since it can be difficult to properly align with a building this can lead to frustration. There also seems to be a lack of consistency in how the game tracks where you’re at, with some attacks hitting cars and other objects that don’t appear to be anywhere near your attack. On the whole the control scheme is functional, but not as snappy as it was when the series was strictly 2D.
From its arcade beginnings the series has featured decent multiplayer support, and it still does in this installment. The campaign mode itself is playable for one or two players, and works like it should. The King of the City mode supports up to four players on GameCube, where each monster is competing to destroy the most. The monster with the high score wins each city block, and monsters can also attack each other. King of the World is basically the same as King of the City, only with multiple rounds spread over all of the cities in the game. If a player becomes king in more than half of the cities, he wins the game. Finally, Timed Run finds up to four players going through an entire city, with time left over from each block carrying on to the next block. Of course, you’re only getting two players in these modes on PS2 since there is no multi-tap support.
Graphically the game is sharp. Since the levels are mostly 2D, you’ll typically only see building fronts, landmarks, traffic, and other smaller objects on the street. Buildings destroy well however, with chunks of debris scattering in all directions and a lot of little touches in every level. Eating people sends the balloons they were holding them flying everywhere, destroying a soda machine leaves a green pool of slime, and vehicles explode decently enough. It isn’t among the system’s best graphically, but it definitely looks like a Rampage title should. Naturally, as the stars of the show, the monsters are animated well and look good in full 3D.
Sound effects are pretty standard for the genre, with the same general sounds repeating as things are destroyed. Pedestrians utter a lot of one-liners, although they’re repeated so often that they’re soon annoying. The music is also typical arcade fare and unremarkable.
Bottom Line:
Fans of the series will be pleased with this latest installment, as it greatly improves on the graphics in past titles, has a wider variety of monsters, and seven cities full of plenty of buildings to keep them busy for a while. Even though the controls aren’t quite as precise as I would like, they are serviceable and don’t detract from the experience a whole lot once you get used to them.
For the rest of us, Rampage: Total Destruction is still a decent purchase at its budget price of $19.99. Playing in short bursts is recommended however, as the repetitive gameplay wears out its welcome pretty quickly.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 6.0 |
Posted: 2006-08-05 13:47:16 PST