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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: Psyonix Publisher: South Peak Interactive |
When “Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia” was released last year for the PC and Xbox 360, South Peak tried to use the classic top-
down view arcade game to turn a monster movie-style game into a hit. Sadly, a laundry list of issues, including a slow pace and
sketchy controls made the game a little bit below average. The newly revamped version of the game with an all-new subtitle on the PS3
has a few new improvements, but is still a bit awkward and tedious.
The core game in “Monster Madness: Grave Danger” is very similar to that of the original release. The game tells the story of four
extremely stereotypical teenagers, a geek, a skater, a goth and a cheerleader, who all find themselves fighting for their lives against a
massive invasion of ghost, ghouls and other things that go bump in the night. The game relies heavily on popular culture references for
its humor, that will occasionally gets a laugh, but usually falls short. The story isn’t very important to the overall game, what do players
need to know in order to chop down zombies? Luckily the comic-book style gives the game an interesting look and feel.
When the game begins, players pick one of the teens and head into combat. Although each character specializes in a different type of
weapon, the differences between them are completely cosmetic which may be a disappointment for many gamers. Players will find
themselves hacking and slashing their way through waves of enemies with swords, hockey sticks and batons and this sadly gets
boring. The combat isn’t varied or precise enough to stay interesting for very long and the enemies don’t offer much of a challenge.
The game tries to make up for this by bombarding players with a lot of enemies, but this just means that players spend more time
smashing the attack button to slice them to bits while throwing in the occasional dodge just in case. After a while players are
introduced to range weapons which are a bit more fun to use. From nail guns to flamethrowers, the ranged weapons are the most
significant improvement from the original release. The ranged attacks are controlled with dual-stick shooter controls and seem much
more natural for the game. This really adds to the arcade feel of the game.
Like the original game, “Grave Danger” feels very unbalanced though it doesn’t seem to be as much of an obstacle as in “Battle for
Suburbia” which could be a real punishment at times. Instead of addressing this issue, the new game instead got rid of a checkpoint
system that seemed to be the problem and instead replaced it with a system that instantly respawns the player whenever they die.
When this happens, players lose a few monster tokens as a penalty. Unfortunatly players will die a lot and lose a lot of tokens that are
needed throughout the game. However, the game has been toned down a bit from the original to make that game more accessible to
other players, but a rebalancing of the game would have resulted in better game play.
“Grave Danger” includes 25 new single-player challenges, most of which consist of the typical monster killing missions similar to what
is found throughout the original campaign. The slightly more interesting challenges are the mini-games that are placed throughout the
game, such as home run contests, a simple rhythm game and a card game similar to Concentration which players must match the
character costumes. The game also includes a competitive online multiplayer for up to 12 players in modes such as Death Match, King
of the Hill and Capture the Flag. These modes work well enough if players have enough friends that are willing to first of all buy the
game and second to play it. Sadly, there aren’t many players available for public competitive online games.
When it comes to the graphics of “Monster Madness: Grave Danger,” it is an area that is lacking. The camera usually maintains a good
distance from the action so that things have a clean, sharp appearance, but when the camera pulls in, a lack of detail in the character
models and environments becomes evident. The games focus is on tossing large amounts of monsters on the screen at once, and
with that element, the game performs very well. The levels of the game make them feel as though they could take place at any location
in the world, from the park to the high school and the shopping mall.
Another element that seems to be lacking is the game’s sound. The music is very generic and the voice-acting isn’t very good and
player will hear the same obnoxious screams and taunts from their enemies so many times that they may wonder if the game is trying
to drive players insane at times.
Compared to the original game, “Monster Madness: Grave Danger” is a definite improvement overall thanks to the improved shooting
controls and the ability to play the campaign online. However, these improvements aren’t enough to make the game worth the time of
all gamers and those who have played the original game will be puzzled by the omissions and strange design choices in this version.
The game is extremely repetitive and tedious, but it gives players the feel of a nostalgic arcade shooter. This game will reach a certain
audience, and that will be the only group that will want to buy this game, the others may want to rent this horror game for the weekend.
down view arcade game to turn a monster movie-style game into a hit. Sadly, a laundry list of issues, including a slow pace and
sketchy controls made the game a little bit below average. The newly revamped version of the game with an all-new subtitle on the PS3
has a few new improvements, but is still a bit awkward and tedious.
The core game in “Monster Madness: Grave Danger” is very similar to that of the original release. The game tells the story of four
extremely stereotypical teenagers, a geek, a skater, a goth and a cheerleader, who all find themselves fighting for their lives against a
massive invasion of ghost, ghouls and other things that go bump in the night. The game relies heavily on popular culture references for
its humor, that will occasionally gets a laugh, but usually falls short. The story isn’t very important to the overall game, what do players
need to know in order to chop down zombies? Luckily the comic-book style gives the game an interesting look and feel.
When the game begins, players pick one of the teens and head into combat. Although each character specializes in a different type of
weapon, the differences between them are completely cosmetic which may be a disappointment for many gamers. Players will find
themselves hacking and slashing their way through waves of enemies with swords, hockey sticks and batons and this sadly gets
boring. The combat isn’t varied or precise enough to stay interesting for very long and the enemies don’t offer much of a challenge.
The game tries to make up for this by bombarding players with a lot of enemies, but this just means that players spend more time
smashing the attack button to slice them to bits while throwing in the occasional dodge just in case. After a while players are
introduced to range weapons which are a bit more fun to use. From nail guns to flamethrowers, the ranged weapons are the most
significant improvement from the original release. The ranged attacks are controlled with dual-stick shooter controls and seem much
more natural for the game. This really adds to the arcade feel of the game.
Like the original game, “Grave Danger” feels very unbalanced though it doesn’t seem to be as much of an obstacle as in “Battle for
Suburbia” which could be a real punishment at times. Instead of addressing this issue, the new game instead got rid of a checkpoint
system that seemed to be the problem and instead replaced it with a system that instantly respawns the player whenever they die.
When this happens, players lose a few monster tokens as a penalty. Unfortunatly players will die a lot and lose a lot of tokens that are
needed throughout the game. However, the game has been toned down a bit from the original to make that game more accessible to
other players, but a rebalancing of the game would have resulted in better game play.
“Grave Danger” includes 25 new single-player challenges, most of which consist of the typical monster killing missions similar to what
is found throughout the original campaign. The slightly more interesting challenges are the mini-games that are placed throughout the
game, such as home run contests, a simple rhythm game and a card game similar to Concentration which players must match the
character costumes. The game also includes a competitive online multiplayer for up to 12 players in modes such as Death Match, King
of the Hill and Capture the Flag. These modes work well enough if players have enough friends that are willing to first of all buy the
game and second to play it. Sadly, there aren’t many players available for public competitive online games.
When it comes to the graphics of “Monster Madness: Grave Danger,” it is an area that is lacking. The camera usually maintains a good
distance from the action so that things have a clean, sharp appearance, but when the camera pulls in, a lack of detail in the character
models and environments becomes evident. The games focus is on tossing large amounts of monsters on the screen at once, and
with that element, the game performs very well. The levels of the game make them feel as though they could take place at any location
in the world, from the park to the high school and the shopping mall.
Another element that seems to be lacking is the game’s sound. The music is very generic and the voice-acting isn’t very good and
player will hear the same obnoxious screams and taunts from their enemies so many times that they may wonder if the game is trying
to drive players insane at times.
Compared to the original game, “Monster Madness: Grave Danger” is a definite improvement overall thanks to the improved shooting
controls and the ability to play the campaign online. However, these improvements aren’t enough to make the game worth the time of
all gamers and those who have played the original game will be puzzled by the omissions and strange design choices in this version.
The game is extremely repetitive and tedious, but it gives players the feel of a nostalgic arcade shooter. This game will reach a certain
audience, and that will be the only group that will want to buy this game, the others may want to rent this horror game for the weekend.
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