Monsters vs. Aliens

Posted 4 years ago By - Jay Acevedo

Pretty much every movie nowadays gets a videogame adaptation but only animated movies are the most successful simply because they’re clearly marketed for kids. Nothing is cooler than controlling your favourite character right after watching the movie. Bee Movie, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda were the latest Dreamworks’ animated franchises to get their own videogame and now its Monsters vs. Aliens’ turn. Chances are, if you’re reading this review you went to see the movie with the family and the kids are begging you to own the game at home.


Gameplay

Monsters vs Aliens is an action/platformer game that relives some of the movie’s key scenes and adds several new locations and events exclusively built for the game. Being the same as the movie, the game’s plot revolves around Gallaxhar and his army of aliens invading Earth. Persuaded that there’s only one way to stop them, General W.R Monger enlists the group of monsters, which had been captured and locked away by U.S government in a high-security compound to fight against the alien invasion and save the world from its imminent annihilation in exchange for their freedom (the half fish/half ape character named The Missing Link, the gelatinous mass known as B.O.B., the radioactive grub Insectosaurus, scientist Dr. Cockroach and the recently captured Ginormica who plays a pivotal role in the movie).

Players will play as three of the movie’s characters, Ginormica, The Missing Link and B.O.B., through 25 missions while another friend can use a second controller and play as Dr. Cockroach and join the action anytime. While most of the levels are simplistic and linear, the game’s level design is surprisingly good and challenging in its own way, especially those featuring B.O.B., which are the cleverest of the bunch. Each character has its own level based on its abilities: Ginormica will have skating-based levels where she can jump, grind, dodge or dash obstacles. B.O.B. can cling to both walls and ceilings, access certain areas that only a gelatinous-liquid mass can (ex: go through floor grates) and ingest and regurgitate enemies or objects to use them as throwing weapons. Finally, The Missing Link is all about melee attacks. Co-op only character Dr. Cockroach will help you with aiming, targeting or to activate lasers and tractor beams. As you go through levels, the game will require you to collect DNA particles for points and multipliers that will be used later in the DNA Lab to unlock new abilities for Ginormica and Dr. Cockroach, as well as open new competitive levels called Monster Challenges among some of the nifty extras available.


Anyone who has played videogames based on animated movies won’t feel out of place playing Monsters vs. Aliens. Playing as different funny and charming characters, eliminating enemies and solving puzzles isn’t a case of novelty and you will find yourself going through levels very fast, finishing the adventure in less than 8 hours. However, since this game, like the others of the same genre, is especially targeted to younger and family audiences, Monsters vs. Aliens does the job very well. Actually, it’s probably the most amusing and well designed licensed family game I had the chance to play in a while. The whole concept of playing as monsters going after aliens is quite refreshing not to mention, the characters are loveable and amusing. Even grown-ups will have some fun playing since the game pays homage to some of the most known B-movie horror films like The Fly and The Blob. The camera angles, a pain in certain family-themed games, follow the action at all times and is never in the way. But what defines Monsters vs. Aliens the most is the control scheme, which is not only easy and intuitive, but also balanced and responsive; an important aspect considering its audience - kids. Overall, the developers over at Beenox, the same studio behind the critically acclaimed Bee Movie game, have once again brought the essence of the animated movie to its videogame counterpart flawlessly.

Graphics & Sounds

Honestly, I can’t wait for the day that games based on CGI animated characters will be powered by the exact same animation engine used for the game’s movie counterpart. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks and feels like the movie but there’s still some little issues with the in-game textures and for some strange reason, the cut-scenes (powered by the in-game engine) look inferior to the main game. Still, you won’t experience a single frame rate drop, texture pop-in or collision bug. The game holds its ground at all times.

In terms of sounds, the musical score and the sound effects are solid. The voice acting is great and top-notch thanks to Reese Witherspoon (Ginormica), Seth Rogen (B.O.B), Will Arnett (The Missing Link) and Rainn Wilson (Gallahxhar), which reprise their voices from the movie in the game. Of course, some of the recorded lines are repetitive but we all expect that to happen on an animated movie-licensed game.

Value

With 25 levels, four chapters in total, the whole game can be completed in a weekend if you play straight-through. As far as replay value, there are 35 mini-game challenges that you can unlock, online leaderboards and a good list of unlockables that varies from movie stills to level commentary. However, just like many other platformers, once you’re done with it you will find very little incentive to go back and play it. The exception here of course will be the kids who most likely will have no qualms of returning to replay a game over and over again until the disc melts. What small amount of co-op is available is perfect for the youngest audience who get stuck and instead of asking you, the parent, to do the level for them, you can jump in and help alongside, giving you hours to sit down and enjoy playing a video game with your child. I would have wished the co-op mode was more expanded rather than just a quick helping thing.


Conclusion

With this game, Beenox is once again solidifying their reputation as a movie-licensed game developer and will surely continue to surprise us in the future. After giving one of my favourite games based off an animated movie (Bee Movie), Monsters vs. Aliens does it again and delivers a fun and satisfying experience that every member of the family will enjoy. Just remember, in a world where hardcore gaming dominates, we need games like this to remind us that the videogames’ main purpose is to have fun.

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