Monster Madness: Grave Danger review

A heftyprice tag for Monster Madness might just as well be a toe-tag in a morgue, because this top-down shooter is too basic by far. This certainly isn’t a title you’ll be showing off to your mates. Despite some fun and imaginative creature designs, the graphics would look more at home on a PSP than a 47-inch widescreen. Because of the top down viewpoint, it’s hard to see the detail in this zombie-infested suburbia, and much of the devs' efforts were wasted. We certainly can’t fault its attention to detail, because aside from the seemingly endless hordes of monsters swarming around you, there are also literally thousands of environmental objects that can be picked up and used as weapons.

Who knew that footballs, lamp stands and frozen legs of lamb could be so good at bludgeoning zombies’ faces in? There’s no shortage of conventional weapons either, and the customization options at the end of each mission are versatile. The biggest restriction is what you can afford to do, as arguably, the weapon mods are way too expensive. On the subject of being restricted, four-player co-op on one screen is a bit of a mess. It suffers from ‘Gauntlet’ syndrome where some players can’t progress if anyone is dragging their feet on the other side of the screen. The camera zooms out to compensate, but it can still be frustrating. A more practical option is to try out the new online co-op, which is exclusive to PS3. With a little more freedom of movement, you’ll have a lot more success taking down the screen-swamping end of level bosses.

Monster Madness is the kind of game you must play with other people to have any enjoyment. With four players, the game has a frantic silliness about it, especially when you come to the co-op vehicle sections. Playing alone is definitely not recommended. How come? Because it’s just plain boring. If Southpeak had released this on PlayStation Store we might have recommended it, but someone caught a little of what’s in the title when they decided they could compete with other near-full-price PS3 games.

Aug 12, 2008