Godzilla Unleashed: A Wii 3rd party game with some ACTUAL effort!

[DeadlyNinja]

I hope this game doesn't get overlooked by gamers. The first Godzilla game on the GC was damn fun, and this game looks like it'll continue to deliver. Not only that, but this is the best looking 3rd party Wii game so far. These people actually put some effort into their game! Unlike EA, who whines about people dismissing their PSP Port and releases some bullshots to prove how much effort they put into (photoshopping) it...

Here's the interview

http://www.thewiire.com/features/208/1/Godzilla_Unleashed_Exclusive_Interview_Screens

*NOTE* The picture with Godzilla fighting over the river is old. The water looks incredible in the new screens. Check out the 2 shots below to see what I mean.

Here are 2 videos showing off the EMBM used in the water, and actual bump mapped snow. The last time I recall bump mapped snow was on Hoth...

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23781.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23255.html

Hopefully, you guys out there with a Wii and also love fighting games (and perhaps Godzilla as well) will not overlook this game. These guys deserve some attention, especially when you compare to the lazy crap others churn out.

 

[AlNom]

the character detail.

I'll keep an eye out for it as my friend has a Wii. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[DeadlyNinja]

Good good. You gotta get the word out for some games. This game will most likely be ignored and it's a shame too. I gotta get the word out to support the Godzilla community.

 

[Corwin_B]

I hope the controls are good and responsive. Once mastered, the Wii controls in DBZ Budokai 2 were a great plus to the game...

 

[DeadlyNinja]

I hope the controls are good and responsive. Once mastered, the Wii controls in DBZ Budokai 2 were a great plus to the game...

Really? I don't ever recall DBZ Budokai 2 being praised for the controls. Then again, I never paid attention to it since I was under the assumption that the game won't be very good since it's a franchise game (well, Godzilla's also a franchise, but the GC game received high marks across the board).

According to the interview, you can attack in like 3 or 4 different directions at once. This game is a 4 player game like the first 2 Godzillas. The people who played it at PAX didn't get to try out the 4 player battles so we don't know how well it'll work when you're trying to fight off 3 other monsters at once.

 

[fearsomepirate]

That water effect looks straight out of Rebel Strike. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Factor 5 middleware IGN was talking about, or if they just figured out on their own how to do good-looking water.

 

[Capeta]

That water effect looks straight out of Rebel Strike. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Factor 5 middleware IGN was talking about, or if they just figured out on their own how to do good-looking water.

There are a few GC games that have similar water effects, I don't think it has anything to do with F5...

 

[Nesh]

Good looking game for a Wii. The art direction is too "oldish" though since its based on the old Godzilla. Doesnt help things much. I wonder if the gameplay and animation will be good. The previous onces were a disaster

 

[DeadlyNinja]

That water effect looks straight out of Rebel Strike. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Factor 5 middleware IGN was talking about, or if they just figured out on their own how to do good-looking water.

Nope, according to one of their key programmers (he frequents the Godzilla boards) said the technology was developed in Rampage Wii. I must say, people don't give the graphics in Rampage enough credit. The monsters has a higher polygon count than the GC/PS2 version along with nice touches like bump mapping, EMBM, and some nifty rim lighting. Godzilla will also use things like bloom (for the beams), heat haze, and tons of bump maps. They're most proud of their realistic building destruction. They break and take damage based on where you hit them. They don't just sink into the ground like the old games.

Good looking game for a Wii. The art direction is too "oldish" though since its based on the old Godzilla. Doesnt help things much. I wonder if the gameplay and animation will be good. The previous onces were a disaster

Yeah, the art is a bit lacking, but considering it's source of material, they're doing more with technology than art. As for animation, you can check out gametrailers. I think it looks quite good (of course I'm biased, but some moves do look a bit silly). The interview I posted also talks about the animation. One of the two big innovations in this game is the animation (other being the building destruction mentioned above). The game doesn't use canned animation. You can have Godzilla run while firing his beam, or jump and fire his beam. You you can fire your beam while punching one monster in the front while you're using your tail to sweep another monster from behind.

 

[Carl B]

I've liked most every Godzilla game to grace a Nintendo system; the GC game was fun, and there was this old title whose name I forget on the original NES... that game was awesome.

Old Godzilla > new Godzilla, that's for sure.

 

[StefanS]

I've liked most every Godzilla game to grace a Nintendo system; the GC game was fun, and there was this old title whose name I forget on the original NES... that game was awesome.

Old Godzilla > new Godzilla, that's for sure.

You either mean Godzilla: Monster of Monsters or its sequel Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters. Both done by Toho.

As for the GCN Godzilla. It was ok in multiplayer (single player was just add-on / major bore). Main problem IMHO was that the characters were fairly unbalanced. Basically MechaGodzilla kicked everyone's ass without much trying. Moreover, the stages looked pretty identical and lacked colourful graphics. Controls were mostly ok, I guess.

 

[Carl B]

You either mean Godzilla: Monster of Monsters or its sequel Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters. Both done by Toho.

That's the one - 'Monster of Monsters.' Man, what a good game that was...

As for the GCN Godzilla. It was ok in multiplayer (single player was just add-on / major bore). Main problem IMHO was that the characters were fairly unbalanced. Basically MechaGodzilla kicked everyone's ass without much trying. Moreover, the stages looked pretty identical and lacked colourful graphics. Controls were mostly ok, I guess.

I agree with you on MechaGodzilla being better overpowered, but beyond being a Godzilla game, it was the first modern console title in quite a while to get close to 'King of the Monsters' in its setup, and that's another game I'm a big fan of.

 

[DeadlyNinja]

It was ok in multiplayer (single player was just add-on / major bore)

Well then you're in luck. The single player mode now has a more in-depth story mode added to it. You play as one of the 4 factions (Earth Defender, Mecha, Mutants, and Alien Invaders) and the story changes depending on your actions. Let say you start out as Godzilla, then you're in the Earth Defender faction. You're in a battle against King Ghidorah with Angilas helping you. You can actually attack Angilas and lose favor from the Earth Defender faction and gain respect from the Alien Invaders. Your actions in each battle will affect the story and who you battle against as the game goes on. I'm guessing there's going to be quite a few outcomes based on how you like to play.

The multiplayer is also very tweakable. You get anything from military aggression, to how fast your monsters move, and some other stuff that I'm forgetting. The game has at least 23 monsters. I say at least since the folks at Pipeworks might even include a few more hidden characters in the game.

Here are some screens of the options.

 

[uumai]

Love godzilla, but not been much of a fan of the battles games. Like the original one on the Dreamcast best

 

[DeadlyNinja]

BTW, here's another level reveal showing off the animation and the water technology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQtuqpS-KOM

Keep in mind the the jumping animation is glitched and Titanosaur's animation's not done yet. If you watch closely you can see the realistic building destruction at around 1 minute and 2 second into the video.

 

[Farid]

We can embed videos now, so let's do just that

Looks like a nomal EMBM effect to me. Any word on the framerate they expect for the final build, 60 or 30HZ?

 

[PenguinJim]

IGN have been following this game quite closely, I'm quite looking forward to it too. Considering the November we're about to have on PC, though, I may hold off and get this in a January sale.

Really? I don't ever recall DBZ Budokai 2 being praised for the controls.

I praised it for the controls! They were good and responsive. They're being completely redone for 3 (no more pointing), which may make it different enough for me to pick up too... maybe. Probably not.

 

[DeadlyNinja]

Looks like a nomal EMBM effect to me. Any word on the framerate they expect for the final build, 60 or 30HZ?

Sorry, I didn't know we can embed videos now.

Anyway, yeah it's normal EMBM, but it's still holds up really well even today. Considering the lazy effort by so many devs even back on the GC, it's a shame people don't use it more. Just watch, the next 3rd party game with water will once again look just like the flat crap you see on most PS2 games.

As for the frame rate, I have no clue. I never asked. I'll see if they'll give me an answer at the Atari forums. No idea whether it's 60 or 30 Hz either.

 

[fearsomepirate]

Looks like a nomal EMBM effect to me.

Ain't no shame in that, not when par for the course is a scrolling texture that may or may not even be animated. It's nice to see someone using the hardware that's there instead of porting a PSP engine.