Cool Yule Rating: 3 stars
Price: $29.99 (Amazon.com)
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Description: Monster Madness: Grave Danger is the newest edition of the Monster Madness series by Psyonix Studios. In it, you’re one of four teen-agers thrust into a bad situation where zombies and other monsters have overrun your neighborhood, your town, and even your local mall.
The controls are simple to learn, but it takes some time to get your timing down so you only take minimal damage when engaging in battle with the undead. You can upgrade your weapons as you go, and even create (and then upgrade) new weapons and gadgets from Larry Tool’s Trailer Store.
The game starts out tougher than you’d think, but it shouldn’t take long to beat the first level. As mentioned before, it takes a little while to develop timing when engaging in battle. You start out with a hand weapon, and eventually you can purchase a projectile weapon from Larry after gathering the necessary resources. Depending on your battle style, you’ll either learn to stand back and use the right motion stick to target your enemies, or if you’re like me, you’ll jump right in and start swinging away. The environments are highly interactive, so be sure to use this to your advantage. You also get to pilot a variety of cool vehicles (especially their take on a MECH suit), although this isn’t as intuitive as it could be.
The game was fun, and gets more enjoyable the more you play. The game offers several co-op modes, where you can play with four characters on one system, and up to 12 players using the PlayStation Network (free of charge). The story is a tongue-in-cheek approach to the horror genre, and it’s amusing, and downright funny at times. The production team did a great job animating the characters and monsters, and although they’re cartoons, some of the monsters are genuinely creepy. There are numerous references to other games as well, including an old personal favorite of mine, Zombies Ate My Neighbors. This game is not quite on par with that old masterpiece, but it’s fun, and you can tell the people who made the game really put a lot of thought and effort into it. If you enjoy playing as a team and doing battle with the undead, Monster Madness: Grave Danger offers a fairly unique experience in today’s gaming marketplace.
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