There are still only three or four buildings to demolish per scene, each hiding their own powerups and unlockables, but after a few minutes, I just didn't care anymore. Why? Four words: War of the Monsters.
War of the Monsters was developed for the PS2 exclusively by Incog, somewhere between their brilliant PS1 days of Warhawk and Twisted Metal, and making the PS2's premiere action title, God of War. It's a studio that cares about its games and adds personality and fun wherever possible. War of the Monsters took the Rampage concept to where it should be by now, offering huge urban areas to bash to bits (not GTA-sized cities, but still very big), and a healthy roster of monster movie stand-bys like the ape monster, lizard monster, electro-monster, insect monster, and so on. It reads just like the cast of Rampage, but with more personality, punch, depth, and fun to it.
However, if a GameCube's all you have, well, you have my condolences. That aside, you'd probably be better off looking for something like Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee for your beast-bashing, town-trashing fix. Heck, even King of the Monsters back on the Neo Geo and Super Nintendo was better than this.
Rampage: Total Destruction is rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) by the ESRB for Violence. This game can be found on: PS2.
Article comments
1 - Matt Paprocki
I brought up the same issues you did when I reviewed this one, but can it really be Rampage if they opened it up like War of the Monsters? I can't see them keeping the feel of the franchise if they allowed wider movement.
2 - Mark Buckingham
Yeah, I think WotM works fine as an expansion of the Rampage idea. They've got so much in common already it's kind of ridiculous. Besides, look at how Ubisoft improved and updated the Prince of Persia series by making it bigger and "wider" and bringing it into the third dimension. Sands of Time was a critical phenomenon.
And really, if Midway's not going to improve or update this stale old idea, why keep rehashing it? They lose money making retreads like this, and are heading down the same path as Acclaim (Turok: Evolution anyone?). They'd be better off sinking that money into a new idea.