In the Eidos booth, one game I wasn’t really looking forward to any time with was Monster Lab, because I had no idea what it was. I didn’t even look at any screenshots or videos, I just assumed it was another version of Monster Madness and wrote it off. When I sat down to play it I saw a game that was not at all what I expected, and one that I can see myself picking up when it comes out, especially at $39.99.

Instead of a stereotypical beat-em-up featuring a whole bunch of monsters fighting a whole bunch of monsters, the game is a turn-based RPG featuring a huge amount of mini-games that actually matter to the game. You play as a new initiate in the Mad Science Alliance, exploring six different areas and collecting different parts to build and upgrade your monster.



The different parts come in three varieties, mechanical, alchemical, and biological, and can be made into heads, torsos, legs, and arms. Each has its own hitpoint values and attacks, and different abilities gained can focus damage on specific body parts of the enemies. It is intuitive, fun, and easy to learn, making Monster Lab a perfect learners guide into the world of Turn-Based RPGs. Minigames work like those in Wario Ware, Mario Party, and Rayman Raving Rabbids, using the Wiimote to complete different tasks to help craft body parts. It is still a little gimmicky, but at least there is a reason for throwing brains into a box in this game, and rewards for success.



When I played the game I noticed that the visuals were very simplistic and the textures looked blurry and low-resolution, even by Wii standards. I figured that Eidos forgot to pick up a set of component cables for the Wii, and had it running standard-definition on a 42’ television. Now that I look at screenshots it has that same hazy look everywhere, and I hope that this doesn’t end up looking like this in the final version. It’s not unbearable, but it looks pretty bad. The motion controls weren’t used enough to justify this as a Wii game either, and the customization and monstrous creations would likely benefit more from an Xbox 360 and PS3 release. Either way, expect to hear more about this game when its October release date approaches.

 

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