Rampage: Total Destruction : Games : Web Wombat

That's what I'd love to say but, sadly, it seems there’s little to get to excited about. Sure the game is better, but considering we’ve evolved as humans in the last 20 years, this latest game doesn’t go much further than the previous titles in this franchise in terms of game design and gameplay – it’s cro-magnon.

Even though the previous games didn’t exactly have a solid plot line (but hey, who actually needs a plot when there’s an array of gigantic monsters destroying cities?) this time around Midway have been kind enough to include one. Ironically, the plot has little to do with the game play at all!

Rampage: Total Destruction players take on the role of mutated giant monsters created by the unscrupulous Scum Labs Corporation (operating under the guise of a soft drink company - consumerist satire anyone?). The player’s goal is to progress through a series of cities around the globe destroying as much of them as possible in an effort to locate all the other captive monsters.

There are four game modes: Campaign, King of the City, King of the World, and Timed Run. Campaign mode allows you to choose one of the six already unlocked characters, three of them being George, Lizzie, and Ralph (for those of you who were simply a glint in your dad's eye in the '80s, they are the three main monsters of the old games), and you are able to unlock an additional 27 characters - a massive 30 characters in all - by finding and freeing each monster like they were stuck in the Beaconsfield Mine for 12 days.

Choose one or two players and start smashing your way through eight to ten blocks of the first location - magnificent Las Vegas - to progressively unlock another six locations from across the world. Each location has a boss as well as opportunities to upgrade your existing freak show's moves.

King of the City, King of the World, and Timed Run modes are just like the Campaign mode with slightly different objectives. King of the City pits you against either a friend or the computer to gain the highest score in decimating a single city, while King of the World you do the same – but this time, you destroy the whole world… who would have guessed? And again, just like the name, Timed Run, your run is timed and you must flatten the city in the time given.

Now to the actual game play. One word comes to mind, phucking repetitive (ok, maybe that’s two, however my point is clear - it gets pretty repetitive, pretty fast). By the time I finished laying waste to the corporatised humanoids in the first location, which surprisingly took around an hour (sadly, an hour I’ll never get back), I pretty much had done everything the game had to offer me in terms of gameplay. The saddest part is if you choose to play the retro versions of the game included on the disc you’ll notice almost nothing has changed! Sure, I understand how Midway wants to stay true to the original, like the old saying goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. However, you don’t see people riding around in horse and carriages anymore do you… huh?

Once unlocked, each character in the game can be played in Campaign mode and by doing so you unlock extra moves for that character. The only downside to this is that each character has exactly the same moves, whether you're an Echidna or a Yeti, it makes no difference. Supposedly, each character has specific stats that make them better at jumping, running, or smashing, but the tangibility of these differences is minimal at best.

One of the most repetitive aspects of the game are the city blocks that you must rampage through. I’m no doctor – or at least that’s what the courts told me as they handed down a malpractice sentence – but it seems each city is the same as the last with the exact overall layout just with different buildings. The only positive, it seems, is the diverse locations around the world, while each city's individual blocks basically look the same, at least each location has a special look to each of them.

The graphics are not bad, having said that, they ain’t great either. High-resolution textures or special lighting effects are absent – there’s more chance of finding Jimmy Hoffa, but the buildings break apart well, and things explode nicely. The monsters look quite good. They animate well, move nicely in the context of the environments, and are creatively designed. The quasi-3D environments are a nice touch also, yet as a side scrolling game the perspective becomes deceiving enough that you may struggle to destroy passing vehicles or grab miniscule police officers firing at you.

The audio. Ahh yes, the audio. Tolerable at the beginning and even quite amusing at times, however just like the gameplay, after a while of playing you’ll find it not unlike a Nickelback single - punishingly repetitive.

It’s a shame. Midway did their very best and delivered single player missions, co-op campaign adventure, multiplayer mini-games, as well as both the original arcade versions of Rampage and Rampage: World Tour and yet, still it was missing something.

This game may not have long lasting shelf value even with its multiplayer capabilities but I will admit that it’s still enjoyable for a quick game fix. If you are a die-hard Rampage fan you might consider it a purchase, especially at its discount price, but I personally recommend it as a rental.

Conversely, if you never get tired, and I mean never get tired of demolishing buildings, eating helpless people, and virtually just causing endless chaos, you're most likely a violent anarchist - and this might just be the game you’ve been looking for.

Game: Ramapge: Total Destruction
System: PS2
Players: 1-2
Online: No
Developer: Midway
Distributor: Red Ant

Rating: 65%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

	Announcement