Back in the 2000s, It always seemed that no matter how an animated movie from Dreamworks Animation turns out, they almost always seem to have a solid video game tie-in that is both entertaining and decently challenging. This is the case for the video game adaptation of the Dreamworks movie Monsters Vs. Aliens, which was produced and released by Beenox, who previously helped bring the Bee Movie Video Game into existence. I haven’t seen the Monsters Vs. Aliens movie in a long time, but this game as a standalone product is enjoyable even if it is a little rough around the edges.
After being hit by a meteor on her wedding day, Susan (Reese Witherspoon)grows to ginormous size and gets captured by the military. She is confined with other monsters of her kind, including Dr. Cocrouch (James Horan), B.O.B (Seth Rogen), The Missing Link (Will Arnett), and Insectosaurus. Susan and the other Monsters try to escape with little to no success. Then one day, the monsters get a chance for redemption as they are tasked with stopping an alien race from taking over the world, including the mastermind behind the unknown attacks known as Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson).
Some animated movie storylines don’t necessarily translate super well into fully fledged video game adventures. This game seems to prove otherwise as it feels true to the movie's spirit while adding new elements that feel less like filler and more like interesting addons that feel like a part of the Monsters Vs. Aliens adventure. The story includes the plot threads from the movie, but they add in new segments such as an escape from the facility the monsters are contained in and fighting off a giant scorpion alien robot. Some decent comedy can be found here and there, though some jokes are more aimed at kids than adults. Even the majority of the cast comes back to reprise their roles with Will Arnett as The Missing Link, Reese Witherspoon as Susan/Ginormica, and Seth Rogen as B.O.B. This story is going to attract more kids than experienced gamers; that's not entirely a bad thing though, but some gamers may want something more mature and refined.
The Gameplay switches back and forth between different playing styles as the player will find itself in control of Susan, The Missing Link, and B.O.B, respectively. Susan’s levels are skating levels in which you avoid and punch through obstacles while skating from the start of the level to the end. The Missing Links levels are more combat-based as he will often find himself defeating enemy aliens and robots in battle and taking down several big bosses who stand in his way. He can also climb robots and take them down piece by piece by destroying their weapons and unscrewing bolts. B.O.B’s levels are more about puzzle solving as the player will need to use his ability to stick to surfaces to get passed exciting platforming. Each gameplay style is well constructed, but sometimes it's a little disappointing when bosses and levels often get repeated more than once without much variation. It can feel repetitive, but not to the point where it gets annoying, and the gameplay is still above average enough that it can pass even when some of the gameplay construction could have used more pizzazz. The player will also find itself collecting Monster DNA which, if found, will allow the said player to unlock bonus items, including movie screenshots and concept art. You can even grab a friend to help you as player two will be able to play as dr cockroach but as just a shooting target rather than an actual playable character. This is fun gameplay that, while far from masterful and original, is still good enough to be an above-average experience.
Much like the Bee Movie game graphics beforehand, the graphics for this game depend on which version you get. Regarding the PS2 version, the pictures look good enough, but Character designs look a little off and sometimes glitchy, and textures are not at their greatest compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360 prototypes. However, the colors are pretty good and otherworldly, especially inside alien probe robots. The mini alien robots themselves are well designed, and it's easy to tell how you are supposed to attack them just by looking at them. The level design is pretty good and straightforward to figure out but still keeps enough hidden to make sure bonus things are challenging for experienced gamers. It would be better to get the more polished HD versions. However, the PS2 and Wii versions' visuals still deliver colorful settings and attractive enemy designs to keep players distracted from the overall cheapness of the non-HD versions.
Many different people made the Music for this game, but it sure does sound very epic and even monstrous. This soundtrack has a lot of fun being silly and nonsensical, but it's also not afraid to feel epic and loud. It’s not the most excellent video game soundtrack in the world, but the game's musical compositions are much more interesting than they had any right to be.
I might be biased on this game, seeing as this is yet another Licensed based game that I grew up playing as a kid, but Monsters Vs. Aliens game is an entertaining tie in-game that may not be flawless like Spongebob’s Battle for Bikini Bottom but has enough of a spunky and colorful attitude that is just too hard not to resist. It's no masterpiece but a good old fashion dose of fun that many poor licensed-based games seem to be missing. There are better video games, even licensed-based ones, that have much more passion than this game, but being just good in this case is alright by me.
(Final Grade: B)