War of the Monsters
War of the Monsters is a video game created by Incognito Entertainment for the Sony PlayStation 2. The game was released in 2003 around the same time as Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, but instead of featuring a roster of famous movie monsters, War of the Monsters featured generic beasts based off real cinematic creatures. Apparently set sometime in the 1950s, the game's plot went like this: A fleet of alien warships (looking almost exactly like the ones from Earth vs the Flying Saucers) invade the Earth, causing chaos everywhere. The scientists of the world manage to create a series of secret weapons, which, when activated, let loose shockwaves that short-circut the saucers and cause them to crash. Unfortunately, this brings forth an even bigger disaster: Radioactive fuel leaks out from the demolished craft, and through a number of random events, it brings countless giant monsters to life. As one of these monsters, the player must battle the other creatures for supremacy.
Monsters
Congar
Congar is a massive gorilla, and was based on King Kong. He started off as a chimpanzee that was selected to ride a shuttle into orbit. Unfortunately, one of the malfunctioning saucers, falling from orbit, smashed right into the shuttle, slicing through it and obliterating the whole craft. The poor chimp was sent flying into space (towards Earth), but thanks to the loose alien fuel, began to grow. By the time the chimp hit the atmosphere, it was gigantic. In a massive fireball, the mutant chimp landed on Earth and apparently lashed out due to its confusion at its new form. Congar's special attack is to unleash a hurricane-like roar from his mouth.
Togera
Togera is a large, prehistoric reptile, and was based on Godzilla. Togera was actually not created by the alien's radioactive fuel, and was apparently in existence for quite some time. When one of the flying saucers crashed into the sea, some fuel was inhaled into the sleeping Togera's nose. The fuel's energy was enough to awaken Togera, who emerged angrily from the sea. Togera's special is to spew a stream of atomic fire from his mouth.
Ultra V
Ultra V (pronounced "Ultra Five") is a humanoid fighting machine, and was based on Mazinger Z. Japanese scientists created Ultra V as a way of fighting the alien invasion. Seeking a powerful energy source, they utilized the alien fuel to power their mechanical warrior, infusing it into his head. Unfortunately, the fuel instead brought the mighty machine to life, who immediately went on the rampage. Ultra V's special is to launch his fist (connected by a wire) at his foe, striking them and then pulling them back to Ultra V.
Preytor
Preytor, the only female monster, is an oversized preying mantis, and was most likely based on The Deadly Mantis. A scientist was experimenting with the alien fuel, and for some reason, decided to feed it to a preying mantis. Fed a bit of the fuel from an eye-dropper, the mantis quickly grew to monstrous proportions, and devoured the scientist. Preytor's special is to spit out a gigantic parasite that latches onto her foes. Preytor may also be based on Kamacuras.
Kineticlops
Kineticlops is a huge, lone eyeball floating within a body of electricity, he is not based on any other monster. When one of the downed flying saucers crashed into an electrical power plant, a security guard went to see what the commotion was. He soon saw what the problem was and also saw that powerlines had covered the craft's fuel. The eletrically-charged fuel dropped down onto the unfortunate guard, and transformed him into the electric Kineticlops. Kineticlops' special is to fire lightning bolts from his hands, which stun and electrify his opponents.
Robo-47
Robo-47 is an old-fashioned robot, and was based off the type of robots seen in Mars Attacks!. A relic of the atomic age, Robo-47 was decommissioned some time ago. A saucer crashed just outside its hangar, and the vapors from the leaked fuel made their way inside the base. These vapors brought Robo-47 to life. Robo-47's special is to fire a highly-explosive missile from its head.
Magmo
Magmo is a large, four-armed lava creature who may or may not be based off of the Pokemon, Machamp. Just as a volcano began erupting, one of the damaged spacecrafts appeared. The doomed ship crashed directly into the crater, and the fuel mixed with the molten lava. Seconds later, the demonic Magmo came into existence. Magmo's special is to fire a wave of flaming rocks from his mouth, often sending foes flying across a city.
Agamo
Agamo is a large stone being with a fire forever burning inside his head. A native approached his village's huge stone idol, carrying something to sacrifice to his god: a potful of the alien fuel. The native poured the fuel into the idol, and then the ground began to shake. It turned out that the idol was simply Agamo's head, and soon the stone beast unearthed the rest of his body and walked away, crushing the native that brought him to life in the process. Agamo's special is to rip off his own head (regrowing a new one instantly) then proceeding to either throw it at it's opponent or pummel them with it.
Zorgulon
Zorgulon is a huge, tentacled alien, and resembles the Martians from Mars Attacks!. Zorgulon was one of the aliens that invaded the Earth who managed to survive the destruction of his fleet. Other than that, though, nothing is known about his origins. It's been theorized by some that Zorgulon's species are related to Cerebulon's species, but it is uncertain. Zorgulon's special is to shoot the opponent with a tracking device of sorts, summoning a group of flying saucers to blast away at his foe. When you first play the game, Zorgulon is not available as a playable character, but can be unlocked.
Raptros
Raptros is a traditional-style dragon(possibly a reference to the movie Reign of Fire, which was also released in 2002). Nothing is known about how he came to life, or even where he came from. The first time he is encountered (at Century Airfield), there are two of them, and are very hard to defeat thanks to their ability of flight. Raptros' special is to spew a stream of flame from his mouth. Like Zorgulon, Raptros is unplayable when the game is first played, but can be unlocked.
Roboss
The Rosdale Canyon boss, who has been given the name "Roboss", vaguely resembles a mechanical version of The Hulk, but with one eye, helicopter propellers sticking out of each shoulder, and arms that look somewhat like subway trains. At first, he stays on top of a ledge, tossing bombs that look like soccer balls at you. After a bit of damage, Roboss eventually comes down to attack you, first by going into "Propellor Mode" by lowering his propellers and rushing at you or in "Cannon Mode", where he turns his arms into cannons and shooting at you., Eventually, he will assume his "Tornado" form, in which he sticks out his arms and spins like a top, striking his foes with his arms. When Roboss is defeated, his parts start to malfunction and he eventually falls apart into separate pieces.
Weeping Reaper
The Atomic Island boss, given the name "Weeping Reaper", is a immense plant monster with three flower heads, each with mouths aligned with razor sharp teeth. If anything, it would be based more off of a Venus Flytrap or Scylla from one of the video versions of Homer's The Odyssey. Besides striking with these mouths, this boss can also spit globules of slime from its mouths and attack with thorned vines which strike from underground. The only way to injure this creature is tossing pieces of debris into whichever mouth it has opens, before it eats you. When Weeping Reaper is defeated, it withers away into the ground after giving one final hiss.
Cerebulon
At the Capitol, Cerebulon is the final boss of War of the Monsters, and thus the most powerful. At first Cerebulon is in control of a gigantic robot. The body resembles a flying saucer, the arms end in three large claws, and the feet are round and cylindrical. This robot can hold its hands together and fire a devastating laser beam that will damage you even if you hide behind a pillar. Once this form is beaten, a mechanical, squid-like form breaks away from the damaged remains. This form can only be injured by being struck with the remains of the first form, as a force field around him blocks all other attacks. Once this squid-form is defeated, Cerebulon finally shows his true form: a brain-like head, one huge red eye surrounded by four smaller eyes, scythe-like arms, and a body resembling a Yeerk slug's. When Cerebulon is defeated, his head explodes into a bloody mess, and a baby(?) Cerebulon emerges, then quickly scurries away.
Arenas
- Midtown Park (based on New York City and Central Park) - Battle against Congar.
- Gambler's Gulch (based on Las Vegas) - Battle against Togera, and then battle a Robo-47 who has army support.
- Rosdale Canyon (based on Area 51) - Battle several giant ants (alternate skins of Preytor), and then battle Roboss.
- Metro City (based on New York City) - Three-way battle between the player, Preytor, and a cyborg gorilla (alternate skin of Congar).
- Century Airfield (based on an airfield) - Battle two Raptros.
- Atomic Island (based on a nuclear plant) - Battle a constantly-respawning horde of Kineticlopses until you can destroy the nuclear towers at the power plant, and then battle the Weeping Reaper.
- Baytown (based on San Francisco) - Battle two Robo-47s.
- Club Caldera (based on Honolulu) - Three-way battle between the player, Magmo, and Agamo.
- Tsunopolis (based on Tokyo) - Battle two Ultra-V's.
- UFO (literally a UFO) - An unlockable area. In Adventure mode, you battle three Zorgulons.
- Capital (based on Washington, D.C. and Rome's Vatican City) - An unlockable area. In Adventure mode, you battle the final boss Cerebulon.
- Volcano (based on Kilauea) - An unlockable area that has no role in the Adventure mode.
- Mini Baytown (based on San Francisco) - Another unlockable area that also has no role in the Adventure mode.
Unlockable Items
When you first play the game, there a quite a few things that are "locked". You can unlock these items by paying for them with tokens. What's the way to get tokens? Fight in either Adventure or Endurance mode. With each battle, your number of total tokens rises, and you can begin to unlock items. Among the items you can unlock are:
- Anywhere from one to three alternate skins of each monster.
- Arenas that you can fight in.
- Minigames that you can play with a friend.