(NOTE: If you want to see my first review, on SSBB, go to the super smash bros. brawl forum and enter the thread of ssbb reviews)
*SPOILERS*
Yeah, yeah, I know this is a launch game, but I felt like reviewing it anyway. Rampage: Total Destruction is the latest in a series of games (the first two were ports of arcade games) in which you take control of a giant monster and wreak havok on towns and cities, destroying buildings and eating people along the way. The original arcade games in the series were both extremely fun, and I remember playing the original and cackling evilly as I devoured screaming bystanders, blew up toilets, and had a LOT of good fun. Naturally, I was excited to see what the newest game in the series had to offer. It left me feeling pleased but also slightly dissappointed.
On a basic level, Rampage: Total Destruction achieves what it was meant to do: allow to smash stuff. And on that level, it's quite fun. All of the original characters (George, Lizzie, Ralph, even Rhett if you want to be picky) are present, but Rampage improves on this immensely, with 40 characters in the Wii version. Considering the original Rampage only had 3 characters, this is a definate improvement. You can tell they started to run out of monster ideas near the end (Jack the mutant jackolope and Bubba the mutant blob(???) are low points) but otherwise the characters are quite imaginative and varied. Each also has their own special advantages too (George the gorilla can climb up buildings fastest, Leo the lion has the most powerful roar, Marco the shark gets extra HP when eating people, etc.). The cities are also fairly cool, ranging from LA to Tokyo. However, they start to get a little repetitive (London isn't so fun once you've gone through 3 blocks that look exactly alike). Nevertheless, the characters and stages make for some fun and hectic 4 player fights. Unfortunately, they're not nearly as fun unless you unlock the other secret characters, and this is Rampage's biggest fault.
See, in order to unlock the hidden characters, you have to find them in single-player mode, which is absolutely atrocious. You just play through the multiplayer stages in order, which aren't nearly as good with only one person. The only way to have even a bit of fun with this mode is to play it co-op with a friend, but it's still not nearly as fun as vs. mode. Also, it's hard to find the secret characters, which makes unlocking them annoying and a chore.
Having the original arcade games playable helps, but the single player mode really dissappionted me, considering how much fun the multiplayer is. Whether you like this game or not truly depends on how much you like destroying things. If you do, Rampage: Total Destruction will provide you with some exciting gameplay and interesting characters.
CONCLUSION
Summary: Play has a human mutated into a giant monster and go destroy cities.
Gameplay: Multiplayer is insane fun. Sigle player, not so much.
Graphics: Not so good, but it has a cool cartoony feel to it.
Replay Value:High, as long as you have friends to play it with.
Defining Feature: Having the original arcade Rampage games playable is a great walk down memory lane.
FINAL SCORE:7.75 (Average)
What do you think?
Linear Mode
