Godzilla PS4 Preview - Classic Destruction

When you think of giant monsters fighting, you generally think of a brawl filled with cities being destroyed, and no other name can top the list than the King of the Monsters, Godzilla. Well, now he’s back thanks to Bandai Namco, which is bringing the most famous Kaiju of all time to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 on July 14.

Working as a tribute to fans of the towering reptile, Godzilla is designed around both the destruction and the monsters that have made the brand so popular. Letting you play as one of a number of monsters, Godzilla gives the player the ability to level entire city blocks as they take on enemy Kaijus, and after getting a brief hands-on with an early build of the game, it looks like it’s going to great lengths to bring a style that will make new and classic fans happy.

Most notably, one of the major throwbacks to fans will be in the inclusion of a wide variety of monsters to choose from, including Classic and the newer Hollywood Godzilla, Mecha Godzilla, Destroyah, King Ghidorah, Jet Jaguar, Biollante, Mothra Larva, Mothra, Gigon and Hedorah who will all be on the PS3 version. The PS4 version will contain all of those, as well as a number of new additions, but currently, only Space Godzilla is the only known character to be joining the existing roster. As a true testament to how much Godzilla is being made by fans of the IP, we were told a story about how some of the monsters were being made in house without any ever telling them to do so.

Adding to its ability to recreate the look and feel of the classic films, when Godzilla is rampaging through Factory District, buildings will break apart in chunks and buildings will have tiny detonations in the windows to mimic the original special FX.

While playtime was limited to a short period, I was able to take on two other monsters, a feature that will exclusively only be on the PS4 version of the game, and see just how well Godzilla controlled. At first moving such a massive beast was a bit difficult, but since the game uses an interesting control mechanic, it does a good job of keeping the sensation of weight and lumbering that would be expected. Buildings are able to be knocked over, but do require some interaction to destroy them, so you cannot simply walk through each and expect it to crumble. This forces the player to position themselves with some thought, as both monsters can either double team you, or you can capitalize on the fight if they target each other.

A game like Godzilla does seem to have its priorities on straight, as much of the focus of the game is surrounding the basic fundamentals that has made the franchise so successful. The King of Monsters continues to look and act has you would expect him too, but in a way that should be accessible to players of all skill levels, making this a great game for all fans.