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Sown Together with Customization, Style, and Fun!
posted by ThaSquare (ROSEVILLE, CA) Nov 24, 2008
Member since May 2007
7 out of 7 gamers (100%) found this review helpful
In Monster Lab, you don the rubber gloves of an experimental mad man. You’ll be collecting and piecing together heaps of old junk in 22 different minigames to create arms, legs, heads, and bodies to maximize your creations’ physique. It is only by experimenting on several ingredients will you will find the right pair to whip together and failure is, rather frequently, an option. Once you’re done tinkering on your not so tentative drone, you’ll set it loose in the world, dictating its actions from the comfort of the mansion. You’ll send it off to fight other monsters, help desperate souls in need, and collect a few spare parts along the way.
There are dozens of ingredients to find, millions of possible monster combinations, an online battle mode, and quite a quirky storyline to follow with spot-on voice acting to boot. There are a few problems including it becoming far too easy near the end, the absence of random matches in the online mode, some overly difficult minigames, and the absence of a proper shop. So, does this concoction deserve new life on your Wii or should it be sent to the scrap yard?
Amidst the sheer joy of playing this game fall a few problems. What I found most saddening was that each maps’ monsters don’t evolve with you. It’s just too easy to play after beating the game. It pretty much defeats the purpose of refining your monster when you can kill foes with one blow. With the online mode, however, the game breathes new life. But that, too, is bothersome. Since you can only fight people you’ve traded friend codes with, you’re creations will be pretty much left out in the cold as random matches are out of the question.
Even still, the game is a lot of fun. There’s well over 20 hours of play here and even more if you can find a buddy or two to go head to head with online.If you’re hungry for a game that brings both customization and style to your Wii, be sure carve a place out of your Wii library for Monster Lab!
There are dozens of ingredients to find, millions of possible monster combinations, an online battle mode, and quite a quirky storyline to follow with spot-on voice acting to boot. There are a few problems including it becoming far too easy near the end, the absence of random matches in the online mode, some overly difficult minigames, and the absence of a proper shop. So, does this concoction deserve new life on your Wii or should it be sent to the scrap yard?
Amidst the sheer joy of playing this game fall a few problems. What I found most saddening was that each maps’ monsters don’t evolve with you. It’s just too easy to play after beating the game. It pretty much defeats the purpose of refining your monster when you can kill foes with one blow. With the online mode, however, the game breathes new life. But that, too, is bothersome. Since you can only fight people you’ve traded friend codes with, you’re creations will be pretty much left out in the cold as random matches are out of the question.
Even still, the game is a lot of fun. There’s well over 20 hours of play here and even more if you can find a buddy or two to go head to head with online.If you’re hungry for a game that brings both customization and style to your Wii, be sure carve a place out of your Wii library for Monster Lab!
Very Neat Game, So-So Execution
posted by MichaelO (PITTSBURGH, PA) Jul 27, 2012
Member since Sep 2010
Monster Lab is a unique sort of RPG in which you gather ingredients as loot from battles, use those ingredients to make parts (via Wii motion based minigames), and then assemble those parts into monsters. It's a refreshing change from the usual "leveling up" system, and is a very nice idea. Likewise, the combat system offers something unique. Each part has an element, its own hp, and 2 built-in moves that target specific parts on the enemy monster or even allow you to block, thereby damaging enemy parts. (It's a battle system a little bit reminiscent of the Front Mission games, but set up as a turn-based RPG.) The game has significant drawbacks, but it's definitely worth a rent.
Pros:
-Interesting alchemy-based leveling system
-Combat system that's simple but offers a good bit of strategy
-Pretty fun visually to see your parts put together into a monster. Offers a bit of artistry, almost like Spore.
Cons:
-Somewhat poor system of menus and displays. The information you need can be tedious and time-consuming (or even downright impossible) to access
-Too many loading screens and repetitive instruction screens. Sometimes you can spend more time loading and watching intros and info screens than you do actually doing things, especially when it comes to combat
-Story is painfully simple and pretty much nonexistent.
-Cutscenes have very poor sound quality and are not subtitled. I found it nearly impossible to hear any of the dialogue in the cutscenes
-A lot of things in the game get very repetitive. The game makers skimped way too much on variety. It was fun for the first couple of hours, but started to drag near the end.
-Some game objectives are vague or poorly explained. I had to consult a walkthrough a couple of times just to understand what I was supposed to be doing.
Pros:
-Interesting alchemy-based leveling system
-Combat system that's simple but offers a good bit of strategy
-Pretty fun visually to see your parts put together into a monster. Offers a bit of artistry, almost like Spore.
Cons:
-Somewhat poor system of menus and displays. The information you need can be tedious and time-consuming (or even downright impossible) to access
-Too many loading screens and repetitive instruction screens. Sometimes you can spend more time loading and watching intros and info screens than you do actually doing things, especially when it comes to combat
-Story is painfully simple and pretty much nonexistent.
-Cutscenes have very poor sound quality and are not subtitled. I found it nearly impossible to hear any of the dialogue in the cutscenes
-A lot of things in the game get very repetitive. The game makers skimped way too much on variety. It was fun for the first couple of hours, but started to drag near the end.
-Some game objectives are vague or poorly explained. I had to consult a walkthrough a couple of times just to understand what I was supposed to be doing.
A "Lab" to be tested before buying
posted by JMichaud (BETHESDA, MD) Nov 29, 2008
Member since Jan 2008
2 out of 2 gamers (100%) found this review helpful
The monsters have come alive in a cross between a simplified Final Fantasy and Frankenstein.
Monster Lab at heart is just a RTS game where you create a monster and unleash it onto the world to fight other monsters (either controlled by the AI or another player).
When you win, you get parts that you can place together to make your monster stronger, faster, and more resistant to damage. Or you can creature a brand new monster
How do you do make those parts? By playing mini games that will have you hammering nails, smashing robots or guiding a wheel through an obstacle course. They're short, but fun.
There's some sort of story about other mad scientists out to take over the world and you're out to stop them. And there are a many objectives for you to take on.
But they're just excuses to get you into the battles, which play out like a simplified RTS; you attack, the other monster attacks, then you attack again and the monster attacks again, and so on.
The battle rages on until one of you loses all health in your monster's chest and loses the battle.
Be prepared to fight a lot; random encounters occur very frequently; too frequently for my tastes.
But there's some joy in seeing your foe fly into many pieces when you deliver the final blow. And there's a huge selection of parts for you to make and attacks for you to discover in Monster Lab.
But, those who are not fans of the "Take your turn by selecting an attack" sort of game like Final Fantasy will want to avoid this one.
Still, I say rent Monster Lab, give it a test drive, and see if you like it.
Monster Lab at heart is just a RTS game where you create a monster and unleash it onto the world to fight other monsters (either controlled by the AI or another player).
When you win, you get parts that you can place together to make your monster stronger, faster, and more resistant to damage. Or you can creature a brand new monster
How do you do make those parts? By playing mini games that will have you hammering nails, smashing robots or guiding a wheel through an obstacle course. They're short, but fun.
There's some sort of story about other mad scientists out to take over the world and you're out to stop them. And there are a many objectives for you to take on.
But they're just excuses to get you into the battles, which play out like a simplified RTS; you attack, the other monster attacks, then you attack again and the monster attacks again, and so on.
The battle rages on until one of you loses all health in your monster's chest and loses the battle.
Be prepared to fight a lot; random encounters occur very frequently; too frequently for my tastes.
But there's some joy in seeing your foe fly into many pieces when you deliver the final blow. And there's a huge selection of parts for you to make and attacks for you to discover in Monster Lab.
But, those who are not fans of the "Take your turn by selecting an attack" sort of game like Final Fantasy will want to avoid this one.
Still, I say rent Monster Lab, give it a test drive, and see if you like it.
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