Monster Lab - the Mad Science Alliance needs YOU!!

[Cube]

http://www.n-europe.com/news.php?nid=10994

 

Create a monster from parts, and fight other monsters, complete with online fighting and trading. Eidos announce Monster Lab for Wii...

 

Eidos have announced a new RPG for the Wii in the form of Monster Lab. Monster Lab allows you to create monsters and fight/trade them in the online mode.

 

In a graphical style heavily influenced by the works of Tim Burton, Monster Lab is a dark cartoon RPG. The village of the monsters is full of personality, and the main aim of the game is creating monsters.

 

 

Monsters have both biological and mechanical parts. Mechanical parts can be created using the Wii Remote in various ways - such as a soldering ion, complete with the need to shake if should it become too hot. You will also have to deal with 3 main scientists in the game: Professor Fuseless, specialist mechanical aspects of monsters; Dr. Sandabar, specialist in biology, and Dr. Tchesombra, expert in chemistry. You will need all three to assemble parts of monsters.

 

There are around 150 parts in the game collect, which can all be combined in various ways. This means that there are 100 million possible monsters. There will be some "recipes" that you can collect to help you in choosing the right parts, and a many of the monsters will be..well, useless. Different combinations also have their own strengths and weaknesses.

 

 

The combat of the game is stated to be (in terms of complexity) between Pokémon and Final Fantasy. You don't attack the monsters themselves, but rather their limbs. As you "kill" limbs, they fall of the monster, which (naturally) makes your opponent weaker. On top of this, Monster Lab features online modes. Monsters of the same weight category (and therefore of similar strength) can battle it out from any two parts of the world. You can also trade pieces, recipes or whole monsters with people from around the world.

 

Monster Lab is planned for release in June 2008 for the Nintendo Wii.

 

 

Poster:

[pedrocasilva]

Looking good, action RPG's

[Konfucius]

This sounds fun I hope it doesn't get overly complex though but it certainly is an original concept.

[The-chosen-one]

hey the game looks cool

 

the graphics are the same as the xbox 360 game the overlord

 

if the online is really good then ill get this game to support online

[Zelda_Rulez]

Finally a game that shows some promise, it looks cool. I'll have to see how it turns out.

[Hellfire]

Even with those 2 pics that show graphics there's a **** on the comments saying it looks like Conker's bad Fur Day 64.

 

Looks promising, I'm keeping my eyes out for this one.

[IMJ]

Finally someone making a real effort again. Looks great, sounds promising. Let's hope they deliver.

[Jonnas]

Even with those 2 pics that show graphics there's a **** on the comments saying it looks like Conker's bad Fur Day 64.

 

When I read that news comment I thought he was referring to the art style...

I never played Conker, so I was probably wrong.

 

 

Anyway, the game looks nice and it is a promising idea. It's kinda like Pokemon meets Custom Robo.

 

But I certainly hope there is some variety. The majority of the custom cars in F-Zero GX sucked. After someone found some good cars, most people didn't bother to build more variations.

 

Hopefully, this game is more varied and there are a lot of good combinations.

[pedrocasilva]

Interview:

 

How long has the game been in development and how big is the team?

 

Kelly Tainton: Our production cycle has been 18 months, and our team has varied in size from 45 - 65 members, at its peak.

 

Why Wii?

 

Kelly Tainton: The type of gameplay in Monster Lab was a perfect fit for the Wii. The entire purpose to the game is to help the user feel like they are truly a mad scientist. The Wii lends itself to that type of gameplay perfectly.

 

Exactly what is the premise for the game?

 

Kelly Tainton: You start off as an apprentice in the Mad Science Alliance. You learn (with help from your mentor, Professor Fuseless) how to explore six different areas of the Ghastly Valley in order to find different ingredients. Once you have those, you take them back to your castle in order to perform experiments, using the ingredients. Those then make different monster parts (heads, torsos, arms, and legs), based on three different sciences (mechanical, alchemical, and biological) There are literally millions of different combinations of monsters you can make. You then take control of your monster to go back out in to the world to progress through the game, battling other monsters along the way!

 

Talk about the monster creation feature. How elaborate is it?

 

Kelly Tainton: Let me say this again. Millions of different combinations! You can have a monster that is made up of a wrench for an arm, a fish head in a glass bowl, a torso made out of a truck, and legs made out of tree vines. The quality of all of your parts is based on how well you perform the experiments that make them, and what type of part you make is determined on the ingredients you used to make it. The amount of experimentation is nearly endless.

 

What do you do after you create your monsters?

 

Kelly Tainton: You take your monster out in to the world. You are given quests to perform via different characters in the game, and this is how the story advances. Of course, if you just want to go and collect more ingredients to make bigger and badder monster parts, you can do that as well. In fact, it's encouraged.

 

Detail the different gameplay types in Monster Lab.

 

Kelly Tainton: We have the entire single-player experience, which is quite lengthy. We're looking at least 12 hours at this point, and you can continue playing and exploring until your hearts content. We also have a multiplayer option where you can fight your friends online using the monsters you have created during your single-player experience!

 

In some ways, Monster Lab looks like a 3D fighter. Is it, or is there more to the game?

 

Kelly Tainton: The beautiful thing about Monster Lab is that it is a fighter, but it's also so much more. Being a Wii game, there are many smaller quicker mini games, but they are a necessary (and fun!) part of the story and player progression. Then there's combat and exploration to help tie the entire experience together. Add in the multiplayer mode, and it really is a fantastic Wii title.

 

Tell us about the multiplayer mode.

 

Kelly Tainton: Yes, Monster Lab includes a multiplayer mode. You can fight any of your friends, or people on your friends list. Your battle monsters they have created, vs monsters you have created during your single player experience.

 

So the title uses Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to play online against your people on your friends' list.

 

Kelly Tainton: Yes.

 

How does Monster Lab utilize the Wii remote?

 

Kelly Tainton: The bulk of the experiments and challenges use the Wii remote. We were very conscious of the current crop of Wii games, and how many of them seem to throw the Wii remote functionality as an afterthought. One of our experiments has the user flying down a series of magical tunnels, avoiding obstacles along the way. This is all done with the wii remote acting as the user in the 3D tunnel. Another good example would be our welding experiment. You actually use the Wii remote as a welding gun, and complete a seam.

 

Does the game run in 480p and 16:9 modes?

 

Kelly Tainton: Yes, we support 480p, but not a native 16:9 resolution.

 

What technical achievements are you most proud of?

 

Kelly Tainton: This is our first Wii game and our first original property, we're proud of everything - and especially proud of the team who put it together.

 

Is there a storyline powering the adventure? What's it all about?

 

Kelly Tainton: Yes. The story revolves around the player, a new apprentice who takes on a pivotal role in restoring the Mad Science Alliance. The Evil Baron Mharti has taken control, and the only way to overthrow him is to defeat his most powerful creation "Thrunch the Vastly Superior" in Monster Combat. With the help of a crazy cast of characters, the player will have to explore the Uncanny Valley and discover the secrets of the three mad sciences to build the ultimate monster and take on the Baron.

 

Any final comments for Wii fans anticipating the project?

 

Kelly Tainton: The customization of this game is incredible for a single player game. There are so many options for the user to try out and experiment with, that the experience can literally change as often as the user wants.

Source: http://wii.ign.com/articles/848/848497p1.html

 

Shame, for no 16:9 mode.

[IMJ]

Looks very promising! Im liking the idea of the game

[Noku]

Just saw a trailer for the game, and it looks awesome. Reminds me of the esthetics of Overlord (which were awesome as well).

[Guest Maase]

Hum, i don't like the idea of only playing by Wii Friend Codes, but i have here a big forum, so that's not a big problem afterall

 

BTW, i like the idea of the game, i just hope they don't try to make everything too quicker and then it comes out as a bullshit X)

[pedrocasilva]

Videos:

 

Trailer

 

Combat Walkthrough

 

Robot Creation Walkthrough

 

Producer Interview

 

Videogamer.com Preview:

 

What would you get if you spliced a Tim Burton film with Final Fantasy? Monster Lab, that's what.

 

(...) Fuses basic turn-based Final Fantasy-style battles with a healthy dose of monster creation in a setting that rekindles memories of Tim Burton's superb animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

 

(...) Online multiplayer, where you'll be able to take your monster and battle against other players from around the world. This should give players even more incentive to search out high-level items, fuse together and create powerful monsters. And although this isn't confirmed, the development team is working hard to make trading monster parts online a reality.

 

(...)

 

Monster Lab's shaping up nicely. It's a feel-good game, with over-the-top voice acting, a Tim Burton-esque art style and a supernatural soundtrack. As a turn-based role-playing game it's basic for sure, but it has a certain charm that Wii owners, if they give it a chance, should enjoy. This is one monster worth experimenting with.

Source: http://www.videogamer.com/wii/monster_lab/preview-806.html

 

TVG Preview:

 

Described in a soundbite at Leipzig as 'Pokemon meets Tim Burton', something that remains largely - though not entirely - true nine months on, Monster Lab's quirky Make-a-Monster mechanic, coupled with a selection of mini-games and turn-based RPG combat, is very much shaping up as the videogame equivalent of Frankenstein's iconic creature.

 

(...)

 

Focused on turn-based combat much in the same way as countless J-RPGs have done en masse over the years, the aim of a bout is simple: knock the torso of the opponent off its legs. Using the Wii-remote to select an attacking limb, this brings up a colour-coded guide to the attack's potential effect on an enemy's body, the mechanical/biological/alchemical amalgamation then hits, kicks, or even gnaws at the targeted areas. Every limb has a health bar from green (healthy) through to black (it's been removed/destroyed), so it's straightforward enough to see how the fight is progressing.

 

(...)

 

There's little denying that Monster Lab's quirky charm, and mix of turn-based RPG with constructive mini-game, is shaping up to be one of the more appealing third-party titles to hit Wii in the next few months - especially with the promise of online combat and monster part swapping.

Source: http://www.techzonept.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2588383

[blender]

theres an awesome flash game that has a simimlar idea.... you mainly add rotating arms and cogs to your monster and watch them fap at each other.

It was on the same website exhibition as the world of goo flash game. anyway hope it makes it to wii ware.

 

This eidos game looks crappy... i mean hammering a barrel.. fun? and the combat looks too complex and slow

[Fandango]

Maybe its just me, but I think this game looks like it could be really good and maybe a sleeper hit.

 

They have some good ideas, graphics look quite nice and it seems like they're really trying to implement a decent online mode, which is great news for me!

[darksnowman]

I read this much:

 

What would you get if you spliced a Tim Burton film with Final Fantasy? Monster Lab, that's what.

 

(...) Fuses basic turn-based Final Fantasy-style battles with a healthy dose of monster creation in a setting that rekindles memories of Tim Burton's superb animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

 

And I'm sold!

[Noku]

Tim Burton alone will do quite nicely for me. Has anyone heard a bit of the soundtrack? Sounds a whole lot like Danny Elfman to me - which is naught but a good thing ^^

[darksnowman]

Not an out of this world review, but still sounds pretty solid. I haven't had the chance to give it a proper read yet though. The fact that we previously had this linked with Tim Burton, Final Fantasy and the Nightmare before Christmas... I'm defo interested in reading more.

 

 

Closing Comments

Monster Lab is undoubtedly destined for retail obscurity, but if you somehow stumble upon a copy and happen to be in the market for a well-made kids' game, this stylish, polished and fun title definitely fits the bill. It's got a few problems in the area of unnecessary repetition, some flow-breaking load screens, some pointless mini-games and some over-baked dialog, but overall the presentation is a cut above most Wii games, the monster-building mechanic incredibly deep and the turn-based battle system enjoyable. So if you like games like Pokemon, or if your kids do, give this one a try. The fact that it's $10 cheaper than your average Wii offering makes it a more worthwhile purchase.

 

7.9/ 10

[Hero-of-Time]

I was reading some impressions from a G-Faqs user about this the other day.

 

*pops off to find them*

 

After fudging around with it for an hour, I'd say that this game is worth its 40 bucks.

 

Think of it as a pokémon meets Frankenstein sorta hybrid. Yeah, I know, that doesn't say much.

 

Basicly, you start out with monster parts that you have to assemble to create a monster: two arms, a head, a torso and legs. Each part has its own health bar and its own attacks. So a cannon arm would have (say...) 40 hp and 2 attacks, each one dealing a certain amount of damage to a certain body part(s) and consuming a set amount of energy.

 

Each attack consumes a certain amount of energy. When in battle, you each take turns wailing on each other. When you run out of Energy, there's a command that has you skip a turn and regenerate all of your lost energy. When a limb loses all of its hp, it flies off. Destroy all of your opponent's limbs OR its torso to win.

 

In between fights, you're either in your lab going through minigames to combine items into limbs(different minigames for different limbs, only certain combinations of items yield the best results). Or you're sending your monster out to explore a mario party like village where you move from "squarish" area to "squarish" area in real time. Meet up with another wandering monster and *poof* RPG battle time!

 

You earn XP(Mad Science Points or something) by fighting, doing quests and whatnot.

 

The game's music score is utter garbage. You barely notice it, even when you're trying to. It's basicly some monsterish, scaryish type of music and lacks any kind of energy. Bah.

 

Up until now, I've only unlocked the arms and head creation minigames of the mechanic mentor(supposed to be an alchemic and a biology mentor too). The game's visual style is pretty interesting and the humor is acceptable. The game also has full french voiceovers for the US version, if anyone was wondering.

 

All in all, this game is *NOT* shovelware. It won't win game of the year but I can easily see myself playing this for over 20 hours before getting bored. At least, if it lasts that long.

 

I think it sounds great to be honest

[darksnowman]

Thanks for those impressions, Hero. It sounds like its got a fair bit of the fun factor! I get the feeling Monster Lab will fall into a similar bracket as de Blob and stuff, which is no bad accolade.

[Guest Maase]

Hum, i like this one. Maybe i'l buy it if i receive money in Christmas

Then again, so many things good on the Wii to buy :'(

[Hero-of-Time]

Just a heads up regarding this game. It got released yesterday and I snapped it up from GAME today. The best thing about this though is that they have put it in the Buy One Get One Free section. Its £29.99 so if you have a mate that wants it aswell then its £15 for a newly released game! I picked it up with House of the Dead

[darksnowman]

I too picked Monster Lab up earlier this morning- I was surprised enough to see it on the shelf, nevermind in the two for £30 section, so I snapped it up along with Boom Blox. I was sure I'd read that this game was delayed til early next year, but obviously not!

 

I've been playing away at it this evening and I'm getting a feel for it. The one negative is that there's maybe too much use of the pointer for navigating through menu's and to select stuff, but I won't fault it too much for that. The game is packed full of blatant Tim Burton and Danny Elfman charm, with some great voice acting adding a lot of personality to the characters I've come across so far.

 

Battling is pretty fun so far and surprisingly cinematic. You pick what you want to attack (head, arms, torso, legs) and then pick what move you want to carry out. There is a rock-paper-scissors triangle to it all for added depth, but I'm not too clear on how that works just yet. I've mainly been either gnawing or lazering my way through! There's mini games at every opportunity. Its impossible to say if I'll be fed up with them after prolonged gameplay, but at the minute, they are in keeping with the game and aren't as intrusive as you might expect.

 

I'll report back when I play more. You guys should defo try and pick Monster Lab up, especially as its immediately being sold so cheap here! I don't want to hear any excuses about maybe buying it further down the line when its reduced in price!

[Ashley]

(Technically its not being sold cheap, its being offered in a good deal. Its still selling at an average game release price :p)

[darksnowman]

(Technically its not being sold cheap, its being offered in a good deal. Its still selling at an average game release price :p)

 

Well now, we do like to be particular, don't we?

 

I've been playing more of Monster Lab, and to be honest I'm still not really proficient with how the advantages and disadvantages play out. Basically, if my monster is able to wipe the opponent out in two turns, thats fine by me, otherwise I just dig in and do my best to wear the opposition down. As far as I can tell, the game doesn't help you out with this apart from when Fuseless mentions it near the beginning.

 

The first monster I created yesterday was this boy here, Strife:

 

 

His most useful moves are gnawing and using his eye lasers.

 

After making a few parts tonight, I went back up to Lightning Tower and made this weird looking chap from the parts I'd accumulated, I give you Jack O'Lantern:

 

 

His left arm there is his main asset- its some kind of knife arm.

 

The sewing/ stitching/ stapling/ wtvr it was mini game is the most difficult one for me thus far. I failed it the first time, and the part I made from it the second time didn't end up being of the best quality. I'll hopefully figure it out sooner or later.

 

I'm currently a bit stuck on the boss of the Neverglades. I've battled it twice and lost both times. I likely need to make a new monster for it, but I don't know what parts and moves would be advantageous... the boss has some regeneration move which recovers its health, making it difficult for me to just grind the battle out. I was hoping a few stabs by Jack O'Lantern would have it done, but nope.