Although you couldn't tell from my age, I am a product of the 50's sci-fi movies. 'King Kong' (although he was the 30's), 'Them!', 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', 'Earth vs. The Flying Saucers', 'Day of the Triffids'; you name it, and my parents more than likely had me watch it when I was young. That, in part, is why War of the Monsters appealed to me so much. It takes all the best monsters, and clichs from the 50's, and combines them in one stylish package of 50's sci-fi nostalgia.

Both the graphics and sound are phenomenal. Each of the game's 10 monsters is amazingly detailed, and move with all the fluidity a 100-foot monster could muster. I was especially impressed by just how much was going on in each environment. Not only do you sometimes have three giant monsters squaring off in some very beautiful cityscapes, but you also have bystanders trying to escape the melee, and army tanks and helicopters trying everything they can to stop it - all without a hitch in the frame rate. Another impressive feat is how the game handles split-screen mode. When you and your buddy are on opposite sides of the arena, the game uses the standard split-screen mode. However, when you are closer together, the screens seamlessly merge to make one big screen. This should prove to be a big help for people with smaller TV screens. I did notice a few instances where the camera had to catch up, but they were minor and didn't happen often. Sound is great, and features all the roars, shrieks and rumbles you'd expect from a monster movie.

As something of a personal thumbs-up, the game scores major points with both its Drive-in movie style presentation (complete with movie posters introducing the next level), and the clever packaging (I loved The Global Observer, the game's newspaper-style instruction book). As always, it's the little things that go a long way with me.

War of the Monsters pays homage to everything that is the 1950's monster movie. Flying saucers from Mars attacking the Earth, giant monsters created by nuclear radiation and the entire army being able to do very little to stop them.

The game opens with a campy movie reel depicting the invasion of Earth by Mars. Since conventional weapons were useless against them, and nuclear weapons would kill everyone on the planet, the governments of the world banded together and created the 'super weapon', a device that was able to send the Martians packing back to Mars.

In the midst of their celebrations, the people of Earth learned that they were not safe, as the glowing, radioactive fuel from the alien ships leaked into the environment. As a result, huge mutants began to appear. In a stroke of bitter irony, the weapon that had saved the Earth unleashed the most destructive force the world had ever witnessed. In order to defend themselves, the world's scientists created their own giant monsters, but since the alien fuel powered them, they took on a life of their own upon activation. This is where you come in. As one of these monsters, it's your job to prove your dominance and claim the world as your own.

At first, you wouldn't think much depth would come from something that gains its inspiration from men in rubber suits. However, War of the Monsters proves that it's one of the deepest, and more enjoyable, fighters on the system. For the most part, War of the Monsters plays like your standard Rampage-style brawler. You choose one of 10 monsters, all based after classic monster movies like 'Godzilla', 'King Kong', and the giant ants from 'Them!', and take them through 13 completely destructive environments, including Las Vegas and New York. Older gamers may recognize this as something of a 3D update of SNK's classic, King of the Monsters.

Normally, when you go through all the trouble of destroying cities and kicking mutant ass, you'd expect some sort of payment. War of the Monsters delivers in this department as well, giving players multiple looks for their monsters (the 'mecha' version of Congar is easily my favorite), as well as some fun mini games like Dodgeball. I don't know about the rest of you, but the Dodgeball mode alone would be enough to warrant a purchase.

Dodgeball. The sport of kings.

In addition to an excellent single-player game, it's the multi-player features that really take the prize. This is the most fun I've had in a multiplayer mode since Twisted Metal: Black. It's a shame that there's no online support since this game could give players yet another incentive to go online, and would likely take some of the stress off the SOCOM servers. But, I guess that's something to leave for War of the Monsters 2.

Whoever Incog's AI guy is, this guy (or group) deserves a raise. War of the Monsters features the best AI I have ever come across in a game. When it comes to games, it's very rare that you come across enemies that can really think for themselves. Whereas most games feature characters that run on a set track of thinking, and usually feature AI traits that can be exploited, the enemies in War of the Monsters react to what you're doing in the game. For example, if you're trying to hide behind buildings and ping them to death with your projectile weapon, the AI will time its attacks to hit you when you pop out to attack. It's very, very hard to get the computer into any type of loop traps, making for a very hard game.

This doesn't stop with combat - computer controlled opponents are so advanced that they know where all of the power-ups in an arena are, when they respawn, and how to stop you from getting to them. There are times when the AI will see you going for a power-up and go after it for itself, just to stop you from getting it! This is about as close as you can get to playing with a friend, albeit a very evil, vindictive friend.

Now, you may think that the game's particularly high difficulty level would ruin the game, but in truth, it's the exact opposite. No matter how many times the computer kicked my ass, I kept going back for more. It helps to give the game that special edge that makes you want to prove you're better. The only real negative I could find in terms of the game being to hard was that it tends to stack the odds against you at times. There are times when you will have to take on two monsters at once while the army pelts you with machine gun and artillery fire, or when you'll have to face two monsters in a series, which can get a tad annoying. For those looking to down the challenge a bit, the game offers an Easy mode that makes the game more manageable while still keeping it a smart challenge.

The combat system is incredibly deep, and allows the player nearly limitless options for dealing with your opponent. Not only can you use the basic punches and kicks to take out your opponent, you can also use pieces of your environment. Learning to use foreign objects as weapons is key to victory. However, the system is far from flawless, and was one of my least favorite parts of the game. The control setups offered in the Options menu aren't as varied as they could have been. While there is some simple variation between them, I always felt that there was one button that wasn't where I wanted it to be, leading me to never be totally comfortable with the controls. Personally, I think giving the player the ability to fully customize the controls to their liking would have been a better way to go. Another sticking point of the scheme is the 'Lock-on' feature. Since this is a common thing in most games, I would have expected this to be a little tighter than it was. There were times when I would try to lock-on to my opponent and would get pummeled while waiting for the camera to adjust itself. It also would have been a great idea to allow the lock system to stay locked on, instead of having the player hold down the button. It's not a game-breaking problem, but it's always nice to have the option.

Difficulty and control issues aside, War of the Monsters is still a fantastic game. Not only does it give you the thrill of brawling with 100-foot monsters and destroying cities, but the 50's Sci-fi style alone just makes the game worth it. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the theme alone should be enough to get some parents interested in the game. Plus, it has a Dodgeball mode! What more could you ask for?

If you are looking for a hint for this month's contest, here's a list of the names of the monster's in War of the Monsters. No one ever said we were subtle. :)

Ultra V, Togera, Robo 47, Congar, Kineticlops, Zorgulon, Raptros, Preytor, Magmo and Agamo.