Gigapocalypse

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1

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Review:

Gigapocalypse is an Arcade-style game released in 2022 on PC, mobile devices, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This game has players managing the growth of a kaiju-style monster, and controlling its rampage through various locales.

I feel like simply calling this game an “Arcade-style” game is a huge oversimplification, as it has numerous other elements, including RPG-style character progression, “Roguelite”-style repeated runs with most doomed to failure (but with each giving the player more resources for a better shot at their next run), and even some very light Virtual Pet elements. However, I don’t think any of these individual elements is quite as prominent as the core Arcade-style gameplay.

A standard run in Gigapocalypse has players taking their preferred monster (there are multiple to choose from, each with their own distinctive abilities) and tromping through a town or city and controlling its short and long-distance attacks as they target the human opposition, along with buildings and hapless bystanders.

The monster itself automatically tromps forward unless its path forward is obstructed, usually by a building that hasn’t yet been toppled. So this means that your focus will be almost exclusively on attacks. In docked mode, players do this by moving a cursor around the screen, with one button used for projectile attacks, and another to use melee attacks that automatically attack targets near the monster. Furthermore, players can move the cursor to one of multiple special attack buttons at the bottom of the screen to make use of these attacks if their cooldown timer has elapsed.

This method of control… works… but it doesn’t work especially well. Moving the cursor is too slow and inefficient for my tastes. In addition, this same control method is used for the game’s menus, which is really tedious and frustrating. Again, it works, but it doesn’t work well.

That’s why I think the ideal way to play this game is in handheld mode, where players can make use of the touchscreen to directly interact with menus and tap on targets without having to get a cursor to travel there. I feel like the option to play the game this way makes the Nintendo Switch version of the game the superior console version.

As for the gameplay itself, I feel like what’s here is pretty good, if a bit simple and repetitive, once you get past all the additional elements. Indeed, these additional elements are one of the more enjoyable parts of the game, as it’s wonderful to be considering which of the various options you can make use of to turn your monster into a true terror, or alternately to give the baby version of your kaiju a bit more loving care to get even more points to pour into upgrades.

As for the presentation, what’s here is pretty good, if not especially groundbreaking. The game uses pixel art visuals with a good amount of color and detail, and it’s particularly fun when your destruction starts shredding through tons of buildings and enemies all at once. These visuals are backed by a decent synthesized soundtrack that’s appropriately energetic when in the midst of action, and then ironically gentle and calming when you end a run and are tossed back into coddling your baby monster and preparing them for their next run.

Overall, I really like Gigapocalypse, but I also think there are multiple ways this game could be improved. While I am absolutely thrilled the superior touchscreen controls are an option, I do wish this game did a better job giving players effective gamepad controls to use in docked mode. Also, while terrorizing hapless humans is fun, I do wish the gameplay wasn’t so simple and repetitive. Overall, I think this is a fun game and the Nintendo Switch version is one of the best versions of the game to get, even if the game overall has its problems too.

tl;dr – Gigapocalypse is an Arcade-style game with RPG elements, Roguelike elements, and Virtual Pet elements, with players guiding the growth of a kaiju-style monster and then choosing its targets once it sets out on its path of destruction. The gamepad controls here leave something to be desired, though thankfully the optional touchscreen controls are far better. However, no matter which controls you use, the gameplay is still a bit too simple and repetitive. Despite this, Gigapocalypse is still an enjoyable game that kaiju fans would do well to check out.

Grade: B-

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