If you’ve ever wanted to find out if you can save the world from the giant monsters raging through the city, you’re in luck. Kaiju War gives you the chance to dominate the forces of a small nation besieged by a force of five kaiju, each modeled after a city-destroying monster famous in cinematic history. Classic graphics conceal a surprisingly complex and satisfying strategy game with a tone that certainly strikes the right balance between silly moments and the serious business of saving the world.
The gameplay of Kaiju Wars will be familiar to fans of strategy games. Each map offers different resources and layouts, forcing you to adjust your strategy based on which opportunities appear and which of the five kaiju spawns. One thing that you will soon learn is that your meager military force is no match for the monsters you are facing, as most will be destroyed in a single hit and deal maximum damage. minimum for them.
However, what they can do is slow them down long enough for your scientists to push the kaiju back into the ocean, so most of your gameplay will be spent trying Put your team in position to take advantage of largely predictable roads. Monsters go all over the map. Tanks can slow enemies on the ground while planes can slow down units in the air. You will rarely deal enough damage to one of the creatures to make them retreat, which helps overcome the powerlessness in your situation. These creatures are simply too big a problem to be solved by force alone.
Resources on each map are scarce. Each region generates money based on the number of civilian buildings it has, and ‘science’ based on the number of labs the area has. Earning enough science is often the key to victory on each map, while money can build labs, airports, and military bases as well as buy the units these facilities spawn. Eventually, one of the monsters will target the lab where your main scientist is hiding, forcing you to hastily retreat to a new location before starting the whole process all over again.
The concept is simple but has enough depth to keep Kaiju Wars from looking like a mere push-button exercise. You’ll rarely have enough money to buy everything you need, so there’s an important balancing act going on, making sure you have enough units on the field to slow monsters without wasting precious resources. its price. Use some elite units, such as laser cannons and manned mechanics, and you’ll have plenty to do every time you sit down with this game.
This careful balance is countered by the randomness that accompanies the cards the game uses to simulate events. Both the player and the shadow organization that controls the kaiju have a deck of cards they draw from that allows them to shift things in their favor. Sometimes you’ll get extra earnings in one turn, only if the computer moves the kaiju twice and kills half of your island. And right from the start of the game, you can build your own deck, allowing you to stack it with cards that suit your playstyle.
While it’s not a particularly deep system, it does allow for some interesting experimentation. You can focus on making super weapons or flood the map with cheap manufactured units to see which is more interesting to you. Both can work, although there is usually an optimal path to win on each map you need to find. Failure is almost inevitable when you’re trying to figure out the correct strategy, especially in the more difficult optional quests that can be tackled for more medals.
The visuals and sound in Kaiju Wars are designed to stir those nostalgic feelings in fans, with the graphics featuring the red tones of the Virtual Boy console and a midi-inspired soundtrack that doesn’t repeat itself. repeat. It’s all simple yet effective, giving the game an interesting aesthetic without getting in the way of actual gameplay.
The only downside to the presentation is that it’s all developed explicitly for mouse and keyboard controls, meaning the Joy-Cons feel clumsy and imprecise when trying to focus on a crowded map or Click a small icon to skip a cutscene. Tablet mode lets you use the touchscreen to get around some of these problems, but even then, the text is too small for our fingers to be a good substitute for a mouse. reliable. This wasn’t an issue for us in dock mode, but if your Joy-Cons drift even the slightest bit, you’ll have a hard time.
The other disappointment with the Switch version of Kaiju Wars is the lack of online functionality compared to the Steam version. While PC players finally got Twitch chat integration, a local versus play with friends mode, and a custom leveling system, the Switch version lacked these features at launch, which is true. disappointing, but hopefully, those features will be added in a later update. There’s enough gameplay here without them but they’ll be what keeps players coming back for more.
From the classic presentation to the witty jokes between the characters, Kaiju Wars is a cleverly written game that offers just enough strategy to keep you confident throughout the game. . It will only take about 10 hours to complete the main plot, the plot is only there to create an excuse for the kaiju to keep attacking, although finishers will find ways to extend that time to about 15 hours. Kaiju Wars tries to last just long enough to not be too welcoming, making sure the jokes don’t fade.
Conclusion
If you’re a fan of tight strategy games that don’t take themselves too seriously, Kaiju Wars is a short but well-balanced title that lets you defend your homeland from giant monsters. Classic graphics and sounds allow developers to rely on the most summer camp kaiju movies, but the gameplay itself should not be overlooked because of the silly packaging. Even without the extras that the final PC version had, there’s plenty here to immerse you in a short playtime.
