There’s always something about big monsters that speaks to my child-like soul. Whether it be King Kong, Godzilla, or Pacific Rim, I’ve been an avid fan of Kaiju-related media for most of my life, and grew up playing games like Rampage, and Destroy all Monsters: Melee. Developed by 13AM Games and published by WayForward, Dawn of the Monsters hopes to deliver the experience of classic Godzilla films within a fast-paced beat ’em up.

The story of Dawn of the Monsters is pretty standard for this genre. In the not too distant future monsters called Nephilim have awakened to cause destruction throughout the cities of the world. After years of fighting against the Nephilim, humanity has formed a powerful group of defenders; Aegis Prime, a superhero with the ability to grow to supernatural proportions leads the charge along with Tempest Galahad, a giant mech piloted by Jamila Sinai. They are joined by two Nephilim monsters Megadon and Ganira, who have been augmented by scientific technology to obey the commands of humans.

Together they form DAWN (Defense Alliance Worldwide Network) and must work together to eradicate various Nephilim creatures and the powerful Monarchs who lead each brood. While there isn’t much in the way of surprises here, the story does it’s job well enough providing a suitable background to the gameplay. Additionally, world-building although subtle is nonetheless present. Dawn of the Monsters has numerous archive files you can read through if you desire to further flesh out characters, enemies, and missions. Gameplay itself is the core focus: Dawn of the Monsters is a side-scrolling beat ’em up with flashy combat as the centerpiece.

Each of the four major characters has a unique playstyle but all of them share basic controls. Each character has a three-hit light and heavy combo along with a dash attack. As you defeat enemies your character will build up a rage meter that can be consumed to unleash three different special moves that will deal massive damage. When the rage meter has been completely filled, your character will also have the ability to unleash a devastating cataclysm attack. These are quite cinematic and satisfying to pull off with some good sound design and animations that sell the weight of each hit.

While I enjoyed the combat for the most part, I did have an issue that personally detracted from the solid base. There’s a lot of input delay for a majority of attacks within Dawn of the Monsters, and this makes it quite easy to get interrupted mid-combo by enemies. This also detracts from how many types of combos become available.

Given that some characters have extremely sluggish, lengthy attack frames, you are often locked into performing only simple three-hit combos with little opportunity to cancel or extend. Now this issue is most likely a creative choice: Given that our characters are huge goliaths they wouldn’t be too agile. However, it is a video game thus I’m willing to sacrifice a little bit of immersion for the sake of more fluid controls.

The most unique aspect of this combat system is found within the execution and perk system. Whenever an enemy’s health gets low you have the option to finish it off with an execution. Doing so not only heals your character but can activate various stat boosts depending on which augments you have equipped. Each character can equip three augments which boost various aspects such as damage, speed, defense, and more.

After you successfully complete every level, you will be rewarded with additional augments that you can add to your arsenal. The power levels of the augments are often determined by your average score for the corresponding level. This adds a nice element of replay value to the game as you can farm for rare upgrades by going for the high score. Additionally, the augments allow you to craft a variety of unique combat builds which enhances player customization and freedom. This is easily the best mechanic that Dawn of the Monsters has over other games within the genre, and it certainly elevated my playthrough substantially.

In terms of other positives, Dawn of the Monsters has a wonderful comic book art style that I enjoyed quite a bit. Cutscenes are animated as though you are flipping through a comic book yourself, and character designs look visually appealing as well as conveying a sense of personality. The game also runs flawlessly and I didn’t encounter any visual issues. The music is also well done with some pulse-pounding instrumentals that coincide perfectly with the action movie tone. Each major story arc also takes place in a unique environment that introduces one or two new enemy types giving a decent level of variety as you progress.

Dawn of the Monsters is also fully voice-acted which certainly helps to flesh out the world and characters a little bit more. However, I did encounter some audio glitches from time to time. The newest content update added a Japanese voice option and during conversations, I experienced characters speaking in both languages simultaneously despite selecting English as my option.

In terms of overall content, there have been some additional updates with the latest DLC. The DLC adds Meteor Temujin: Temujin is clearly inspired by Super Sentai shows such as Power Rangers and Voltron, with an arsenal of weaponry that will alter your playstyle after performing each special move. This character is incredibly fun to play and is well worth the addition to the roster. Furthermore, the DLC also adds a host of new game modes that allow you a chance to truly test your skills. The main story has expanded difficulty options allowing for some truly brutal encounters. There’s also a new challenge mode, an arcade mode, and a survival mode.

The arcade mode is quite fun, as you battle against hordes of enemies across eleven stages collecting upgrades along the way and conserving your lives. You also have the option to randomize upgrades similar to a Rogue-like which is a fantastic inclusion. If you want to change up gameplay more drastically, then the challenge mode is what you’ll want to dive into. Each one will place you into a strange scenario with engaging objectives. It’s virtually the same as the bonus modes you’ll find within Mortal Kombat’s towers or other fighting games but still is a good bit of additional content.

There’s a lot to enjoy about Dawn of the Monsters. For the price, you are getting a complete product that can give you a fun time with friends or playing solo. For only a few dollars more, the new DLC is definitely worthwhile and brings a large breath of content that will extend your playtime even after completing the main story. While the combat wasn’t perfect for me, it’s still decent enough to warrant a purchase if you enjoy the theme and genre.

A PC review copy of Dawn of the Monster was provided by WayForward for the purposes of this review.

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Dawn of the Monsters

$29.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Comic book art style
• 5 distinct playable characters
• Augment System
• DLC offers lots of postgame content

Cons

• Combat can be sluggish