E308: Monster Lab blinded me with science
Backbone Entertainment's Monster Lab, published by Eidos, seems better every time I see it. I don't think that this is a function of improvements being made to the game so much as it is a matter of me understanding it a little better and getting more into the gameplay. I hope this game doesn't end up as overlooked as I think it will!
My demo at E3 took me through most of the steps to monster-fighting success: creating parts, building a creature, and fighting. Parts for the monster are made in minigames, and come in three categories of mad science: mechanical, alchemical, and biological. Mechanical parts range from gear-covered steampunk-looking stuff to futuristic robot parts; biological parts are your basic gross monster stuff, and alchemical parts are magic-themed.
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An example of the type of minigames involved: to imbue a mechanical head with intelligence, I played a game in which three robots, each with a different symbol on its head, appeared, and I used a giant hammer to smash the two whose symbols didn't match an onscreen prompt. The better you do in these minigames, the more intelligence that part will have.
These parts can then be added to your monster to strengthen it in random battles and give it new attacks. The battles follow the same kind of rock-paper-scissors balance found in something like Pokémon or Magic Pengel: certain types of attacks are stronger against certain types of parts.
The interactivity of the part gathering and the strategy involved in creating your monster make Monster Lab pretty interesting for an RPG. The pseudo-1950s mad science theme doesn't hurt either!
