Monster Outbreak First Impression- GameMunchers Studios created the love child between classic 16-bit gaming and the tower defense genre.
If Retro-inspired gaming is your thing then GameMunchers Studios should already be on your map. They’ve captured the nostalgia of early 90’s gaming with a fresh new twist. Monster Outbreak perfectly embodies their fresh concept on an old style. Monster Outbreak at its very core is a tower defense survival game, but the depth and possibilities are endless. After speaking with the developers of the game, Monster Outbreak is definitely marked on my calendars for its early Q2 2022 release.
Being an early demo, the gameplay is fairly smooth and offers an easy system to build and customize your defenses. These options include towers, catapults, floor traps, swords, bows, and much more. The core game is a story mode in which you are set to clear islands of hoards of monsters in hopes of saving the kingdom. The demo itself offered the first island and let me tell you this is not your run-of-the-mill tower defense. The game is HARD. But for those of us that have been with the genre for quite a while, it’s a breath of fresh air. Gone are the days of simply zig zagging your maze with more and more towers, monsters will simply destroy the structures if the route is not optimal. Due to this reason, you really must be both creative in your mazing and optimal in your positioning. As of writing this, I have yet to even clear the demo (stage 6 out of 10, farther than most according to the developer). So, the challenge is there. There was also a nice addition in the demo… THE BOSS STAGE. Let me tell you, Monster Outbreak is not advertised as a bullet hell, but boy was it hard. I did manage to make it to the golem boss, but then he proceeded to obliterate my base. It was oddly satisfying watching him destroy my base and made me want to come back even stronger for the next run.
After my quick run-through with the developers, and some quick conversation, I learned the game is not even in its final stages, but in a good way. The developers have taken the opportunity to add quality-of-life additions to the game that I think will take the game over the top. Things from being able to move and build, more clear indications of when you take damage, and creation of a survival mode. Just from our conversation, you get the sense that this is a passion project more than a corporate property and for that, they will always have my respect. Ultimately, Monster Outbreak is a reimagined fast-paced tower defense that truly has unlimited possibilities. Head over to STEAM to wishlist Monster Outbreak.
