You may be the calmest and mellow person around. However, a little wanton destruction never goes amiss. Consequently, a game that focuses on mindless violence always attracts an eclectic audience. Gigapocalypse hopes to scratch that destructive itch as you smash your way to victory.
Developed by Goody Gameworks and published by Headup GmbH, this is an aggressive arcade title. What’s more, it is super addictive, easy to pick up, but full of lore, power-ups, and lots of gore. As such, it may not be suitable for younger audiences and can be played casually when time is short.
If you are of an age where the game Rampage rings a bell, then you’ll adore Gigapocalypse. Though it isn’t entirely the same, the similarities are uncanny, and the gameplay is equally enjoyable. Yet, I believe that this modern enormous lizard affair is superior to Rampage in many ways.
Gigapocalypse is wild, whacky, and moreish as hell.
The story behind Gigapocalypse is plain stupid! As such, the scene is set before you’ve even moved a gigantic claw. You control an array of Giga dinosaurs that have been captured and experimented on. However, one day their cell defences fail, and the giant lizard escapes. Just as the humans look to have failed, the Giga is sucked into a portal and turned into a baby dinosaur. Here, you must nurse the lizard, upgrade its skills and abilities, and send it back through the portal to destroy anything in its path.
This is the crux of this title, and on the surface, it lacks complexity and should be repetitive. Instead, there is plenty of depth and fresh action thanks to a thorough upgrade system. The gameplay is designed to push you to your limits while guaranteeing failure. Each level you tackle offers mutation points, collectables, and treasures. If you die or complete the stage, you are awarded your spoils and can improve your beast. As a consequence, your dinosaur gets stronger and your progress is undeniably easier.
Pets, skills, and decor.
What makes Gigapocalypse even more unusual, is its Tamagotchi approach. To improve your beast, you must feed it, clean up its mess, and love it. If you do this, you earn more mutation points that can be spent on your Giga. This is essential, as you won’t progress otherwise.
Making the lizard stronger is easy in theory, but there are many avenues to take to make this a reality. You may improve its decor to make things better. If you do this, there are stat boosts that increase health, strength, speed, and so forth. However, you can focus specifically on certain skills that’ll alter your approach. Do you invest heavily in your shooting powers, increase your punching fury, or improve each special ability?
Alongside the abilities, you can unlock pets or purchase new skins. The latter adds a bonus to your Giga’s base abilities, whereas your pets increase your firepower, replenish your health, or offer unique power-ups. They are an essential tool if you wish to be victorious. On top of this, they add another layer that helps to keep things fresh.
Side-scrolling destruction and massive bosses.
You’ll spend plenty of time with your baby Giga, but the core gameplay revolves around the side-scrolling destruction. The action is split between Annihilation and Endless modes. Moreover, there is a bonus stage to earn extra rewards if you wish.
In Annihilation, you must traverse an array of stages while destroying everything and everyone in sight. The action culminates in a boss fight that is loaded with QTEs. These encounters aren’t challenging once you identify their Achilles heel. Accordingly, a little trial and error are required to identify their weaknesses.
Endless mode uses the same stages but increases the difficulty as you progress. Subsequently, your run will end when you die and there are no bosses to tackle. This option was somewhat repetitive but was great if you wanted to grind out mutation points.
Gigapocalypse looks wonderfully retro.
If you love vivid colours, massive explosions, and dated imagery, then you’ll cherish Gigapocalypse. Thanks to its pixelated style and garish colour palette, it has a distinct look. Furthermore, each stage is varied, whacky, and a little eccentric. Moreover, the array of enemies is interesting, and the gargantuan bosses are unusual and eye-catching.
I loved the graphics, but the audio easily gazumped it! Thanks to its incredible metal soundtrack, you’ll be fuelled by aggression. This loud and high-energy affair is tough to put down, even when you fail. What’s more, the cacophony of noises is ear-splitting, uncomfortable, but oh so amazing to listen to.
The controls were good, but a little strange.
Your Giga automatically moves and only stops when it hit an obstruction. This was perfect, as you could focus on killing people and destroying buildings. This was helped further by the efficient UI and the responsive controls. However, I found the use of a cursor for aiming purposes to be a little strange. For me, it was unnecessarily clumsy as a simple analogue aiming would have sufficed.
Where Gigapocalypse shines is its replay value. With a large array of dinosaurs to control and plenty of skills and abilities to unlock, there are many paths you can take. What’s more, you can test your survival skills as you try to survive each Endless mode.
Gigapocalypse: a simple game with lots of depth.
Sometimes a simple game can become tedious. Thankfully, Gigapocalypse has a straightforward concept that’s supported by layers of depth. Furthermore, there are plenty of Gigas to choose from, many upgrades to buy, and oodles of humans to slay. As such, it is thoroughly entertaining and great to play casually. Accordingly, I recommend you to buy it here! Life as an angry dinosaur is only complete when you smash every building and human in sight.
