GameFocus writes: "Alright, we all know that there's a certain stigma that inherently goes with movie licensed games. This is especially true when those games come tied in with a movie aimed at kids. Beenox certainly know the risks, and have taken it upon themselves to change this with the movie-based tie-in, Monsters vs. Aliens."
Pros
+ Missions are broken up quite well.
+ Characters look great in-game.
+ Voice acting is solid for the most part.
+ Excellent level designs.
+ Extras galore!
Cons
- Co-op isn't as fleshed out as it could be.
- Minor control issues with quick-time motion events.
- Dialogue seems a bit weak here.
- Relatively short.
Chris B. of TGF writes:
"By now most gamers are immune to being sucked in to purchasing a video game that is based off a movie. For the most part the games aren’t based off the movie itself, and are usually a side story created using loose parts of the movie to tell it. Developer Beenox and Amaze Entertainment, with publisher Activision decided to throw their hats into the ring and take on the project of creating the home based console and handheld versions of the movie by DreamWorks Monster vs. Aliens."
Movie-tie-ins are almost always universally panned by critics and are seen by the majority of the industry as an opportunity to cash in on something big at the box office. Usually criticism levelled at said productions is due to poor game play elements resulting from a short development time and a rush to release the game on a tight schedule, unfortunately for Activision Monster vs. Aliens fits this trend to a tee.
PGNx writes: "Monsters and Aliens battle it out in Activision's latest title. The game, based on the upcoming Monsters vs. Aliens feature film, is developed by Amaze Entertainment for the Nintendo DS. The general plot and gameplay is fairly similar to its console cousins though the game was obviously adapted for the handheld."
