Beware non-recyclers and those of you who are cruel to animals… Mother earth is angry and she’s released the Destructopus!
This 16bit style side-scroller, from Glitchsoft, sees you take to the streets as a giant red sea monster, hell bent on destroying those who have ravaged the world. It’s a little reminiscent of the classic game of Rampage, in that you must destroy as much as you can in a level while fending off attack from military forces.
The beast is somewhat controlled on rails, with you only seeing the head and one of it’s arms protruding from the left side of the screen, while tapping the left or right buttons brings the level towards him from the right hand-side…a crouch button lets you dodge incoming missiles. Attacks are performed by tapping or holding areas of the right of the screen. Touching the lower half unleashes your creatures deadly tentacle, good for taking out ground forces and destroying smaller buildings. Touching the upper part of the screen utilises the creatures massive jaws, while a third attack sees you to tap and hold to shoot out a laser from the eye of the creature, great for taking out the attacking waves of gunships.
To clear each level you must first survive the attacks, and then get to the end to free captured creatures, such as elephants, tigers and pandas. Points earned in each level can be used to purchase items in the ’100% organic’ shop. Items such as quicker dodging, thicker skin and super air chomp can be used to enhance your creature. While add-ons such as flame breath, spit attacks, and even a power up called pandamonium (which turns your creature into a giant, giant panda) are unlockable only through DLC, at a price of $0.99 each.
So far we’ve only played through the first few levels, and I can say that it is an enjoyable arcade experience. However, it remains to be seen if the gameplay can remain fresh in later levels, as I’m concerned that it could become a repetitive button masher.
Check out hands-on video of the game in action below, as well as a trailer for the game. Be sure to look out for our full review once the game is released.
TouchGen hands-on gameplay
Trailer
