Dawn of the Monsters
The cataclysmic battle between giant monsters has begun in this manga-inspired, side-scrolling, kaiju beat-’em-up! Titanic creatures known as Nephilim have invaded Earth, and the only hope of stopping them is DAWN (Defense Alliance Worldwide Network), which unleashes its own colossal combatants to defend against the enemy hordes! Take control of four hulking behemoths – Megadon, Aegis Prime, Tempest Galahad, and Ganira – each with distinct abilities and play styles, and smash your way through destructible real-world environments spanning more than 35 missions! Power up with DNA augments, crush foes with devastating Rage moves and brutal finishers, and team up with a friend for 2-player co-op action! You are the planet’s last line of defense…but will that be enough for mankind to survive the Dawn of the Monsters!?
Key Features:
-Four unique, monstrous playable characters: Megadon, Ganira, Aegis Prime, and Tempest Galahad
-Earth-shattering monster-versus-monster one- or two-player co-op beat-’em-up action
-Fully destructible cities based on real-world locations
-Brutal Rage abilities, devastating Cataclysm Attacks, and merciless finishing moves
-Fierce bosses and dozens of different enemy types
-Customize your monsters with DNA augments!
Game Discussion
Steam User 3
Tokusatsu themed beat-em ups are quite rare. King of Monsters 2 for the NeoGeo comes to mind, even though that game had very little to offer aside from some nice sprite work and music. Dawn of the Monsters seems to have taken inspiration from that game, but is easy to tell that its developers saw many areas to improve upon and the end result is a very solid beat em up title despite a few flaws.
The story is relatively simple but is interesting nonetheless. Giant monsters (known as Nephilim) have invaded and ravaged earth for nearly three decades and humanity has stablished the Defense Alliance Worldwide Network (DAWN) in an attempt to take earth back from the monster menace. The line of defense is made up of the typical staples of the Tokusatsu genre: Megadon (Fire Kaiju), Ganira (Water Kaiju), Tempest Galahad (Giant Robot), Aegis Prime (Giant Superhero) and Meteor Temujin (Megazord type). Unlike most games in the beat-em up genre, there is a strong focus on the game story which is presented in fully voiced, comic book-like panels and the ocasional animated cutscene.
Visually speaking, the game features solid comic book like visuals, which seem to have taken inspiration from Hellboy. The sense of scale is great and there is a nice variety of stages to explore. Sound wise, the game is hard to rate. The music is definitely fitting to the dramatic vibe the developers were going for, but is not very exciting. Voice work is great however and dual audio (english/japanese) is available. Sound effects are fitting, but you'll want to fiddle with the sound settings since the default level for these is rather low.
Gameplay wise, the game is quite a lot more varied and complex that it lets on at first impression. Characters feature unique special and super moves and differ greatly from each other while focussing on power, speed, defense or range. There are also a handful of advanced techniques such as parrying, last minute dodges and move cancelling for those players that are willing to put in the time to practice them in order to step up their game. And there is also the augmentations, which are basically perks you can equip on your characters in order to increase their base stats, power up their special techniques or add some wacky effects such as turning foes into time bombs. You'll find out that there is plenty of room for experimentation as you to unlock more augmentations in order to come up with your own strategy to use with your favorite character.
The game does feature some rough edges though. The game is divided into regions made up of many missions, so you'll end up fighting on similar looking areas for quite a while. There are some bugs here and there, which depending on your setup may be easily ignored or not. Also, you'll find the game lacks modes to keep playing once you are done with the main campaign, unless you own the DLC which adds extra missions, new game plus modes and an arcade mode (which gives you a faster and more streamlined version of the main campaign). Last but not least, some players may find somewhat odd that this is one of the few beat-em ups where you can't jump (perhaps the developers couldn't find a way it wouldn't look incredibly silly?).
In summary, this is a great beat-em up title and a great tribute to the Tokusatsu genre. If you are a fan of giant monsters and robots, this is an easy purchase. If you are simply looking for a solid beat-em up that differs greatly from the many other great titles in the genre such as Fight'n Rage and SOR4, this one is a solid choice as well. Be sure to try it!
Steam User 2
This game is what I would label "Simple but effective" and boy is it effective in my opinion. DOTM is a perfect small compact game for any Kaiju fans that want something with a simple formula but attention to details. The playable monsters are perfect with their unique yet simplistic designs that really give off a Showa era feeling for kaiju media. The combat is very fun too with heavy moves that feel heavy and destructive. Megadon was the obvious choice for me as I am a mega Godzilla fan, and I can feel the love with Megadon being this games take on the "Godzilla". Its just a nice sweet little present that will take a few hours of your time for a fun little story with beat-em-up mechanics.
Dont worry too much about the gameplay, because if you are a mega Kaiju fan like me, you will enjoy this game no matter what. Highly praise this and look forward to anything further with this world.
Steam User 1
A solid beat'em up with a classic kaiju storyline. Definitely worth a play if you are a fan of either genre.
Steam User 1
An enjoyable Beatemup, it was fun when unlocking all the colors and seeing the references
Also i really liked the story and the bits of information that you can unlock
Steam User 0
If you like Kaiju's then this is an interesting one because there is rarely one that's a beat em up. Most of these types are usually 1 on 1 fighting games or a simulator. Then you have games like Rampage where you destroy cities. The only one I can think of that was remotely a Kaiju beat em up was King of the Monster 2. And you could barely classify that.
What makes this game interesting is that there is no jump button. The monsters move slow and lethargic. So it plays a lot slower then most beat em ups. But that's not a bad thing as it's something you would already imagine. The big human and robot characters move a little quicker and have faster attacks.
Pros
1. There is a decent amount of moves in the game and each characters plays pretty differently.
2. The augments are random generated and base on level performance. You can pick to help build up your characters and play style.
3. You get 3 rage attacks and each character gets a powerful cataclysm attack.
4. You can unlock a number of cool color palettes by selling augments you don't use.
5. The story is interesting enough with some plot twist and you get to learn more about the nephilim.
Cons
1. Aside from the ships "sunrise" theme I don't think any of the game soundtrack is interesting or rememberable.
2. Not enough game modes even after the DLC contents. Training mode is extremely basic.
3. Many of the enemies are damage sponges. They take a lot of hits to go down and in some cases you feel overwhelmed so it almost feel like you are just trying to grind through the game.
4. You can't grab enemies and throw them. One feature that was strangely omitted.
5. Cell shaded graphics are nice especially with the character and enemy designs, but backgrounds leave a lot to be desire.
Steam User 1
Great gameplay, interesting story, and amazing art. Just an overall great game :)
Steam User 2
As a fan of the kaiju genre, this game checks all of the boxes. Could not have picked a better first game for my Steam account.