Terror of Hemasaurus
As the end of the year approaches, it's been a crazy one in terms of climate, with forest fires from Canada gracing New York with wildfire smoke for the early parts of the Summer. Climate change has always been a topic of discussion among people in suits who argue for and against it. Whether one believes in the science or not, one thing is for certain. The rising temperatures defrosted one of the world's fearsome killer lizards and in Terror of Hemasaurus, you, as the killer lizard, will show humanity the reality of climate change.
This game answers the question not if climate change is real, but what would be the best way to get humanity to understand it's real? Taking the titular kaiju itself, the Hemasaurus was discovered and frozen by a religious cult of the giant lizard monster. The leader of the cult had found a way to freeze the lizard and transport it back in time long enough for the ice containing the monster to melt just as humanity is doomed from the actual effects of climate change. It's an ingenious strategy; Scare humanity into caring about climate change by being the result of climate change and destroying humanity in the process.
The humor in this game, from the plot alone, is fairly dark but it blends well with the Rampage and carnage that the player causes in Terror of Hemasaurus. Its gameplay borrows many elements from the Midway arcade classic yet with more freedom of movement. In the original Rampage, the monsters climbed buildings yet movement was restricted to a "grid" like system. Originally, if a monster destroyed enough key aspects of a building, it would crumble to the ground in place. In Hemasaurus, buildings behave as they would with natural physics.
Attacking a "weak point" of a building will cause it to topple in the direction a player desires. An example would be a tall building sandwiched between two smaller buildings. The player can knock down each building individually or attack the taller building's left side, for example, so that the tall building can collapse directly on the smaller buildings. Not only is it time efficient, but it's also cool to see the explosions and results of your craftsmanship for destruction.
In between missions, some cutscenes are filled with cheeky dialogue that makes the game aware of how unserious everything is. It oftentimes reminds me of Destroy All Humans except with a lot more destruction and a lot less wise-cracking aliens. The player doesn't have to destroy each city to a hundred percent completion as they are given a set goal to survive to the end of the stage. Other special missions include kicking cars into buildings and throwing civilians into news choppers.
I missed games where players could be a complete menace and it's a genre that I felt isn't explored enough. Sure, sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto games give players the liberty to do as they please, but rarely as a "larger than life" character. The last time I felt such a way about a game was The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction. While Terror of Hemasaurus is linear in comparison, it still captures the energy of playing a character that crushes humans, flips cars, and climbs buildings without care. You feel like you're on top of the world and ultimately that's what gaming is all about.
Midway through the game, it becomes clear that there's something else major in the works. The magnifying glass is expanded ever slightly past the scope of a "rampaging monster destroying the United States" but it becomes that of a developer with a dream. Most of the thoughts that went through my mind, be it the political message of the game, the excessive violence and profanity, are made self-aware here. It reminds me of the twist for Goodbye World, where the game wasn't about the game itself, but the story behind the game.
With this in mind, Terror of Hemasaurus becomes a "video game," as in it doesn't matter the absurdity of the plot or the rhyme or reason behind it. At the end of the day, you are Reptar a giant lizard destroying buildings, eating civilians, and kicking cars like it's the game formerly known as FIFA. As of right now, it's part of one of several December bundles on Fanatical. There's more than enough entertainment to be had for less than the cost of a cup of coffee and it's a fun experience that isn't afraid of being a video game.
Terror of Hemasaurus is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.