GigaBash is a 1-4 player brawler featuring kaiju. Wait – what’s a kaiju? Kaiju are a type of mega-monster that first graced Japan’s silver screen in Godzilla (if we’re not acknowledging King Kong). Though GigaBash isn’t a fully licensed battler endorsed by Toho, it may as well be. Just change a few names here and there, and boom! An excellent kaiju-themed brawler.
Just a disclaimer here, I didn’t play any online battles. I tried a few times, but like Elden Ring, no one heard my cries. Also, a review code was supplied before the release date, so it was only fellow reviewers, and we’re ‘busy’ a lot.
Let’s jump to the story mode, as that’s the quickest one to cover. Initially, there’ll be only one kaiju to choose from, and you’ll run through a handful of chapters until its narrative path is complete. Upon completion, a new character is available from the selection screen in multiplayer, but also a new story for a further three. You don’t get to play all the characters, just three monsters and a hero robot that resembles Gundam.
In attacking opponents, destroying buildings or collecting purple orbs or standing on charge areas, you’ll build up a gauge which triggers a gigantic version of you (after pressing L1 and R1). You’ll do more damage, but for a limited time – even more, if you destroy a special move orb. Once depleted, three large orbs are released into the arena for your opponents to collect and try to do the same S-class damage to you.
There are three modes: free-for-all, two vs two and mayhem (which features minigames), for up to four players locally or online. Flicking between L1 and R1 will choose a skin, then you can choose one of many dynamic arenas to fight in – some featuring cool weather effects that affect gameplay. Extra skins are unlocked through XP, as well as extra info for your kaiju dossier, should you be interested.
Though I’m a huge fan of Japanese cinema, I’ve never been one for kaiju flicks. With that in mind, Passion Republic Games has done an excellent job with their character write-ups and the storylines (beautifully illustrated like comic book panels), and you may also be compelled to level up every character.
Presentation-wise, GigaBash is wunderbar, aside from a few camera niggles if you head too far off-screen. The character models are brilliant, and though the movesets are oh-so-slightly similar, the design is unique. GigaBash is a great family game, too, if you don’t mind exposing your kids to comic violence. In the short time of playing the game, we binged this to unlock new skins, but more importantly, to cause absolute mayhem.
There were a few technical issues, albeit minor. At the time of playing/writing this up, the sound FX would stop playing through the campaign mode, and yes, I checked the menu settings. A restart or two solved this, but it was no great loss, as some of the sounds can be a little too generic. The music had a lot more character, but it gets repetitive quite quickly. Again, minors.
Once the story is over, GigaBash concentrates on being a co-op game (which it excels at), but fellow gamers who don’t like playing online or don’t have anyone to join in can add bots to their games, and the AI is consistent. I must stress that playing with others is key, so get out more, get some sun, and make some acquaintances to play with on the PS5 (other platforms are available – PS4, PC: Steam and Epic Games Store, and now the Nintendo Switch).
