Hollywood Monsters (Video Game Review)

Hollywood Monsters, formerly known as The Next Big Thing, is a new release for iOS from developer Pendulo Studios, who brought the world such games as the dark, twisted tale of Yesterday. Hollywood Monsters focuses on a more cheerful storyline however, as two aspiring journalists find themselves in the middle of the biggest story of their careers. Liz Allaire is a cheery entertainment reporter whose dedication to her profession and own incompetence finds her in one sticky situation after another, while sports reporter Dan Murray is your typical headstrong alpha male who's quick to pop off a funny line and even quicker to run away from terrifying beetles. The two star in a tale that takes players to a 1940s Hollywood setting that imagines if monsters in films were real people who starred in more films than just your usual horror films. The lighthearted adventure is one you'll want to experience whether you're a huge fan of creature flicks or not, and the game is more accessible and affordable than ever before now that it is available for iOS.

Point-and-click turns into point-and-touch in Hollywood Monsters on iOS. Players will progress through the game by pointing and touching the screen to lead whichever character currently being controlled in the desired direction, and many of the objects in the game can be interacted with or taken to be used to solve another puzzle later in the game. Hollywood Monsters features plenty of missions from the monsters of the golden age of the film industry and some completely new creations that need assistance finding lost items, incapacitating a friendly adversary or otherwise solving puzzles to progress through the game. A hint system will offer advice and guidance to completing missions, but the system is hardly perfect and will occasionally drop such obscure hints that an online guide may be necessary to progress through the game's tougher puzzles. If players don't want to receive hints, the difficulty of the game can be cranked up for a more challenging run through the game.



From an artistic standpoint, Hollywood Monsters looks as high quality as some of the films the game imitates. The colorful graphics look as though they were ripped straight from the next hit animated film much like the cel-shaded graphics of The Walking Dead. Animations for the game's two characters are fine here as well, and it's nice to actually see your character moving through the game, since many point-and-click adventures only show the main characters during, and it's also refreshing to see these characters brought to life by the phenomenal voice acting that brings these quirky characters to life. If you're a fan of mobile games or classic horror movie monsters, you're going to want to check out Hollywood Monsters today!

Hollywood Monsters is now available exclusively for iOS and can be purchased for the introductory price of $4.99. Hollywood Monsters is rated E by the ESRB for Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Mild Suggestive Themes & Mild Violence. For more information or to purchase Hollywood Monsters, head over to the official iTunes Store.

Game Features:

Single Player

Point-and-Touch Adventure

Two Protagonists

Multiple Difficulty Settings

Hint System for Puzzles

Game Information:
Developer: Pendulo Studios
Publisher: BulkyPix
Platforms: iOS (reviewed), PC & Mac
Release Date: December 6, 2012

Score: 8.5 out of 10