Sadly, it has been an entire decade since the last Godzilla game. To rub salt in the wound, not only has it disappointingly been a full ten years, but it’s also impossible to get a hold of the last title. Appropriately titled ‘Godzilla’ (who would’ve guessed), the 2014 fighting-meets-action-adventure game is nigh-on impossible to find. Launching exclusively on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, the game has been delisted from online storefronts, and physical copies are pulling in extortionate prices, so you’re all out of luck unless you’ve got a pretty penny put aside for this exact reason.
I can’t help but find it strange that ten years have passed since the last Godzilla game considering the amount of games featuring towering creatures we've seen in recent years. Wild Hearts and Monster Hunter Rise send you out on the hunt for such beasts, while Elden Ring features many larger-than-life fantastical creatures that you have to face off against. So why haven’t we seen one of the most iconic gargantuan critters for a decade?
Frankly, as someone who just wants to be a huge chaos-wreaking lizard, I think it’s about time we started thinking about what a future Godzilla video game could look like. Given the release and success of TV's Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Godzilla Minus One, which has quickly climbed the ranks as the highest-grossing Japanese Godzilla movie in the US, there’s never been a better time to open the doors to players who just want to see what life would be like if you were the god of all lizards.
Beat 'em up
Godzilla (2014) puts you into the titular creature's shoes (scales? talons?) and challenges you to destroy certain stages by laying waste to maps with your brute force. Be it through atomic breath, a swift swing of the tail, or just flailing your gigantic arms and hoping a skyscraper is reduced to rubble. You rampage through 10 areas and destroy G-Energy Generators while destroying everything in your path. But, it’s not always smooth sailing - obviously, since who wouldn’t react to a giant monster storming through their home city - and there are multiple things in the way to stop you.
These obstacles are precisely what would make a great Godzilla game ten years on. Suppose you were given the role of a civilian desperately trying to stop the destruction rather than playing as Godzilla. In that case, you’d need a very tough defense, whether that’s human or kaiju like Mothra, a giant moth who frequently helps mankind rather than fighting against them, or Baragon, another reptilian kaiju who is fairly well-versed in fighting against Godzilla - it’s not like the universe is in short supply of alternative creatures to help the battle. In Godzilla (2014), other kaiju would occasionally crop up to fight against Godzilla in a boss battle-like format. They weren’t challenging fights at the best of times, but they still shook things up from the ‘destroy all’ content of the rest of the game.
In addition to this, the King of the Monsters mode from the 2014 game also pits you against various kaiju in a 2D fighting game-like style. This element of beat-'em-up combat would be essential for a new game if one were to ever come to fruition. It’s one thing using your brute strength for pure destruction, but putting yourself to the test against a beast of similar capabilities would let you feel just how savage large-scale attacks can be, all while allowing you to battle as other creatures rather than just sticking with the titular lizard. We've seen some of the best fighting games over the last few years, with Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1, so it would be a great chance for another to be thrown into the mix even though its roster would be slightly less humanoid.
Batten down the hatches
Implementing a tower defense system could be another great way to show both sides of the story. Elements of tower defense would be a great way to implement tactical mechanics and offer an additional leg for the game to stand on. If I could have my way with creating this system, I’d draw a lot of inspiration from Monster Hunter Rise and the Rampage sequences, which have you preparing the village for oncoming attacks from hoards of monsters by building up artillery, and getting fellow fighters ready for impact.
Entire cities could be prepared in a top-down real-time strategy (RTS) format, planting weapons atop skyscrapers and preparing fleets of helicopters and jets ready to face off against whatever behemoth or monster has decided to swing by. In an ideal world, this could also be a gateway for a multiplayer game, with one player preparing for an oncoming attack and the other taking the role of a monster ready to annihilate whatever is in their path which would make for a great strategy game if you wanted to stray from the traditional beat-em-up formula.
I don’t have the skills to make a game myself, and my wishful thinking alone isn’t enough to bring a new Godzilla game to life. But if there were any plans to reintroduce everyone's favorite (or at least my favorite) giant lizard into the video gaming world, then I’d love to sit in on the planning meetings and throw my two cents in - or just be a fly on the wall. At the end of the day, I just want to be the big lizard, and, after ten years, I’m done asking nicely.
Our guide to the best RPGs may be of interest to anyone looking for a new title to sink their time into. However, we’ve also got a list of all the best single-player games if you need more unmissable adventures to bolster your library.
