Game Reviews

Monster Meltdown

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Monster Meltdown
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| Monster Meltdown

Playing Monster Meltdown is a bit like herding cats would be if the cats in question were large enough to eat you if you made a mistake.

At the beginning of Monster Meltdown you're put in control of Yuri, a post-Soviet janitor in a research facility who accidentally lets a horde of monsters escape from their test chambers.

Rather than run screaming into the night, Yuri dons a teleporter suit and decides to capture the monsters himself.

Each monster behaves differently when they see Yuri: some charge towards him, others flee in terror, while still others continue on with their business completely oblivious to his presence.

No matter what variety of monster is present, the objective for each level is the same: you have to get the monsters to the exit.

We do the Monster Mash

To accomplish this you teleport Yuri around the chamber with a simple tap of your finger.

If you tap in the air, Yuri will appear and then plummet to the ground. If you tap on a monster, Yuri will switch places with it.

As soon as you've gotten to grips with this puzzle system, Monster Meltdown throws another challenge at you: Yuri can only teleport within his line of sight. If a platform or obstacle prevents Yuri from seeing around it, you won't be able to teleport him to areas covered by its shadow.

This is easily circumvented by teleporting Yuri skyward, but it soon becomes apparent that two or more fingers are required for rapid teleports.

For all of its satisfying puzzle gameplay, Monster Meltdown does make a few missteps. The learning curve jumps abruptly from an overly long tutorial to advanced puzzles, and - like a Lego man - the plaid smile on Yuri's face never changes.

Thankfully, neither of these issues should interfere with your ability to enjoy this innovative and cute puzzler.

Monster Meltdown

Fast-paced and full of Soviet-era chic, this novel puzzler is one Red Scare you don't want to miss
Score
Matthew Diener
Matthew Diener
Representing the former colonies, Matt keeps the Pocket Gamer news feed updated when sleepy Europeans are sleeping. As a frustrated journalist, diehard gamer and recovering MMO addict, this is pretty much his dream job.