We recently had an opportunity touch base with Shelby Wills, a producer at Pipeworks. She was able to answer a few of our questions about the upcoming release, Godzilla Unleashed.

Rick Poulin (GamingExcellence): What are some of the major changes in comparison to the previous titles in the series?

Shelby Wills (Pipeworks): This is a title we built from the ground up specifically for the Wii. The biggest change is the fighting system and how it plays with the Wii controls.

Rick: What can you tell us about the storyline?

Shelby: The storyline basically revolves around these huge crystals that have grown out of the Earth. Your monster and the faction it represents will in turn determine how you will approach these crystals and the changes they've caused. Depending on the monster's motivation (are you invading Earth or defending it?) the storyline will expand from there.

Rick: Are all monsters dragon-like in appearance?

Shelby: No, there are several different types of aliens – we've revealed some of the monsters, and they are profiled at Atari.com

Rick: What are some of the abilities that some monsters will have?

Shelby: Probably the most talked-about is the Critical Mass ability – it drains you slightly but allows for a 30 percent increase in mass and destruction – it's really devastating to your opponents.

Rick: What kind of interaction will exist between the characters and the environment?

Shelby: I'm happy to say that the environments are totally destructible! Smash all the buildings you want, pick them up and throw them at your opponent, etc. It's wicked fun.

Rick: Do the humans in the game take part in the action?

Shelby: Definitely – depending on how destructive you are, the army will get involved and try to slow you down or destroy you.

Rick: How are the cities designed? Are there environments based on any real-life locations?

Shelby: Oh absolutely –we've done a great deal of work to model our futuristic cities like real life environments on earth. For example, Sydney is covered in ice! I think you can find a lot of the city profiles online, there's a good deal of video we've shot to make sure fans can get a good look of the new fighting environments.

Rick: Does the environment change during play (weather, day/night cycle)? Does the weather differ in other levels?

Shelby: The weather doesn't cycle per se, but depending on where you are location wise, it does change in very nasty but cool ways.

Rick: Can you describe how players will be controlling their monster with the Wiimote?

Shelby: Good question, this is one we get a lot, probably because fans will want to know in detail about how the game plays. It's super fun to be the monster with the Wii -- The game uses the Wii remote and the nunchuk attachment. Players will have six primary actions – Charge weapons, Punch, Kick, Rush, Brace and Fierce Attack. The Wii remote will handles attacks, while the nunchuk handles movement, jumping, but almost every action is initiated with a button press. Because buttons feel “tighter” in a way that is essential for a fighting game. But the remote movements modify those inputs. Pressing A, for example, launches a basic punch attack. Swinging the remote Up, Down, Left, or Right while pressing A changes the attack into a specific heavy attack, such as the Uppercut or Hammerfist.

The pitch and angle of the Wii remote also drives your monster's head in real-time while you fire your weapons, which feels really great. Monsters which use their Tails for Fierce Attacks can use the Wii remote to manipulate their tail in the same way.

Rick: How many players can participate in a multiplayer game, and are there different game modes?

Shelby: We're sticking with our very successful 4-player game style that worked so well in DAMM and StE. Four-player monster battles are a critical part of the Kaiju experience. We'll have our excellent point-based melee mode, destruction mode, and the long-awaited last-monster-standing mode, in which players do not respawn.