I was an Atomic Mutant!

The Good
Plenty of 50's movie horror poster style, complete with black and white, cinema 3D vision, and other campy special effects, got the feeling of the atomic panic just right, each monster has their little "origin" movie which further adds to the campy feeling

The Bad
Monsters not that different, as they all have about the same 5 attacks, and otherwise nothing really different except the looks, no "purpose" to the game other than destruction and survival (onto one more town!), seems the game will never end sometimes, same tactics work over and over, enemies sometimes come from nowhere.

The Bottom Line
IWAAM is a game that could have aimed just a bit higher. It is dripping with style, and lots of production value, but it is just shallow enough that it will be relegated to the bargain bins.

Basically, you choose one of the 5 monsters (each with their own origin intro!) and then you rampage through the desert, destroying towns and outposts and cities and whatnot. As you destroy each one, you're healed and move onto the next town, which would have more defenders... You will be attacked by all sorts of enemies, from simple soldiers to chemical warriors spraying poison, from small P-51 Mustang fighters to B-52 bombers, from armored cars to tanks, and plenty of fixed weapons, all trying to slow you down and stop you.

You can be hurt, and those hits add up. Attacking a structure that explodes too close will hurt you as well. Your life ("awesome MIGHT!") is your measure. If you run out, you fell to the ground, and it's game over! (Though you actually do get multiple lives). Your other measure is "atomic energy", or your little "attack bar". Most attacks cost energy, and when you run out of energy, you can't attack, but energy regenerates rather quickly. Different attacks (there are five of them, from beam/projectile, to smash, kick/stomp, pick up/throw, and a special attack. Each would use different amount of energy (some don't use any!) thus energy management is a key skill.

Some of the monsters can pick up items, and throw them, doing even more damage. Cars and armored cars got tossed into buildings, sky scrappers fall into ruin, civilians panicking and running away... I's all here.

There are some power-ups you can find on the map that will give you extra lives, or recharge (or both!)

You can also play in "monster mode", which means you have only ONE life, but unlimited energy, or you can play in regular mode, which gives you 3 lives, but energy can run out. You just keep attacking towns and installations until... The humans bring you down.

The problem is... the game gets a bit boring after a while. There is only so much you can do. The monsters aren't that different, contributing to the monotony. Survival and high-score doesn't quite seem to fit the "monster" theme, but then, this is a "campy" game. One hopes for monster "versus" mode, ability to customize the monsters a bit (trade speed for life, etc.) and of course, multiplayer.

All in all, IWAAM is a sleeper-hit of a game that is sadly under-appreciated, and deserves a second look, if only for the campy chuckle factor.

The Good
Remember Rampage, the old coin-op game where you were a giant monster knocking over buildings? Imagine it all in 3D and presented with a lot more style and you have I Was An Atomic Mutant! Choose to play as a mutant brain, an alien robot, a giant lizard or a 50ft woman and then go smash stuff. That kind of gameplay never goes out of style.

This budget game has style to burn. The menus are presented in the overblown style of movie posters. You can play in black and white or color. You can even display the game on a drive in screen or on a theatre screen if you'd like. When you choose a monster, you can watch a great movie trailer explaining the monster's origin (full of well placed stock footage and 'classic' dialogue like "No bonds can contain this savage beauty with a primal lust for vengeance!"). If you look at the people and vehicles, they bounce as you stomp by. It's all these little details that elevate this game from the much of its' budget competitors.

You get to stomp through desert towns eating cows, tossing tanks, blowing up nuclear power-plants and smashing mobile homes. All the while you're harassed by soldiers, tanks, turrets and various planes.

You have to keep an eye on your health and your atomic energy. This is needed for your most powerful attacks.

Each monster has five basic attacks: fire, punch, stomp, throw and super. They vary a little depending on which monster you choose (Reptomicus can eat the people he picks up, for instance), but they all serve the same functions.

There are various power-ups hidden in buildings. You should have no problem finding them, since you have to level everything to move on to the next area.

Graphics are pretty good. Not cutting edge in any way, but the monsters are very detailed.

The music is fantastic throughout. Like every good 50's sci-fi theme there's over-the-top orchestral arrangements mixed with plenty of Theremin "WooOooOoo" sounds. People running on the ground say funnily appropriate things and blame science for the monster's attack.

The people at Canopy Games are big fans of 50's sci-fi movies and it shows everywhere.

The Bad
I highly enjoyed this game, but I wish there were more. Like the old Rampage game, you have three lives and play until they are gone. This essentially makes the game never ending. Given the movie-style presentation of everything else, I wish they would have given each monster their own story mode. Even just a few lines of text in the load screen and a final showdown of some type would have been enough to give you the sense that you were moving forward with more of a purpose than just to level an area.

My second problem is tied a little bit to the first: I think it would have been fun if every few levels you got to fight one of the other monsters. I loved kicking the stuffing out of the military base, but wished I could test my skills as Invader From Dimension X by taking on the She Beast while doing it. How such an obvious gameplay element was left out is beyond me.

Also, I would have liked a multiplayer option for the same reasons as those listed above. That omission isn't a game killer though.

The Bottom Line
I originally picked this one up on the strength of Canopy Games' last budget game, the terrific Desert Rats. I'm glad I did. While it's easy to see how a few improvements could have been made, for an old fashioned arcade-type experience, I Was An Atomic Mutant! delivers the goods.

The Good
One of the most appealing things about this game is how it's a lot like an old 50's monster movie. From the loading screens to the monsters themselves, the way that IWAAM acts like an old monster movie will make you laugh. The game also has a nostalgia feel to it, and it plays a lot like Rampage, the old arcade game from the 80's. The game also has a low price - I got the game at a local Gamestop for $20.

The Bad
Unfortunately, the monsters aren't that different from each other. The attacks that monsters have aren't that much different from each other and they all move at about the same speed. Plus the game can feel repetitive since the objective in each level is the same (destroy everything) and you never fight other monsters. There's no multiplayer either.

The Bottom Line
If you liked Rampage and like destroying things, you'll like IWAAM.

8 out of 10