Death Vs. Monstars
This is the kind of efficient plotting and character design I like to see in a shooter. What's your motivation for exterminating vast populations of cute eyeballey critters? Well, you're Death, you see, and in a shocking twist, you like to kill stuffs. No city in peril, no alien threat—all you want to do is *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* and a *click* *ka-ching* and take their money.
Death Vs. Monstars (from HDOS Databank request 01 creators GameReclaim) is not your typical Flash arena shooter, thanks to a clever control scheme that lets you play only with the mouse. You fire, constantly and hyperactively, in the opposite direction of your movement. 
This makes sense, because when you dodge away from a wee beastie who wants to catch you and chew on your giblets, you'll automatically be shooting at it. To strafe, just hold the mouse button to lock your firing direction. Easy, but it takes some adjustment if you're used to the old wasd-and-mouse setup. I prefer this, frankly. It feels clean and elegant, and it lets you carve your way through the hordes like buckshot through sherbet.
As the everlasting incarnation of mortality (and so adorable!), you also get some super powers. When your anger meter is full, double-click to turn enemy bullets into gold and release a wave of destruction in all directions. Your other meter is Slow Motion—hold the [Space Bar] to activate it and slip through the crowds like a slug through sherbet.
Between levels, spend your accumulated blood money on new weapons, regenerating health, and the like. The main menu screen is a little hard to read at first, so here's the quick explanation: missions are on the left, and they unlock in sequential order as you beat them. Weapon shop is on the right. Mmm…sherbet.
Analysis: The engine behind Death Vs. Monstars is impressive, hurling hundreds of moving sprites around the arena with nary a stutter. And what makes a shooter work, really, is the smoothness. Without it, there is no rhythm; and with no rhythm, there is no rush blood trance rage.
Though it takes a few missions before the Monstars (a cunning portmanteau of "monsters" and "supraorbitar" (oh hush, it could happen)) start shooting back, it doesn't take long at all before they're attacking in large enough groups to transform you into a creature made of pure reflex. Luckily, the bright colors and crisp character outlines make it easy to see all the important details in the chaos. This game is a superb argument against particle explosions.
I have already heard some talk that the money system is unbalanced, that it is too easy to "farm" certain levels and therefore gain an unfair advantage; and to this I say, "Don't farm then, you addled daftmobiles. Try to beat it without repeating any levels, like a hero would."
As brainless as Death Vs. Monstars comes across, it is constructed smartly. monsters appear in well-paced waves, and their movement patterns complement each other. It's a surprisingly casual shooter as well, due to the simplified control scheme, the upgradable health bar, and the abusable weapon shop. The hardcore shmup fan will lay waste to this game fairly quickly, but not without a great deal of joy; and there's always the final endless "Score-Hog" level, for high score bragging rights.
In Short: Death Vs. Monstars is super-awesome. Sherbet is yummy.
Walkthrough Guide
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Walkthrough:
Beginning:
Welcome to the most difficult game when it comes to moving around. Move your mouse to move around. The hard part is that you shoot in the OPPOSITE direction that you move. So, to, for example, shoot at the top-right corner, move your mouse towards the bottom-left corner. Berserk is double-click, and slow-mo is space bar.
Your objective: Kill monstars & survive. That's it. Not very hard if you think about it, but it can be difficult to survive when there's a thousand monstars on the screen. Get pst the first two levels by killing what you can. For Level 3 and on, continue to "Making Money"
Making Money:
To make money, move over the gold coins, pieces, and, in some cases, numbers. The coins are worth 10, the diamond shaped pieces are worth 50, and the numbers are worth the number. The two levels that are the biggest money makers are levels 3 & 7 ("Bouncy-Bouncy" & "Orange County"). This is because the green blobs drop 50's and occasional 2k's, while the oranges drop 200's and the much-more-often 2k. If you are just starting, start with level 3. I usualy gain anywhere from 50,000 to 150,000 on level 3 (that's with surviving and getting the 1.5 multiplier bonus). The order you should by weapons in is this: Weapon 3, Weapon 4, Weapon 5, Weapon 6, Weapon 3. If you have enough moey to skip ahead to a more powerfull weapon, then do so (but still get weapon 3 last, since it isn't worth the money it costs). As for the upgrades, you can get them in any order you want, though I suggest starting with Health and Healing. Always buy weapons before upgrades (excluding the FIRST upgrade in Health and Healing). A note on the weapons: You can equip different ones you have bought by clicking on them. The one highlighted in red is the one equipped. A description of the monstars are next.
Monstars:
Blue Guys ("Lowly Critters"):
These guys hunt you down, but don't do much else. One shot to kill these buggers. (10 coin)
Green Blobs:
These guys head toward you when they spawn, but just go in straigt lines bouncing off of things after that. A few shots will kill this. (50 coin-occasional 2k)
Yellow/Gold "Shells":
These monsters have shells, thus requiring a few more shots two kill. They also appear in swarms and hunt you down. (2 10 coins)
"Oranges":
The easiest of the shooters to kill, these slow moving blobs usually appear in small (or sometimes large) groups. They take between 5 and 15 shots to kill(I was using the BIG gun, so it's hard two tell). (200-2k apears about 1/4 of the time)
Purple "Hunters":
These star-shaped monstars will shoot you down. They prefer to move in a circle around you than move straight at you. Takes a few more hits to kill the the "Oranges." (50 coin-occasional 2k)
Dark Orange "EyeTowers":
The hardest regular monster to kill, this guy will stay in one spot and shoot large, blobby shots at you that have a good amount of damage. KILL THESE IMMEDIATELY!!! Even with the big gun, it takes a few seconds to kill it, and if there are a lot of them, you will be dead before you can say "I hate these @#$@$% EyeTowers!" (4 coins & a 1k EVERY time)
How to Survive (Most the Time):
You need to master the "strafe" BEFORE going on to battle the boss. Use the strafe to point your gun in one direction while moving (like always shooting towards the left side of the screen while moving up and to the left) and to point it at one point where there are a bunch of monstars or at a spawn point. If you see a bunch of monstars coming from one point, shoot at that if you can, because they will keep coming out for a little bit, racking up more kills (and getting them off your screen). I like to stay in one corner and use the strafe to point towards the opposite corner, and kill all monster near me before moving foward to collect bounty (if I need it) and then move to another empty corner. This works best for non-shooting monsters. Once you get those shooters, it is best to stay in the middle and shoot around you. Also, use berserk only when you are being overpowerd. Otherwise, save it for later. (It's also good to use it right before the end of a level to kill off the remaining monstars quickly)
The Boss:
So, you finnaly made it to the big guy, huh? Well, get ready for the battle of you Death vs Monstars life (which hopefully hasn't been long, otherwise you're probably doomed to die...). You have to start out by shooting Blues and Purples. The length of this is random; foe me, one time it lasted 10 seconds, another time it lasted 2 minutes. After you get down to the last ones, the Boss apears!!! Kill off the remaing blues and purples before tackling this monster of a monster.
There is a method to kill him. It's called AVOIDING!!! You have to avoid his attacks to kill him. The attacks are:
Purple Stream: A stream of large purple shots. This will kill you quickly.
Swarm: A swarm of little black minons will appear. Kill them off or use berserk.
Large Purple Stream & Swarm: A combo of the previous two, but BIGGER! Berserk is the best way to gow with the Swarm, and go in a circle around the Boss to avoid the stream.
Light Purple "Super Shot": This comes in a big and little version. He will shoot out little shots in straight lines out and away from him. Watch where they go to avoid. (These dont do TO much damage, but still don't try to get hit)
Lunge: He will lunge at you. Simply move out of the way.
He also does some other combos of these (mainly including "Lunge"). To kill him: use berserk and KEEP YOUR GUN ON HIM AT (almost) ALL TIMES!!!! This will make the battle shorter, and it will be more likely to win.
Once you beat him, he will blow up slowly, and look like swiss cheese, or sherbert with alot of holes. Watch the short video, read the funny messages, and your done! On to Score-Hog...
Add stuff if I missed any thing.
Enjoy!
(And yes, I DID kill the boss, and on the first try too!)
Posted by: coolpilot
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March 9, 2009 4:19 PM