Before War of the Monsters became the finalised product it is today, the game went through multiple changes, processes and tweaks.
Miscellaneous[]
Files on the disc of the final version of the game have recently been ripped, and the following content includes
WotM was originally titled Battle of the Monsters (courtesy of DinoHunter2, DeviantART).
:
- An alternative title (Battle of the Monsters!).
- The game was almost cancelled.
- A different Zorgulon thumbnail.
- A thumbnail for an unused Magmo design.
- Unused city block artwork (most likely a placeholder due to arenas not actually being designed back then).
- The incomplete origin of Raptros (note that his eyes are in fact green and the wings are translucent).
- Before Togera was used in the final version of the game, a giant lizard strikingly similar to Godzilla 2000 was used (in what seems to be New York). Togera's design was too similar to him, so he needed to be differentiated.
- An unused design for Agamo.
- An unused design for Congar (most likely a generic ape at the time). He appears chained up, surrounded by fires and monoliths.
- A small test clip featuring Robo-47, in an unnamed hangar, attempting to reunite himself with his detached arm.
- Another small test clip featuring Preytor, surrounded by what seem to be eggs in an unnamed city. She is notably larger in this version. Additionally this scene is used in the options menu in the final version of the game.
- In the games files there is evidence to support there was once an online mode planned as early as when the monster's were still being designed.
- On this list of playable monsters is Goliath-Prime, also known as AssBoss. This could suggest that Goliath-Prime would have been playable at some point.
- Likewise Goliath-Prime can be played as through the usage of a Gameshark code.
- Goliath-Prime has two costumes. His first is a plane silver texture and the second is his final.
- Cerebulon's third form is also playable with a Gameshark code.
Monsters[]
Raptros[]
From glimpses of concept, Raptros had multiple designs, being faithful to the traditional Dragon designs. Early concepts shown Raptros was originally blue in colour (which was later used as his 2nd skin), and he donned battle armour (which could hint at his prehistoric nature).
Togera[]
As mentioned previously, Togera's initial design hadn't been confirmed and it is believed Godzilla would've been playable. The artists at Incognito Entertainment went through hundreds of designs for a giant lizard (one of which looked very amphibious) until the SCEA present the concept of Togera in his final design. Lars Devore stated, in a 2021 Forbes article on the game, that both Togera and Congar were too similar to Godzilla and Kong respectively in designs, only wanting to capture inspiration and not rip them off entirely.
Preytor[]
Before Preytor was taken into consideration many concepts were created for an invertebrate kaiju, and even crustacean-looking monsters.
Congar[]
Initially, Congar was a simple gorilla monster and has remained that way, though concept art reveals he could've had claws on his knuckles. Some designs shown Congar would've have been fairly large in girth, or very hairy in comparison to the final version.
Robo-47[]
The design team went through several concepts of a traditionally military/war-themed mech until the final design became apparent. Some concepts show he had rocket packs on his shoulders, others with what seems to be an oscillator mounted into his chest instead of a gattling gun. A few unused designs show Robo-47 may have had spiked digits on his toes, and alternative rocket pack designs show they would have been similar to Boba Fett's jet pack from the Star Wars franchise. It is also believed that the robot from the alpha version of War of the Monsters was the original design.
In the US demo for War of the Monsters, the main menu's drive-in screen plays a clip from an early beta of WOTM. Robo-47 uses the additional rocket pack thrusters, unlike the final game. He's also seen grappling Preytor in a way unique only to
Agamo[]
Agamo first started off as a large pile of rocks; some designs shown he would have had multiple limbs with swords, taking on a geisha influence. Some Tiki elements came into play as he developed.
Ultra V[]
From looking at concept art, Ultra V went through many concepts too. One revealed he would've had toes and a rocket fist (much like Mazinger Z). One sketch looks very similar to Voltron. There's data in the game's files referencing Voltron.
Magmo[]
Magmo's design was fondled with by the development team and many exotic and bizarre designs emerged. Magmo was once a blob of molten lava, possibly becoming a minor homage to The Blob, but as his design changed, some concepts shown he could shape-shift his limbs (much like Robo-47's final design can), or his back being covered in molten spikes. Some of these designs only have two arms instead of four like the final game.
Kineticlops[]
In Kineticlops' data files, a duplicate thumbnail of Kineticlops suggests a spider was planned. According to Eric Simonich, he's a concept put together from multiple scrapped monsters, most likely the cut cyclops, blob and having the origin of the 50-foot woman. This is only speculation.
Zorgulon[]
...
Goliath Prime[]
Goliath's original design would have been much more advanced looking and it was shown he could transform his hand into a wrecking ball of sorts
Vegon[]
Vegon remained static throughout the whole of development. However from known artwork it was suggested it would have a single head instead of 3 in the final version.
Cerebulon[]
Much like the other monsters, Cerebulon had many concepts also. They were very reminiscent to the final versions but some shown he would've had more artillery, or a snake-like neck, or sitting in a floating high tech chair.
Unused Monsters[]
Throughout the early development War of the Monster's development hundreds of concepts had been drawn for the monsters and only a few were picked through the process of elimination. There were a few, however, that were almost included, but were initially scrapped. the known monsters are:
- Cyclops - as the name suggests, this monster was a giant cyclops that was created very early in development, probably even before any of the other concepts. The monster is shown with 2 heads, a single eye per head, holding a club and wearing elements of clothing. The only known content upon the ogre shows him without any textures so it is unknown what colour he may have been. Kellan Hatch fought with Sony to put the cyclops in the game, but lost the battle.
- Additionally the ogre is mentioned in a copy of Ultra-V's character portrait as WaroftheMonsters-Shogun-Ogre.
- Spider - Though there is little information regarding a possible playable spider monster it is alluded to in the game's files.
- A copy of Kineticlops' character portrait is named WaroftheMonsters-Energy-Spider.png.
- Robot - This "monster" was a robot also created early and was part of the prototype. The robot is quite frail looking with a single eye and a jaw, with 3 digits per hand and 2 per foot. The most interesting characteristic of this unused monster is the shoulder-mounted cannon. As mentioned by Owen Richardson (the lead artist), this robot was fully UV unwrapped, textured, rigged and even animated. It's likely Robo-47 is the finalized version of this cut robot as their designs slightly resemble one another.
- Amphibious - This monster was a water monster resembling the creature of the black lagoon. It was scrapped later on in development as its amphibious traits were given to Togera instead. However, the monster was re-used as Kineticlops' 4th costume. The reason the monster was scrapped was, as Eric Simonich stated, there was little practicality in having a water monster in a game mostly set on land.
- Blob - In the game's files are a character and a texture file for a scrapped character codenamed Jelly. According to a Forbes article written about War of the Monsters in 2021, a blob monster was in development but was scrapped as it would've been hard to read incoming attacks. The monster was requested by Sony to be put in.
- 50-foot Amazon Woman - Kellen Hatch stated she was one of two monsters Sony requested be in the game but were cut in the end. She was called Atomica. She was cut because she didn't help convey the size of the monsters properly.
- Mummy - Sony pushed to have classic monsters in War of the Monsters. Some unsolicited concept art was drawn of a gigantic mummy monster.
- Bride of Frankenstein - Ditto.
- Creature of the Black Lagoon - Ditto. Likely Amphibious.
- Mutant Giant Angry Baby - According to Eric Simonich on a Twitter thread, only one third of the content the developers wanted to include in War of the Monsters made it in. One concept was a mutated, kaiju-sized angry baby. How it would've played is unknown.
- Superhero - Ditto. The superhero would've been human-sized. Was likely cut because of readability issues like the cut blob monster.
Arenas[]
Midtown Park[]
in the early beta footage, seen on the US demo's title screen, Midtown Park has a lake in the centre, not present in the final. The park appears smaller than in the final version too.
Bay Town[]
In the behind-the-scenes trailer, the outer area of Bay Town is surrounded in a wall of fire. The fire is not present in the final game. Concept art for the arena also shows a collapses skyscraper forming a bridge to cross a trench made by the earthquake once triggered. Additionally when real-world cities were being used, the Transamerica Pyramid building is visible in an unused thumbnail for the level.
Unused Arenas[]
- New York City - Scrapped due to the terrorist attack which destroyed the Twin Towers on the 11th September, 2001. This is noticeable as the Twin Towers are in the centre and what appears to be the Empire state building is on the right hand side. The unused arena was likely used to present the prototype version of Togera at the time.
- Corey Kruitbosch, a level designer, stated that some of the assets from this level were re-used for other levels in the game.
- The game likely had a modern setting until the issue of sensitivities was brought up. Eric Simonich states moving the game into a 50s setting would be easier for kids to handle the idea of knocking down buildings.
- Training - An empty void littered with various power-ups. This level can be access via hacks.
- Lake Powell - This was unused canyon map, which was likely the predecessor of Rosdale Canyon. The arena is roughly the size of Midtown Park and featured more advanced geological structures like arching rock formations, cliff edges, a waterfall and a running river going looping around the entire map. The advanced rock formations can be destroyed by attacking them. The energy barrier that keeps the players inside the map create a different effect upon being touched. There is a military base with a set of explosive warheads which can be thrown much like radio antennas, which explode upon impact and set opponents on fire. The most notable feature is the stationary UFO in the centre of the map; it does not do anything but it can be picked up but it glitches out. This level can be accessed via hacks.
- The most likely reason behind the scrapping of this map is because of the amount of explosive warheads; players could camp around the plentiful supply of warheads and throw them at incoming enemies, gaining an advantage and being a huge distraction.
- The player's health and stamina GUI use the beta version.
- The collectable pickups in this arena use beta models.
- Additionally, it may have been scrapped to better incorporate the Mutant Ants and the Goliath-Prime boss fight.
- Tokyo Deathmatch - A scrapped version of Tsunopolis. The map is almost identical to Tsunopolis except for some minor differences. Firstly the sea is quite deep and there are random power-ups floating in odd places. There is no UFO to be seen like in the final version. There are also fewer buildings, of which are fully destructible and the colour palette for the level has a higher contrast with more vivid purple lighting and darker shadows. This level can be accessed via hacks.
Sources[]
- The Cutting Room Floor: https://tcrf.net/War_of_the_Monsters
- Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshweiss/2021/01/14/let-them-fight-a-kaiju-sized-retrospective-of-war-of-the-monsters-for-its-18th-birthday/
- Early gameplay footage (US demo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEMnCdlDryk
- Eric Simonich Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/ericsimonich/status/1374941097747652609