Deadly Creatures

[Volray]

Feb 15, 2009 16:44:50 GMT -5 Nester the Lark said:

Anyone else played it yet?

I did, just picked up the game yesterday.

I haven’t really gotten too far into the game (I just got to chapter three), but so far it’s pretty cool. Not entirely sure yet if it was worth the full $50, but that’ll probably change once I get further into the game.

[Nester the Lark]

I think once you've played the first two chapters, you have a pretty good idea of what most of the rest of the game is like.

Not to spoil anything, but when a developer doesn't have enough time/money to finish a game, it's the ending that usually suffers for it. It's abundantly clear that that was the case with Deadly Creatures, but since THQ is suffering financial difficulties, they were probably eager to stop spending money on it and get it into the market. (...Where it's probably flopping, since THQ can't afford to advertise it.)

Otherwise, I got a kick out of the game. My review for it is almost done, and I'll probably be able to send it in to Wildcat later tonight. Maybe he'll let me post it here, as well.

[kame64]

Deadly Creatures is a breath of fresh air. The game did freeze once but, it was still fantastic.

[Wildcat]

Go right ahead, Nester. I won't be putting it up until this weekend anyway.

[Nester the Lark]

OK, here's the review I wrote for Wildcat. It's pretty much everything I've already said, so it may not be that interesting.

THQ's Deadly Creatures is about creatures in a desert, and the gameplay is as straightforward as the premise. You alternate playing as a tarantula and a scorpion, and you traverse terrain, engage in battles against other various desert life, and generally just try to survive. There's really no motivation provided for you to engage in this cycle other than because it's just what you're supposed to do, but I suspect that that would also be the case for real scorpions and tarantulas.

This is, perhaps, one of those games that's more about the experience than the gameplay. Realistic graphics combined with creepy sound effects and wonderfully moody music create a dark and compelling atmosphere that's usually associated with survival horror. I think this is the aspect of the game that most makes it worth playing.

The gameplay, as stated earlier, consists of moving forward and fighting whatever gets in your way. The path winds around the ground, up walls, across ceilings, through various objects littered (literally) across the desert landscape, and seems deliberately designed to disorient you. The fighting is methodical, and uses a combination of buttons, gestures and IR pointing. Since it focuses on good timing and finding openings in your adversaries' defenses, I think it feels very strategic, and I found it to be compelling.

Being that tarantulas and scorpions don't have much personality of their own and thus can't really tell a story, the developers attempted to compensate for this by adding a couple of human characters named Wade and Struggs that mainly stay in the background. You'll only have brief and infrequent encounters with them as they fulfill their simple story arc, but it does indirectly provide an overall goal for you and your otherwise motiveless arachnids. In addition, Wade and Struggs are voiced by Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper who ensure that their presence is always entertaining.

The game doesn't provide much in the way of artificial replay value, other than unlocking art galleries by collecting grubs scattered throughout each level. Another problem is the game's ending, which consists of a pre-rendered FMV sequence of shockingly bad quality. It's obvious that development of the game was wrapped up in a hurry.

With such straightforward gameplay, Deadly Creatures lives and dies by its high concept. To be sure, it plays will enough, but the real show is its amazing atmosphere and presentation. I enjoyed my time with the game, and if the premise sounds interesting you, then you probably would, as well.

Recommended.

[Nester the Lark]

For those of you who didn't buy Deadly Creatures, this is the fun you could be having. ;D

THQ said they weren't going to do TV ads for the game, but this one should be on TV because it's absolutely awesome!

[Nester the Lark]

Here is an interesting article at Destructoid about Deadly Creatures.

The author thought the game was "somewhat mediocre," but then goes on to say that he felt it was a more accomplished game compared to Killzone 2 on the PS3:

When I finished the game, I was left impressed by the game’s setting, but feeling rather empty about the overall experience.

It wasn’t until I popped in Killzone 2 just a few weeks later when the genius of Deadly Creatures really set in.

Every videogame designer needs to look closely at three specific features that Deadly Creatures does very well. In my opinion, these three features have the power to truly change the videogame industry for the better.

[Wildcat]

Well, not good news from THQ Land.

[Wildcat]

More not good news from THQ land.

Now, I've bought the game since my last post, and I can say it's one of the finest Wii games I've played. In fact, here's my Impressions piece from LVLs.:

I’m really digging this game. The controls are nearly perfect, the graphics are more than adequate for the premise, and the level designs twist and turn what you expect from a 3D platformer. The tarantula and scorpion offer their own movesets and abilities, and both manage to be enjoyable to play as, which is a massive plus. Nothing worse than getting to a level you dread because you don’t like the playstyle of a character (Sonic Adventure 2, anyone?). The music is moody and fits the atmosphere, and the additions of Dennis Hopper and Billy Bob Thornton as background material is a clever gimmick that manages to fit in. And this game may have the best title screen in a game I’ve ever witnessed. It quickly caught my attention.

The only downsides I’ve had is that it’s occasionally difficult to discern where you’re supposed to go next (I’ve had this issue more with the tarantula than the scorpion, and I think it’s due to the way the developers have it fly about to webs to traverse certain parts of the levels, which can be tricky to spot at times where exactly the web grappling chains start), and a fatal game freeze that pretty much ceased my desire to keep at it. I’ll give it another shot and hope it doesn’t happen again, as I consider this one of the Wii’s finest games thus far otherwise.

I bought mine for $15 at Best Buy in a clearance bin, and it was well worth it. Track it down before it disappears!

[Nester the Lark]

Frankly, I was surprised to hear it was still being manufactured.

And you could certainly do worse for $15. I'm glad to hear you liked it. I just hope the extremely shoddy ending doesn't put you off from how good the rest of the game was.

[Wildcat]

Well, only one ending put me off of a good game (Persona 3, for those curious). This game's ending isn't something I'm dying to witness, to be honest. The gameplay is what I came for, and so far, it's been rock solid. Maybe I'll try to finish it up this weekend. I'm on Stage 6 I think, and was on the blue pick-up right before the game froze.

[Wildcat]

The final nail of bad news from THQ Land.

*sigh* That's really too bad, man. It was clear that they had talent. Now they're just a digital DL only studio without their own name. Terrible.