Deadly Creatures

Review from Cav - Sunday, 05 April 2009 @ 11:34am

I will be the first to admit that I laughed when I first heard about Deadly Creatures.

“Yeah... a Bug’s Life beat ‘em up game ... cool” - this is the part where you imagine my eyes rolling in my balding head.

I will also be the first to admit that I was rather impressed with what Rainbow Studios have put together. It was quite a risk to put and idea like this into motion and present it to the people, but personally, I believe it works.

No, this is not a scene from the Secret of NIMH

The very first thing you see before you begin your game is the menu screen. The animation of the insects and reptiles that are displayed is awesome. You’d nearly think you’re watching video footage! The wife even stated that she’d think it would make an awesome screen saver..... I may have to hit up the THQ guys to see if that is possible! Three save files are available to you as well as a host of options. There are also six galleries which are unlocked as the game progresses. These contain some pretty impressive artwork, so make sure you give them a chance. On beginning a game, in either Easy, Normal or Deadly mode, the unmistakeable voice of Mr Billy Bob Thornton sets the scene with bit of narration. He holds one of the only two speaking roles in the game, the other is held by Mr Dennis Hopper, both of whom give solid performances. During the game, take the time to stop moving (if you can) and listen to some of the banter between Struggs (Hopper) and Wade (Thornton), especially their tips on genital enlargement.

A Gila Mosnter and a Scorpion play Aliens with their friends

Deadly Creatures sees the player initially taking control of a spider, then, in a later chapter, a scorpion, both of which move with a creepy touch of realism. Not that I have ever attempted to get up close to spiders or scorpions, but I would call the movement as nearly spot on. I don’t suffer arachnophobia or anything, but if they keep to themselves, well, let’s just say I’m happy with that. Come to think about it, maybe this game could possibly cure the odd person or two out there. Let people control a spider and not let a spider control them. Bizarre marketing strategy for the win! Well, that’s enough of my ‘therapy theories’ anyway. Deadly Creatures uses the Nunchuk and WiiMote well, offering a big variety of attack moves to take on other beasties that you will come across in your travels. Further attacks and moves are rewarded to you as the game progresses. Some of the moves are a little farfetched, such as a spin attack for the spider, but they work well. I also was a little confused about the audible ‘bark’ that the spider emits when performing a jump attack. This thing has more grunt than your everyday, run of the mill Chihuahua, let me tell you. As the Spider, you will also eventually learn to navigate your way around buy shooting webs (point and shoot with the WiiMote) at existing Spider webs and pull yourself towards them. During certain points of a fight with an enemy, you will be offered to complete a QuickTime event by thrusting the WiiMote and Nunchuk in various directions or hitting buttons on cue as indicated on screen, ala Resi 4, which makes your creature deliver a death blow. As always, miss a beat and start the process again. The button combination does vary should you fail; keeping you on your toes... wait... do spiders and scorpions even have toes?

Spider rave - Put your hands in the air!

There are heaps of adversaries that attempt to halt your progress throughout you game, including my favourite, the Horned Lizard, who has the ability to shoot blood at you from its eyes! Now I have seen a guy inhale a cigarette and expel smoke from the corners of his eyes, but this reptile has him beat! It would have also been better to have the ability to use your surroundings to kill more often, like in the opening sequence where two bugs are going at it and one flips the other into a cactus, impaling him in one of the needles. Guess we’ll all just have to play MadWorld for that kinda action. The army of creepy crawlies that you will come across include other spiders, beetles, scorpions, lizards, the wasp like ‘tarantula hawk’ (a real pain in the arse to kill if you are the scorpion), rats and a rattle snake, one of the games ‘bosses’. The end boss for the game is.... well, I’ll let you figure that one out. It won’t be hard to guess though... not as hard as it is to defeat. In regards to that final battle I have a tip for you:

Persistence, patience and timing are your friends and take your instructions literally.

…but that’s all you’re getting out of me. You'll just have to play it for yourself!

You like a scratch behind the ear, don't ya boy? Good doggy!

Not only do you have to safely make your way through chapters in the game, but you must also collect grubs, grasshoppers and other smaller insects. There are apparently 450 grubs to collect throughout the game, while you wander around as either critter. I came home with 390 on my first run and I was pretty damn happy with that effort. At times you will see grubs that you cannot get to while playing as the Scorpion, but may be able to access as the Spider, and vice versa, so you have to remember the position when you go through the area with the opposite character. These replenish life so another tip is to leave the odd one or two and double back to them when needed. Save points for Dangerous Creatures appear as a cluster of tiny, brightly coloured buzzing insects. Don’t be afraid to double back to them either, but don’t confuse them with the darker insects, who can take life from you. Shake them off quickly! Waggle that WiiMote!!

You can’t knock the game on its graphics, they are pretty damn good. These guys have really pushed the benchmark for what can be done on the Wii. The feeling of being only a centimetre or two off the ground has been captured well, with everything being oversized around you. At one stage you will find yourself crawling through the inside of an overturned vehicle, ccuttling across the dash, through the glove box and around the pedals; the detail is great. At other points you will find yourself inside a TV, in a shoe, or even traversing the stairs of a dolls house. Even though these do appear very pretty, one downfall the Dangerous Creatures has is that your creature, or the ones you face off against, don’t always interact well with their surrounds. Quite often creatures will be partly concealed or absorbed in rocks, dirt or walls, making them hard to defeat in combat. The collision detection does need a little more fine tuning to work out the bugs...

...Oh crap! I promised myself I wouldn't use that term when writing up this review!!

Camera positioning can also cause players grief, with it occasionally getting caught on the environment and letting you travel off into the distance and not really see what you are getting yourself into.

THQ incorporates the WWE game engine, letting the spider use a top rope finisher

I’ll wrap this up by saying that I enjoyed it. It was something that was different that worked very well, yes it may have gotten a little repetitive at times, but an enjoyable experience all the same.

Pros

Great animation and environments. Thornton and Hopper do a good job. Not too hard to pick up. An innovative idea.

Cons

Occasionally clippy. Can't always centre the camera behind your creature. Scorpion harder to play than Spider.