Deadly Creatures

"Short, but sinisterly sweet. Deserving of attention."

When I first saw the cover art for Deadly Creatures, I immediately thought it was a boring game by some newb third-party with relatively little gaming expertise, trying to make an easy buck off of a very cheesy game concept. Well folks, I was definitely wrong about most of that. Rainbow Studios obviously put a great deal of effort into creating this game, and while the motif is still pretty cheesy at first glance, that second look can make a world's difference.

Story: 9/10

You play as a spider and a scorpion, alternating between chapters. The real story of the game, however, takes a back seat role. A gasoline store owner named George Struggs and another man by the name of Wade are searching the desert for gold buried during the Civil War, and as the game progresses it becomes increasingly obvious that man is, in fact, the deadliest creature in the desert.

Graphics: 9/10

The game looks fantastic in many respects. The models are all great, and as I remember hearing it, all the textures were hand-painted, and they can be pretty clear close up. There's a great level of detail in terms of design, from individual hairs on the tarantula to dynamic changes in lighting. I personally want to commend the designers for making all of the creatures that appear in the game (spiders, lizards, even rats) look and move so accurately. The only setback is that the game pushes the Wii to its limits, so much so that the framerate can drop a little more often than one would be used to. But considering that it normally runs at a crisp 60 fps, the rate never drops more than just noticeably.

Sound: 9/10

While there's not really any music to be had, the game has a great score, that does a fantastic job of creating atmosphere. All of the species you encounter, including you, produce some really nice-sounding noises. Hisses and screeches, and the lizards even sound vaguely like the raptors in Jurassic Park. While this obviously isn't accurate, it sets the mood so much better when you consider that you're playing as a large, but relatively small arachnid that in several cases becomes outsized by your adversaries. The voices of the two human characters are played by Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper, two very established people in terms of their voices.

Gameplay: 8/10

The gameplay is pretty solid. Controls are responsive, the combat system is great. Both the tarantula and the scorpion have different playing and level styles while not feeling too different either. The scorpion essentially plays like a tank, and can implement unique and very cool finishing moves, similar in premise to those of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The tarantula is a bit more about stealth and exploration. The special abilities of both creatures are not entirely realistic, but such is necessary to make the gameplay more varied. More abilities are unlocked as you progress. There are a few downsides though. The enemies aren't particularly varied, and the story is pretty short -- only about 8-10 hours of play per file. Finally, the camera can have a few issues sometimes. Normally it's automatically positioned in absolutely ideal manners, but sometimes it can get caught in awkward places.

Replayability: 6/10

After beating the game, there's not a whole lot to do. You can collect grubs as you play to unlock art galleries. There are a total of over 400 of them hidden in 10 levels. There are also a special kind of cricket you can eat certain numbers of to increase your maximum health, and those are limited in number and hidden as well. But one could do all of this during the first playthrough with enough diligence (I almost did). So, except for the story and the unique feel of playing as two creatures that most people consider rather sinister, there's not a great deal of encouragement to play more than once.

Rent/Buy

The game is definitely good enough to buy, but it's short enough to rent. It's one of the rare third-party Wii games that isn't just a bunch of minigames. It's quality stuff. If you want to support this kind of superb third-party effort towards the Wii's game library, you should buy it. But at the very least, rent it. It can be beaten in a couple of days, and it deserves at least that much attention. Don't be fooled into writing it off like I almost was.

Overall: 8/10

A great, but short game. It truly is unique, and worth your attention. It could be described as an "indy game," in that it's different from mainstream games in a way similar to that of indy films. And it really pulls it off to amazing effect.
I personally thoroughly enjoyed playing it, and hope to see some kind of sequel in the future.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/19/09

Game Release: Deadly Creatures (US, 02/09/09)