Retro Review - Deadly Creatures - Wii

02/12/12 21:29 Filed in: Video Games

Deadly Creatures is a game THQ released in 2009 during the console's heyday. Like the Nintendo Wii's other title Animal Crossing: City Folk, this has you enter the world of small animals in their everyday lives. Unlike Animal Crossing though, Deadly Creatures does not in any way anthropomorphize the subjects within. There are no cutesy chats between Mr. Scorpion & Ms. Spider about what they will wear to their tea party, this is a about the pure amoral brutality of nature.

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It's kill or be killed, that's all the motivation they have and what more do you need? In Deadly creatures you take the role of Mr. Scorpion or Ms. Spider (why am I still doing that?) a poisonous scorpion and a large hairy tarantula as they scurry about fighting other arachnids, insects, reptiles and small rodents through their unblinking indifference to survive at all costs. Rather, the story in Deadly Creatures, is told through two towering human characters, played by Billy Bob Thorton and the late, great Dennis Hopper as they search for lost Civil War era treasure in the American south-western desert.

The story is actually quite well written and of course well acted due to its cast, ending with a whole "who is the REAL deadly creature, the animals or man? dun dun dun!" moral but that's something for those of you who play Deadly Creatures to find out for yourselves. I can tell you about the gameplay however, this is another example of the castletroid sub-genre. You take the role of one of the two playable avatars (I can't really call them characters as you already read) and explore a sprawling world beneath thorny bushes, inside cacti, between floorboards & other places we usually never see. The spider even has the ability to crawl along walls & ceilings as well.

It creates a strange sense of perspective so just don't play Deadly Creatures when you're hung over. Trust me, I've already made that mistake but at least you'll never get lost. There's always a handy arrow to point you where you need to go which is available at the press of a button. While exploring you will expand your skill-set by finding upgrades and defeating other creatures that opens up new areas to explore.

Fighting enemies uses a bit more flare than in reality but it is always very visceral. The scorpion controls more like a tank by grabbing enemies and stinging them or tearing them apart while the spider leaps around shooting webbing from its spinnerets and sucking enemies dry. What grounds it in reality is the amazing amount of detail that was put into the character models, especially considering the limited hardware of the Wii. You can see the little flagella on the tarantula's legs and even its idle animation has it twitching and occasionally grooming itself. Deadly Creatures definitely isn't something to be played by someone who has any kinds of phobias for small organisms.

Lastly, I have to mention the excellent sound direction this game has. The levels have a hazy, ambient soundtrack and while obviously neither insects nor arachnids really vocalize, the foley engineers did some very interesting work which fits in perfectly along with the other clicking, buzzing and scratching sounds heard throughout the levels. All together, this makes Deadly Creatures one really fun game on a system most people wrote off from the start. So if you're one of them then it's never too late to take a second look and now is the perfect time to start your collection with Deadly Creatures for only a few dollars wherever games are sold.

Tags: Deadly Creatures, Wii, entertainmentoverdose