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Deadly Creatures

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Deadly Creatures
Developer(s)Rainbow Studios
Publisher(s)THQ
Platform(s)Wii
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single player

Deadly Creatures is an action video game for the Wii. It is developed by Rainbow Studios and published by THQ.[1]

Gameplay

Deadly Creatures allows players to play as a scorpion and a tarantula and engage in brutal combat against other arachnids, insects and reptiles.

The two creatures have different playing styles, with the scorpion's levels featuring more action-oriented gameplay, while the tarantula is more stealth oriented, with less linear levels.[2] The Wii Remote and Nunchuk are used for both movement and attacks, with motion controls incorporated for special attacks and finishing moves, while the tarantula also utilizes the pointer function to shoot webs.[3] New abilities are also gained as the player progresses through the game.

Along with dispatching common arthropods such as pill bugs, crickets, wolf spiders, dung beetles and hornets, most of which can be devoured to regain health, the player also faces bosses including a Gila Monster, a rattlesnake and eventually humans.[3] The clashes between the creatures are described as similar to monster movies, with a similar impact to battles in King Kong and Jurassic Park albeit on a smaller scale.[1]

Plot

Two humans, George Struggs and Wade (voiced by Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper)[4] are looking for a location in the desert where they believe gold from the American Civil War has been buried.[5] The story is told from the point of view of both the tarantula and the scorpion with both creatures often seeing the same thing but from a different perspective. When Struggs and Wade finally find the civil war gold, Struggs turns on Wade, hitting him with a shovel and taking the gold for himself. On his way back to his gas station, he finds the tarantula and keeps it in a cage, however the tarantula escapes and leaves the station. Meanwhile, the scorpion finds his way into Stuggs' gas station and stings Struggs in the genitals. Wade then enters the station with a shot gun and shoots one of the gas lines causing the gas station to explode. Struggs goes into a coma probably due to being bitten by a Gila Monster during his battle with the scorpion. Later on, the scorpion and the tarantula meet each other once again but do not fight this time. The game ends when a piece of the civil war gold flies toward the screen and lands on the floor.

Development

The game's concept was inspired when lead designer Jordan Itkowitz had a dream about using the Wii Remote to control a snake, slithering through the grass and striking a mouse.[6] In brainstorming, the idea of the snake and other creatures were left on the cutting room floor, leaving the scorpion and tarantula.[3]

For promotion, Rainbow Studios released a fake "behind-the-scenes" video dated from January 2008 revealing a motion capturing session involving a scorpion. However, the video shows a computer generated creature from the game itself with motion capturing dots on its body doing tasks.[7]

Reception

Deadly Creatures received mostly favorable reviews. IGN scored Deadly Creatures an 8/10, praising the game's refreshing premise and its "uncommonly provocative" storyline, tight controls and impressive soundtrack and graphics, but noted occasional framerate and camera problems.[8] GamesRadar praised the combat and level design, but also had issues with the camera.[9] Eurogamer criticised the camera, combat and collision detection, and praised the game's premise, animation and environments.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b IGN: Introducing Deadly Creatures
  2. ^ IGN: Hands-on Deadly Creatures
  3. ^ a b c Gamesradar: Deadly Creatures - first look
  4. ^ Deadly Creatures Nintendo Wii Video - Game play Trailer - Voice Talent Reveal
  5. ^ Deadly Creatures Nintendo Wii Video - Making of Featurette with Dennis Hopper
  6. ^ Interview: How Rainbow Studios Dreamed Up Deadly Creatures
  7. ^ Deadly Creatures - Motion capture doc
  8. ^ IGN review
  9. ^ GamesRadar review
  10. ^ [1]
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