Hands-on Deadly Creatures

thas · 04-05-2008, 03:25 PM

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We've been wholeheartedly intrigued by the concept powering Deadly Creatures, a Rainbow Studios-created action-adventure set to debut exclusively for Wii this October, ever since it was revealed. In the decidedly dark game, you take on the roles of a deadly tarantula and a venomous scorpion, which creep, crawl and fight their way through underground passages, across desert landscapes and, for one reason or another, into manmade structures, too. The announcement trailer for the project, which premiered in February, offered only a glimpse into its atmospheric universe, specifically spotlighting a couple of cinematics. It all looked very good, of course, but the footage left some Wii owners wondering how the premise might actually translate into gameplay. Now, though, we've played and we can absolutely confirm that there's much more to Deadly Creatures than you've seen so far and we think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the experience waiting.

It all starts with an explosion. A desert gas station has mysteriously blown up and a television news report has first details on the event. Evidently, witnesses are reporting that critters had something to do with the accident. Or was it an accident? Flash back to the previous day, at which point you are thrust into the role of a scorpion bent on making its through a cave filled with crickets, pill bugs, wolf spiders, hornets, and even another scorpion or two. The cave itself houses a pathway which, along the way, twists upward into the ceiling and back down again, zigzags through different terrain and backdrops to reveal looming dangers and conspicuously strewn bones.

It's all very moody and the presentation is enhanced by the fact that Rainbow Studios is really pushing Wii from a technical level. Not only do the environments themselves come to life with defined geometry and sharper textures -- as you crawl over a newspaper in a manmade bathroom, you can actually read the text -- but the character models animate fluidly, feature real-time projected shadows, and make their kills to a splattering of gooey particle effects. Additionally, the game runs in 480p and a quasi-16:9 mode – it's widescreen, but black bars on the left and right sides remain, a minor shortcoming that we hope will be addressed in the months to come. (The same was true in early builds of Capcom's Okami, which has since been fixed.) Rainbow Studios tells us that everything will run at a locked 30 frames per second when development is completed.

Just gruesome.
Deadly Creatures also boasts one of the most ambient Wii soundtracks to date, with music that dynamically changes depending on your actions – the beat actually picks up. In the two levels we've explored thus far, though, Rainbow Studios seems content to let the sound effects set the mood, which works very well. You'll hear hornets buzzing overhead as you pass by, the screeching of wolf spiders, and various background noises like water dripping, which echo realistically through the underground tunnels. As you crawl up a wall and to a ceiling in a bathroom background, you will hear the loud humming of a nearby fluorescent light. And when danger lurks, the music kicks up a notch to cue you in on the fact that something is coming.

The scorpion is controlled very easily through levels with the nunchuk's analog stick. The Z and B triggers on the nunchuk and Wii remote respectively execute the scorpion's standard pincher attacks, which can be linked together in combos. If you hold the C button, the character will go into a block formation, which will shield him from light attacks (however, heavy blows from enemies will still get through, so you'll need to be strategic about using it). When you encounter insects, you can lock onto them by holding the A button, and this also allows you to strafe left and right. In the current build, a white dot appears over the heads of targeted enemies and as you engage and successfully attack them, the color of the dot eventually changes hues from white to green, to yellow and eventually to red, which is the indicator that you can execute a finishing move to completely obliterate foes. Finishers are triggered by pressing the Z and B buttons, at which point on-screen prompts – still unfinished in the current build – direct you to make various upward and downward motions with the Wii remote and nunchuk; if you're successful, you'll be treated to a gruesome killing.

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As you progress through levels, you will earn new, damaging maneuvers. For example, you quickly pick up the ability to perform a stinger sweep – the scorpion's tail will lash out and sweep the legs of enemies, effectively knocking them on their backs. You do this by motioning left and right or just the opposite with the Wii remote and you can, of course, sweep from the left or right directions depending on your input. You also unearth the ability to dig as the scorpion, useful for uncovering items and for gaining access to different pathways. And finally, you can chop with the scorpion's claws, an ability that's gained later.

Rainbow Studios pointed out the scorpion's stinger attack is mapped to the Wii remote, while nunchuk gestures generally influence the character's body. If you make a swiping motion with Nintendo's remote, the scorpion's stinger will arch over its body and down into an enemy – a very satisfying and grotesque maneuver, especially since it's accompanied by a splattering sound effect. The character can sneak up on pill bugs and crickets, execute this move, and kill them dead – a must since eating these little insects gives the scorpion life; there are no traditional pick-ups in the title. Meanwhile, if you motion with the nunchuk while engaged in battle, you will dive at opponents; and if you're just exploring, a quick shake of the nunchuk will cause the scorpion to run. In battle, you may occasionally use double upward or downward motions with both controllers to put the finishing touch on a combo. For instance, B, Z and then up with both controllers will make the scorpion perform a three-hit strike, the final blow of which will knock enemies into the air. Alternative, B, Z and double-down will result in a damaging downward thrust to unlucky foes.

Unfortunately, Rainbow Studios did not show us any of the tarantula-played levels in Deadly Creatures, but it did break down the distinctions between the two characters and also elaborated on what it will be like to control the arachnid. Stages featuring the scorpion will generally be more action-oriented and linear because the arachnid is a brawler and likes to attack enemies straight on. The tarantula levels will require stealth. The character is speedier than the scorpion, but prefers to attack without warning. To that end, the levels the arachnid explores will be less linear, enabling the critter to walk up walls, shoot webs to ceilings, crawl around upside-down and drop on enemies below. The spider can also execute a stealth one-hit-kill when it sneaks up behind opponents.

The storyline providing the backdrop for Deadly Creatures remains as intriguing and mysterious as ever. We do know that the tale will eventually take the critters out of nature and into the structures of man. Rainbow tells us that the scorpion crawls through a rusted-out toilet and into a bathroom, a setting that can be seen in one of today's new videos. They also make their way through what look like sewers, deserts, and ultimately, to the gas station, where some major event transpires. Along the way, the critters will separately do battle with hordes of enemies, including bosses like the Gila monster (we've posted a first-encounter video today) and even a rattlesnake. There are dung beetles that boil their feces and shoot gobs of it at enemies. There are lizards that fire thick blood from their eye, which burns enemies. The list goes on, each character more ghoulish than the next, leading up to the ultimate threat: man.

The in-game environments nearly match the concepts.
We also know that the scorpion and tarantula aren't exactly friendly. They feature separate storylines whose tales eventually cross paths – literally, we suppose, since Rainbow explains that the two will square off against one another two different times; once, you'll be in control of the scorpion and the second time you'll pilot the tarantula.

Lots of interesting concepts powering the project and we're eager to learn much more about the single-player-only adventure in the coming weeks. To hold you over, though, we've posted first-ever gameplay videos from two of the scorpion missions (in 480p, of course). Check out the new footage and the new screens. Between this and de Blob, we think you'll agree that THQ has suddenly become one of Wii's most important third-party backers.

source: http://wii.ign.com/articles/863/863974p1.html

Minebuster · 04-05-2008, 04:59 PM

Seems cool but the idea of playing as insects is kinda weird.

Eddy04 · 04-05-2008, 05:38 PM

Interesting...this gives games a whole new way of thinking.

thas · 04-06-2008, 10:55 PM

I fear that this game will follow the path of no more heroes. It seem like THQ is actually putting some effort into this game. The game has like a year and a half of development and its just going to die once it comes out. How sad.