Deadly Creatures

by THQ

Product Features

• Experience the brutal world of the Sonoran Desert as a tarantula and a scorpion
• Actively stalk prey and engage in fast, brutal attacks using the unique Wii motion control system
• Enjoy 360-degree access to detailed, 3D desert environments full of dangerous surprises
• Use each creature's unique abilities to battle snakes, rats, and other dangerous predators--including man
• Witness an unraveling narrative of deceit from two unique perspectives

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00163ROMC
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches ; 2.4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: February 9, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,874 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Featuring a wide array of cinematic effects, action packed life-or-death battles, and graphics that will make your skin crawl, Deadly Creatures for Wii exposes you to the brutal realities of life in the desert. And you better be ready to defend yourself because you're about to take on this vast, dangerous world from the perspective of two deadly critters with a history of giving even the most stalwart people the creeps: the scorpion and the tarantula.

Experience 360-degree access to detailed, unforgiving environments. View larger.

Witness a story of human greed from two distinct perspectives. View larger.

Fast action and stunning combo moves keep creature battles challenging. View larger.

Combat rattlesnakes and other deadly predators. View larger.

Deadly, Motion-Controlled Combat with Wii Technology
Your Wii controller gives you the ability to move stealthily and attack quickly, just like the real creatures these characters are based on. Each animal has a unique mode of operating, which means that the two interconnected narratives behind this game each offer their own distinctive challenges to conquer.

As the armored, action-oriented scorpion, you'll string together stinging blows into deadly combo moves that culminate in cinematic finishes and decimate your opponents. Playing as the sneaky tarantula requires a little more finesse--you'll find yourself leaping from above onto your nemesis, throw out neatly aimed shots of webbing to paralyze your prey, and finishing creatures off with your devastating fangs.

Wild Enemies and a Sinister Back Story
It takes skill and composure to master the moves the scorpion and tarantula have at their disposal. And, even after you think you've got every move down, you'll find you need to learn methods, since these life-and-death struggles take place between you and a huge array of vicious, hazardous creatures, including wolf spiders, rattlesnakes, Gila Monsters, Tarantula Wasps, black widows, mantises, enemies of your own species, rats, and even humans.

Beyond the immediacy of fighting for survival, this game features a story of greed and betrayal in the human world. Slowly unveiled from the disparate perspectives of the two headline creatures, this evolving storyline helps keep even advanced players engaged and guessing at the implications of their own actions.

Explore Brutal, Unforgiving Environments
Whichever creature you're playing as, you'll have 360-degree access to a wide range of 3D environments based in the harsh Sonoran Desert. You'll explore a gloomy maze of thorny brambles, forgotten underground tunnels filled with rusting pipes, an above ground wasteland packed with people's garbage, and even a desolate gas station. Each arena promises to challenge your skills as a hunter and a survivor in its own way, while unique angles and a sense of scale that turns small, familiar objects into major obstacles help make these environs especially prickly.

Product Description

In this unique predator-themed action-thriller, it’s hunt and be hunted as you become two of the desert’s creepiest predators: the Desert Tarantula and the Giant Desert Scorpion. Travel across a vast, detailed world, where every area swarms with enemies and natural hazards. Ambush and feed on your prey. Use the Wii controls to unleash a variety of fierce attacks against vicious enemies: rival spiders, lightning-quick lizards, divebombing wasps and hungry rats. Stalk, battle and explore from a unique and constantly shifting perspective as you crawl along vertical walls, through twisty underground tunnels and even upside-down! And if you survive the dangers up the food chain, you’ll face larger predators, including the most dangerous creature of all: man. Combining the ferocious, fascinating behaviors of real-world creatures with the epic landscapes and cinematic excitement of fantasy/action movies, this is a game experience unlike anything you have ever encountered.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most unique and immersive titles I've ever played!, February 17, 2009

By 

A. Jefferson (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Deadly Creatures (Video Game)

This game is unlike anything I have ever played. I have been following this title since I first heard about it early this year, and am glad to report that I was not disappointed! This game is an interesting take on gaming, since I really can't compare it to anything else on the market. There really isn't any other game to compare it to. I only hope that it will catch the attention of Wii owners, since this kind of creativity is all too often overlooked by consumers. Here `s what I liked:

CREEPY gameplay and sound effects: 10/10 I do not like bugs (in person)...but I am fascinated by them. The protagonists of this game are a Tarantula and a Scorpion, and as such, the game is played from their perspective. From the very opening scenes of the game, your senses are assaulted with creepy and foreign sounds that I really can't explain... but they work: you will be completely immersed in the world as these insects see it. It is a really interesting feeling: The cutscenes and sound track are very well done, and manage to create a really creepy and immersive atmosphere... almost like a survival-horror game. And I can't say enough about the sound effects... all these little random bug noises (and also some not-so-little bug noises!), and the sound of the creepy-crawlies walking around is especially interesting (considering that, like I said, I am not a big fan of bugs!). Also, take note of your surroundings while you walk around. There is a storyline to follow involving humans, and you have a front row seat from a bug's perspective... and as such, you will encounter all sorts of interesting things buried and hidden in the desert.

Gameplay/Fighting: 8/10 - Around every corner waits a battle with thug-like Gila Monsters, stealth and deadly spiders, venomous beetles, or a number of other interesting adversaries. You will quickly find that as the Tarantula/Scorpion you are well equipped to defend yourself. As you progress through the game, you unlock new moves/combos, as well as increased abilities and strengths. Let me tell you... the fighting portions of this game are VERY rewarding... some of the "finishing combos" that you perform are really interesting and cinematic...and surprisingly brutal. In addition, since you are an insect, you endowed with really interesting abilities that add some interesting elements to the game: swinging around by spider web, crawling up and down walls, charging up and delivering powerful venom-charged attacks... I had a really good time playing this game, and would be really happy to see a sequel. For sure, this kind of creativity should be rewarded. If only more developers had the guts to put out this kind of new stuff. A game like this could ONLY be done right on the Wii!

Controls: 7.5/10 - The controls are simple, and they work. There aren't any gimmicky waggle controls. When you perform the finishing moves, you do have to chain together some wiimote and nunchuck movements that are prompted on the screen in order to complete the combo, but I found that this really made the game enjoyable, and weren't gimmicky. The motion controls don't feel tacked on, as is the case with a lot of 3rd party Wii games, and there aren't any dumb mini-games. The camera was also really well done, despite what I read in some reviews online... I was actually surprised at the quality of the camera in fact.

Replay value: 7/10 - I started the game off on Normal difficulty rather than on Easy, and the game seems nicely balanced. However, after a few levels I thought I would kick it up a notch and play on "Deadly" mode... and proceeded to get jumped by a pair of scorpions that handed by butt to me repeatedly... so I dialed the game back down to Normal difficulty and was able to proceed. So, I am certain that once I beat this game on Normal, I will likely give it a rest for a few months, then come back and try it again on Deadly, and no doubt it will be just as enjoyable and challenging as it was this time thru. I should mention, though, that the game has NO multiplayer modes. It would have been nice to include the option to allow for you and a friend to play through the game together or perhaps some kind of versus mode, and this would have made the game's replay value better. Once you have beaten this game on Deadly mode, there really isn't much to say or do. That said, it is still a solid single-player game, and definitely worth a play-through!

28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing level designs mar an otherwise good game., February 11, 2009

By 

Halicon5 (Casper, Wyoming United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Deadly Creatures (Video Game)

The premise of the Deadly Creatures is promising. The player takes the role of either a tarantula or a scorpion in the desert and must battle for survival. The storyline surrounding the game is honestly quite cool and has some of the nicest voice acting I've heard in a long time. Deadly Creatures tries to be fresh and innovative, and it succeeds in many ways, but ultimately I found the game to be lacking.

GRAPHICS: Solid. The game looks good, better than a lot of Wii games. It is clean and crisp looking, but isn't without issues. Many of the environments feel very similar because everything is drawn in the same drab desert palette. I would have liked to see some brighter colors with more contrast, especially on the insects, lizards, and other critters. The desert itself isn't typically that beautiful in most people's opinions, but many of its denizens have beautiful and bright markings. The game fails to capitalize on that, which is a shame.

STORY: Very Good, but odd. The player has very little to do with story until a little more than half-way through the game. Until then, you basically observe snippets of the story about two humans searching for treasure and stuff. Ultimately it is a story of betrayal and drama, and very well written. Strangely, storyline is one of the best aspects of the game.

CHARACTER DESIGN: Very Good. The two characters, tarantula and scorpion, function very differently. The spider can walk on walls and ceilings, jump, use webbing to temporarily trap opponents, use webbing to jump from one web to another, and do stealth pounces from a great distance. The scorpion is more of a brawler who swipes at enemies with its claws, strikes with its tail, burrow underground for surprise attacks, and can finish weakened enemies off with some finishing moves. Additionally, the scorpion can dig holes, remove environmental debris, and cut obstructing weeds with his claws. As far as I'm concerned, the character designs and abilities are good, well-rounded, and well thought out.

CONTROLS: Very Good. If there is one thing this game did well, controls would be it. Most Wii games don't control nearly as well as Deadly Creatures does. Moving your critter around is fairly intuitive. The primary movement is controlled by the analog stick on the nunchuck and is very responsive. Motion controls are used heavily in the game to good effect and pointer controls to a lesser degree. Waggle motions are used sparingly and the motion controls are tight and responsive. In addition, the player is given the option of increasing or decreasing the sensitivity of the motion controls. This is something most games don't do but should. The only exception is the camera, which would sometimes freak out and get terribly confused. Camera issues were thankfully very rare, but very annoying when they happened.

LEVELS: Lackluster and linear. Much of the hype around the game indicated that the tarantula's levels would be more stealth oriented and the scorpion's levels more combat oriented. The scorpion levels were actually better than I expected, but the tarantula's levels were a letdown. There is actually very little stealth involved, which is a shame because the spider's moves and skills lend it perfectly to be a stealthy hunter. Essentially, the tarantula levels end up playing a lot like the scorpion levels except you find yourself also doing the same things on ceilings or using web-jumping to get to an area before you brawl with more desert critters that want to eat you. Finally, the game looks like you do a lot of exploration, but in actuality the game is very, very linear. There are collectibles on every level, which I managed to get most all of them on my first time through any given level.

REPLAYABILITY: Low. The game can be beaten in a few sittings. I plowed through half the game in few hours. Aside from gathering collectibles on revisits or playing on harder difficulty settings, I didn't really see much purpose to replaying the levels. The bigger problem is that few of the levels provided me with any compelling reason to play them a second time, regardless of what un-lockable rewards I received.

Overall, I can honestly say that the only thing that kept me coming back was storyline. Ultimately, the lackluster level design drove me away from what is otherwise a very fine game and a very original idea. Honestly, if the tarantula's levels had been redesigned to focus on stealth I feel the game would have been more rewarding. While I truly enjoyed playing this game, I quickly grew bored with the level designs and eventually quit playing probably about 80% of the way through the game. I recommend renting this game before buying.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Wii Game, February 9, 2009

By 

PlayMechanic (Phoenix) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Deadly Creatures (Video Game)

Just came out today. Really a great game that puts the player in the roles of a scorpion and tarantula out in the desert. You can walk up walls and even on the ceiling!!! Many enemies to fight like a Rattlesnake, lizards, wasps and more...

The game is really fun. It uses the Wii motions very well and does not overdo it. Watch a story unfold from a Fly on the Wall perspective. The Human Characters are voiced by Billy Bob Thorton and Dennis Hopper.

Overall - Really unique sense of scale. It is amazing to view the world from a bug's perspective. The game's controls and combat are very fun and satisfying. I highly recommend this title to anyone that owns a Wii.