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Recently, I bought a very interesting title I always wanted to play. An old Wii game called Deadly Creatures, developed by Rainbow Studios! I remember learning about it from a review that Wiiviewer made on it years ago! I must have been 9 or 10 when I watched it, and it stuck with me since.
You play as a tarantula and a scorpion fighting to survive in the Sonaran Desert. While the wildlife are scavenging and fighting to survive in the middle of nowhere, two men driven by greed, George Struggs and Wade, are on the hunt for gold. This game is unique in that the story isn't told directly through the playable characters, but moreso from George and Wade's actions, which mainly play off in the background.
In terms of gameplay, you'll be constantly switching between playing as the scorpion and tarantula throughout the story, experiencing their unique perspectives. There's also a combat system, where both characters have different movesets you can unlock more moves for as you progress. The tarantula levels are akin to survival horror, and involve plenty of exploration and crawling on walls, whereas the scorpion levels are straightforward, action-oriented fighting levels.
I do wish that it had an option to play without motion controls, as I admittedly find its usage to be a bit overdone. Gameplay and combat are usually fun, but you'll be wagging the controllers constantly to perform combos and quick time events. While it is responsive, it can get tiring fast! There are checkpoints you can save your progress at, but the loading screens are a bit long, which still makes retrying certain sections very tedious at times.
On the plus side, the scorpion can do violent Mortal Kombat fatalities. I'm dead fucking serious. It's hilarious and also very, very cool.
Aside from fighting against other deadly creatures, there's also grubs to collect around the game world, which unlock concept art galleries in the Extras section. There's even interviews with Billy Bob Thornton and the late Dennis Hopper, the voice actors for George and Wade respectively! This is even highlighted as a selling point on the back of the game box! The interviews contain footage of them performing in the studio while the developers look on, and the energy of the room is pretty lively! Definitely seems like everyone had fun making this game! It's always fascinating to see behind-the-scenes content for any production.
The dark, grimy art direction is inspired. The set pieces of these levels are as creepy as they are gorgeous! This game will have you crawling through the skeletal remains of a human corpse inside a coffin. Creeping around carcasses of insects scattered everywhere. Passing by writhing bodies trapped in spider webs, while traversing through spiralling, underground hives that look like they came from a scifi horror film. It's fascinating seeing our human world being displayed as this unpredictable, scary, weird alien planet. Makes you wonder if this is what real insects in the real world see everyday.
Regarding the runtime, the game is pretty short. You can probably experience most or all of it in a single 4 hour playthrough. That might be a huge turn off for some players, but a positive for others. Remember that this game came out when the majority of the console's playerbase were kids and teens, with more free time to sink into hobbies. But now as adults with responsibilities, it can be much harder to find the time to play games with longer runtimes.
With all that said, if you're looking for a good short game to collect and play/emulate, then Deadly Creatures might be for you! Despite the short runtime, long loading screens and excessive motion controls, the game is ultimately a fun and novel experience that you won't find anywhere else! I would love to see a modern remaster or sequel that builds upon what we have here. It's a very cool concept!
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