The Creeps! Review for the iPhone and iPod Touch

Creeping onto iPhones and iPod Touches everywhere, The Creeps! by Super Squawk Software puts a new twist and challenge into the tower defense genre.

Review

The Creeps! may seem like yet another “tower defense” game just taking up more space in the overcrowded genre. But what lurks behind the start screen is something unique and exciting. While the basics behind the game are still “tower defense”, the creators over at Super Squawk Software give you a twisted version of the genre. Instead of a castle or some futuristic tower, you are defending a bed with a little child, lets call him Timmy, sleeping. The “creeps” that are attacking the bed are in fact made into a sort of nightmare. So the focus of the game is to keep nightmares away from Timmy. While this may deter some as sounding “too cheesy” or something to that effect, make no mistake, this game is fun for all ages!

The gameplay itself is very straight forward and smooth. The objective is to defend the bed from the “creeps”, and that includes many different units. Some move fast and can only take a few hits, others move slow and can take a load of damage. Not to mention the Super Creeps that appear from time to time. These bad boys are a definite force to be reckoned with. If you are caught unaware, the Super Creeps can take down your bed in mere seconds.

While the enemies can be a challenge, do not fear. The Creeps! gives you a wide variety of weapons to purchase and upgrade in order to save little Timmy. And unlike many tower defense games, all units have sufficient upgradability to stay useful throughout the levels. The cheapest and most commonly used weapon at your disposal is the Blaster. Lay enough of these bad boys around the map, and you are sure to stop any creep in their tracks. Another weapon not to be overlooked is the Glue Bottle, which slows the baddies down to give you more time to lay down the pain. The Boomerang and Paper Shuriken both have a great distance and deal great damage, but can get quite pricey when upgrading. I found that given the choice of both, I would stick to either one or the other during a level. The Flashlight is by far the most powerful and sought after weapon, but costs a pretty penny.

Along with the standard weapons available, from time to time you are able to purchase and use special weapons such as a UFO that deals great damage to anything caught in its beam, or a spider that lays down web on enemies to stop them in their tracks. While not as commonly seen, they play a big role in many of the later levels available.

One of the most refreshing aspects of The Creeps! was the fact that there were three different game types, and each had at least 10 levels dedicated to them. There is the standard Survival mode, where you defend the bed and Timmy for a certain number of enemy waves. Then there is Endurance, where you see how long you can last against endless waves of enemies. And the most unique of all is the Door Buster mode. In this mode, your only goal is to destroy the enemy portal.

With each level completed, you can also gain medals. These medals keep track of many things, including what difficulty was played, if you had a perfect game, whether you sold any of your weapons, and also if you destroyed all the available scenery. Thats right, a big part of each level is to blow up objects in the environment in order to make more space for weapons.

Medals and option to record your high score keep you coming back for more to see if you can beat friends and strangers’ scores.

Graphics and performance of The Creeps! are very good. The enemy animations and sound effects are great, some squeak, some scream, some make noises I can’t even categorize. Menus are easy to navigate and new levels easily found.

If you are into tower defense games and haven’t yet had a chance to check this one out, then let me be the first to say, this is a MUST HAVE game!

Tips

1. UPGRADE, UPGRADE, UPGRADE! No matter how many Blasters or Boomerangs you may have, you stand no chance against the baddies once you get past the first 15-20 waves.

2. Don’t break the bank! I know the piggy bank is tempting to break when there are 600 or so coins in there, but trust me, there is nothing I regret more than when I break the piggy open too soon for that quick buck and find myself broke when I really need that extra Flashlight upgrade for the final bosses.

Recommendation
I would recommend The Creeps! to anyone who enjoys gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it is available now in the iTunes App Store.

Photos

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