The continent of Aldor, once called the “Paradise of the Gods”, is now a battleground for war raging between five human guilds. The Serpentis of the north, who desire control of Khasa Volcano. The Lionis, who dwell in the forest. The Hydroli, who reside in the aquatic city of Aykarna. The Skorpi, who worship at temples dedicated to gods of both light and darkness. Finally, there are the Masters, powerful beings who weild “Elemental Cards”, mystical artifacts that house every element known to man.
This is the world of Creature Defense.
After spending a little time blowing the dust off of my PSP, updating it to the current version, and discovering the connectivity between the PSP and the PS3, I downloaded Hudson Entertainment’s newest downloadable PSP game, Creature Defense. As someone who does not play a lot of strategy games, I found myself getting more and more into the game as I tried out different approaches to the stages and was passing them. It was frustrating at first but when I really started to strategize, I noticed positive results.
Creature Defense is a strategy game combined with card-based gaming elements. The game was developed for those looking for “the next step in the popular “Tower Defense” subgenre.” Even as an avid gamer, I had not heard of or played any of the Tower Defense games, but with a quick Google search, I was well on my way to hundreds of iterations of the game. The idea is pretty simple: defend your castle from waves of enemies. Survive a certain number (usually 50 or more) with your castle still standing and you pass. If your castle stronghold reaches 0, the game is over. Creature Defense is not too different, however, the game includes a deck or card based battle system. You start each stage with a deck of five cards and before you start you are able to change around any cards in your deck. Choosing the right cards for battle is a big part of your strategy. There are 63 cards available, most of which will have to be unlocked throughout game play. Each card is assigned an element – Fire, Water, Forest, Light, and Dark – with 12 cards for each element along with three special cards that feature characters from the Eye of Judgement (PS3). You can view a card’s attributes by either entering the Shop or through the main menu and choosing Deck. All the info necessary is listed and you can strategize from there what cards you will choose to play the upcoming stage with.
The game is played with a top down view so you can see the entire stage on the screen. You have the option to zoom in to see more details. You start each stage with a set number for your castle’s resistance and an amount of Mana. You start the first stages with 20 and in later stages the numbers will increase. The amount of Mana is important since each creature card requires Mana in order to summon them. You earn Mana points every time you kill a creature in a wave and at the end of each wave you will earn a Mana bonus depending on how many creatures pass by your defenses. You will earn the max for that level if none get past. Some creatures require more Mana, but they also will do more damage or have special skills that activate when leveling up. Leveling up your creatures also costs Mana. You can’t move your creatures once you place and summon them, but you can remove them, get some of your Mana back and put them somewhere else or summon a different creature. All of this will be a part of your strategy. Each Stage has three phases, a Time Attack mode, and two ??? modes that will you unlock after completing all of the phases. The stages get progressively harder as you may have more than one entrance to defend as well as forks in the roads to defend. This is where your strategy regarding the cards you choose for battle, the placement of your creatures, and who and how often you level up. You can place creatures at any time throughout each wave, the game pauses as you place the creatures. At some points, you will just be watching as waves go by as you watch for holes in your defense or as you wait to earn more Mana. You earn gold when you play regardless whether you win or lose. You can also unlock cards by defending your castle against a certain amount of each creature. You use the gold to purchase more advanced cards that you can use in your battle strategies.
The graphics are crisp and clean and in the zoom in mode you can see the detail in your summoned creatures. The stages are somewhat plain but what’s important is a clear view of the road. The game makes it very clear as to where you can place your creatures with a green or red circle. The music is a really bad techno rock style and I found it to be rather annoying and out of place given the fantasy look and feel of the game. I played most of it with the volume all the way down. I had some issues with the creatures slowly scrolling over as I tried to place them, but it was inconsistent so I can’t tell if it was a glitch in the game or something in the settings but it was annoying enough for me that I had to quit and restart a few stages. One thing I really didn’t like was that there was no tutorial mode. You had to read the directions and then try to remember all that as you entered the first stage. I figured it out quickly enough, but I think that having an optional tutorial game mode would really help first timers get more out of the game.
So if you are a fan of the Tower Defense games and you own a PSP, you might want to check this game out. It will provide several hours of creature summoning, castle defending strategy fun. I think it’s more of a niche title and if you are unsure of making a purchase, you should check out any of the several hundred flash versions that are available for free on the web. If you enjoy those and want to take the game with you on the go, Creature Defense may be the game for you.
Unfortunately, there is no multiplayer mode in the game so you won’t be able to play with your friends.
Creature Defense is rated E for Everyone and is available now for download on the Playstation Network for the PSP for $7.99.
A review code was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.
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