Creatures of War Review: Cheap Dinosaur Horror

When the President’s son goes missing and a military squad doesn’t report back, it falls to one man to fix the problem. But the mission’s difficulty goes up when it turns out humans aren’t the main threat. Battle against dinosaurs and insects while acquiring the firepower necessary to survive. Search for powerful weapons to take down larger dinosaurs and find treasures to fund your journey. Watch your back as attacks can come when you’re least expecting them.

Creatures of War presents an intense action game where you fight against powerful enemies. Having to watch your back at all times and adapt to threats is genuinely challenging. Unfortunately, there isn’t much horror in this game apart from the jump scares. There are also bugs and inconveniences in the game that make gameplay frustrating. While the premise of the game is fun, there are too many weaknesses holding the game back from its full potential.

Creatures of War is available on PC for USD 14.99.

Despite the dinosaurs, the tram operator is perfectly calm.

Story – Rescuing a Kidnapped VIP

Creatures of War puts you in the shoes of Mike, the only representative of Team Charlie. He’s been dispatched to Ko’Verest Island where he follows up on the fate of Delta Squad. Delta Squad initially arrived on the island to rescue the President’s son, but contact was lost shortly after their arrival. Mike has to find the members of Delta Squad while dealing with the threats on the island. A secret project is hidden on the island, but their results are quickly shown to you.

The game’s story is similar to that of Pneumata as you are a one-man army fighting your way through a location. It’s similar to a Metroidvania game in that you must access certain areas before the story progresses. The story is not the game’s strongest point though; there are lots of questions that don’t get good answers. For example, Mike is the only agent of Team Charlie to arrive, but something happened to an entire squadron of trained elites. Is sending only one person the right move?

You must rescue a missing military team scattered around the island.

You must suspend some of your disbelief for the story to make sense, otherwise several actions seem illogical. It also feels like some characters don’t care enough to take action. Another example comes with the tram operator who runs a store. You see several guns in the back but don’t get to purchase them? There are already powerful threats on the island but they hold back your capabilities? No story is perfect, but it does feel like the story didn’t get the attention it deserved.

Gameplay – 2D Action with Jump Scares

Creatures of War plays in a 2D platformer style similar to Kandria where you explore a giant island. You progress through different locations and fight enemies to find out what happened to Delta Squad or the VIP. Along the way, you encounter allies who assist you along with less trustworthy individuals. Combat is the main focus but you must also watch out for your ammunition levels. Surviving may mean avoiding fights to preserve ammo for later.

Dinosaurs are here and they aren’t the friendly kind.

On the surface, the gameplay is solid. Dinosaurs or insects can ambush you from any angle, forcing you to defend yourself. You must go around looking for supplies, treasures, or weapons that boost your chances of survival. Occasionally, you fight a boss and must defeat them to proceed. It’s standard Metroidvania fare and the pacing is good. You aren’t overwhelmed and can always choose to run.

When you dig deeper, the gameplay’s flaws begin to reveal themselves. The survival horror elements feel non-existent apart from inventory management and jump scares. Autosaves are few and far between, forcing you to treat any autosave opportunity as an actual save point. Purchasing or selling more than one item is more complicated than it should be. This feels more action-focused instead of survival horror.

This battle doesn’t look bad, but eventually becomes frustrating.

Horror – Missing the Survival Aspect

Creatures of War bills itself as a survival horror game packed with action. It definitely feels like a horror game early on with the jump scares and enemies appearing out of nowhere. You must react quickly and are constantly worried where your next enemy is coming from. Part of your decision making also includes just running for it because fighting seems too risky. Unfortunately, that’s where the survival horror ends.

While survival horror games do include combat, it’s always a choice unless it’s a boss encounter. Unlike Terminus: Zombie Survivors, combat is not exactly optional. While you have infinite stamina and can run past fights, you quickly run into situations where you can’t run. If you have to open a door, enemies will kill you before you can press the button. Fighting is essentially mandatory which doesn’t raise the tension.

Unavoidable battles aren’t exactly the scariest thing you see.

This also means the jump scares are the only thing that raise your heart rate. You aren’t hiding from an invincible assailant or conserving resources. While you shouldn’t waste ammunition, there’s plenty of it lying around. The game doesn’t feel like survival horror, blunting one of its main selling points from the start. While it’s a solid action game, don’t expect to feel the pressure of getting caught.

Bugs – Worse than the Dinosaurs

If there is any horror in the game, it comes from the bugs you experience. There are times where your game might get stuck because a mandatory enemy fell off a ledge. Perhaps you are trying to pick up ammunition but the game thinks your inventory is full. You might not be able to pick up objects or climb up slopes. These bugs hamper your gameplay frequently and it quickly starts to add up.

Sometimes the game can run into problems at bad times.

While several bugs have been fixed, there are still bugs that ruin your experience. The real horror is often not an enemy that drops from the ceiling. It’s more likely that you feel fear when the game doesn’t work as intended. At that point you are wondering if something’s wrong or the game is genuinely not recognising something. It’s harder for you to continue because you wonder if something else is going to go wrong.

Audio & Visual – Nice Visuals, Monotone Voices

Creatures of War does have a nice environment and it’s easier to appreciate once you open up fast travel. The dinosaur and insect enemy designs are detailed, with the injury signs slowly appearing. The sprites in the 2D environment look nothing like their close-up pictures, but that’s something you can easily overlook. What’s harder to ignore are the voices of the humans compared to the enemies.

While military professionals are veterans who have seen their share of combat, no one sounds like they care. Mike reacts to his encounters as if he’s seen dinosaurs before, despite this being something new. Other soldiers speak very softly or extremely loud for no reason at all. This makes it hard to get attached to the cast because there’s no emotional connection. If everyone sounds bored at different volumes, you lose interest because it seems like no one cares.

Creatures of War was reviewed on Steam with a code provided by the publisher from Game.press.