Review by Dale Wilks

Name:         Creatures
Publisher:    Warner Interactive
Format:       CD
Available:    out now

Requires:

O/S:          Windows 95
Processor:    486DX2-66+
RAM:          8Mb+
Graphics:     SVGA
CD-Rom:       X2
Soundcard:    All major soundcards supported

Tested on:

O/S:          Windows 95
Processor:    Pentium 120
RAM:          32Mb
Graphics:     SVGA 2Mb (Matrox Millenium)
CD-ROM:       X4
Soundcard:    Soundblaster AWE32 + Yamaha DB50XG
Controls:     Keyboard, Mouse

Creatures

The industry veterans amongst you will remember a piece of 'entertainment software' called Little Computer People. The idea behind LCP was a little more original than most games (then and now); you see, LCP had no purpose. There was no method of progression, no end-of-level bosses, and no powerups. Heck, there were no 'baddies' in the thing at all. What you had to do was look after your Little Computer Person. Yes, complete with council house 'n all, the LCP 'lived' inside your computer, and every time you booted the program up you were obliged to feed and entertain it. You made the Pizza Delivery Man arrive, turned on the TV, everything. Well anyway, LCP is the closest thing I can think of to Creatures.

'Prepare to unleash the world first artificial life-science experiment inside your computer!' says the blurb on the back of the box. 'Harness cutting-edge Cyberlife(TM) technology and the real-world input of scientific disciplines from genetics to behavioural psychology!' Bloody hell! What have I let myself in for? I had all but prepared myself for a trip to the library for a bit of a swot session, but then I found that it had cute, cuddly, fuzzy little balls of fluff in it, so I thought 'Ah well - that's alright then.'

The darling little cweatures are called Norns, and unlike the aforementioned LCP you have to guide your Norns through their (rather short) life, from hatchling to wizened old grumpy Norn. Each copy of Creatures comes complete with an Egg Disk, which contains 6 eggs (3 male and 3 female), each one apparently with it's own unique DNA that will someday hatch into a Norn. Fortunately, you can regenerate your Egg Disk at a later time, so these aren't the only 6 chances you get. Handy if you're a completely hopeless Norn-keeper (much like myself). At first you're asked to choose an (attractively coloured) egg from your initial batch of six, and then you can opt to pop it into the microwa...err, incubator, or, if you're feeling particularly masochistic, you can just sit and wait for nature to take its course. Eventually, the egg begins to crack, and with a startled blink of large eyes, your first Norn is born! Ahhhh, isn`t that sweet? Looking somewhat like Gizmo the Mogwai (from Gremlins, you know?), he/she is unceremoniously thrust into a world filled with joys and dangers.

While your Norn takes a minute to become aware of it's surroundings, now might be a good time to register a name for your Norn. By clicking on the toolbar or selecting it from a drop down menu, the Owners Kit is opened. This is all a bit daft really, but anyway The Owners Kit allows you to register a name for your Norn, complete with 'birth' certificate! How very twee! Anyway, once this is done (I called mine Fuzzy Wuzzy) [Splutter, wait till I tell the lads -Ed], you can also make a note of the owners name, address and e-mail address, so that if you choose to export your Norn he won't get lost. Or something. It gets sillier; the Owners Kit also allows you to take 'photos' of your Norn, so you can look back on those happy moments through misty eyes. Yeeeeeees. So now you have a baby Norn, and it might be an idea to occupy him for a while by picking up one of the toys scattered around and dropping it at his feet. The Norns are curious little things, and after burbling a few choice baby words at you he'll happily play with the toy and walk around.

Your Norn soon acquires a thirst for knowledge, and one of the first things to teach the Norn is usually your name. By selecting the Norns-eye view camera, you can see what he is seeing, and when a small hand appears in his view, he's looking at you! The hand is your cursor in the game, but it's also how you appear to the Norn, you see. A young Norn`s eye is easily distracted, and so by waving your 'hand' in front of his eyes, you can make him concentrate on you. Then, by typing in your name (you usually have to do this several times before it sinks in) you can get your Norn to associate your 'hand' with your name, and as he recognises it more he'll follow it around. This method of teaching can be used with most objects, and in no time young Fuzzy was following me around exclaiming 'Dale ball!' or 'Dale cheese', complete with baby like gurgles and squeals. Maybe that's how Norns speak, I dunno. Cute anyway. When you feel that it is time to expand your Norn's vocabulary further, there is a learning computer in the Norn’s house, where you can teach the Norn to associate certain words with certain actions. Fuzzy was quite a little sod when he was young; he soon learnt how to work the computer, and every time I tried to teach him anything, he promptly turned the computer off and went to play with his ball. Tcha - kids today, eh? The great thing is though, that you can click on your Norn to give him a sharp slap if he is naughty. You can also tickle your Norn as a reward when he does something good - a few cuffs round the ear though, and he was soon falling into line. Heh.

As you feed, educate and entertain your Norn, it might be an idea to check how he's feeling with the Health Kit. Also selectable from the toolbar, the Health Kit allows you to check on the general well-being of your Norn, as well as levels of pain, boredom, hunger or exhaustion, and you can also get an overall view of his brain activity should you want to! For the real eggheads, there's the Science Kit. Here you can display antibody and hormone levels (*), as well as...yes! The chemical injector! You can subject your darling little Norn to all kinds of genetic mutations and experiments - you can try and treat medical conditions too, but...well, that would be no fun, would it? ;-)

When you feel that your Norn is old enough, you can take him out into the big (nicely drawn) wide world. Several (scrolling) screens long, the environment is fraught with several kinds of flora and fauna, along with new species of wildlife and exciting new structures, complete with lifts, trolleys and cable cars. Indeed, there are a plethora of things to do and see, and it won't be long before you feel that your Norn is ready for anything. Even breeding! Eventually your Norn is going to hook up with another, and it won't be long before he walks into a chemists and red-facedly asks the pretty female dispenser for a tube of toothpaste, a bottle of Vics Vapour Rub and a packet of three. Err...using the Breeders Kit you can monitor sex drive and fertility, and you can even administer aphrodisiacs to get your Norn in the mood. Before you know it, there are sprogs everywhere!

In the end though, your Norn is going to age, and the pressures of daily life will become just too much. Yes, your Norn will pop his clogs, and with nary a dry eye in the house, you can write a suitable epitaph for him, kept along with a photograph. Sniff.

Well, it's a novel idea, and it's got to score points for originality. However, due to the lack of incentive and rewards for the player, it won't be long before Creatures becomes little more than a curiosity. Maybe if there were definite stages of progress, with animations between them or something... I can appreciate the work that's gone into a product like this, but for all the silly bits and nice graphics, there's not much of a game there. An experience maybe, but not a game.

(*) By the way, what's the difference between a pill and a hormone? You can't hear a pill...!

====================
Rating: 7/10 (Good!)
====================