Creeper World

Creeper World is a series of web browser and standalone video games with both real-time strategy and tower defense elements developed by KnuckleCracker.com. Players must survive the onslaught of the titular blue mass, known as Creeper, which rises up the playing field and attempts to destroy their base of operations, Odin City. This is achieved by gathering energy and using it to power weapons which stave off the Creeper long enough for the player to link Odin City with each level's energy totems in order to escape to the next level.

Reviewers stated that the original game has simplistic graphics, but praised Creeper World‍ '​s gameplay. Two expansions were subsequently released. The first, Creeper World: Evermore, features randomly generated new maps that are generated daily.^[1] The second, Creeper World: User Space, features new graphics and a selection of 14 increasingly challenging maps created by fans and collected by the original creators.^[2][3]

A sequel, Creeper World 2: Redemption was released May 16, 2011.^[4] It features new weapons, and a different angle of view, drastically changing the gameplay.^[5]

The third game, Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal was released October 4, 2013.^[6] This third part in the series returns to the original Creeper World style of top down gameplay, but features a built in map editor and a custom scripting language called CRPL to make every map in the game.

On May 22, 2014, a new, free browser-based minigame was released, Creeper World 3: Abraxis ^[7] It consists of 12 new prequel missions, running on the Unity browser plug-in.

Gameplay

Creeper World

Creeper World is like a real-time strategy and tower defense game. Unlike most games of this type, there is only one enemy and it can only be repelled rather than destroyed. The player must hold back a blue mass called the "Creeper", which has already destroyed most of humanity and is now attacking Odin City, humanity's last bastion.^[8] This is done by placing towers onto the battlefield which shoot at the Creeper. The main goal of the game is to connect the player's base to energy totems through the use of energy collectors and relays; doing so opens a jump gate which allows Odin City to teleport to a new planet and attempt to escape the Creeper again.^[9]

Units to attack the Creeper are created in Odin City. In order to power their weapons, energy must be gathered by Collectors, which are placed by the player. These Collectors require space in order to harvest energy and must be connected to the city's network. Should a Collector become isolated by the Creeper it becomes inactive and must be joined to the rest of the network in order to continue providing energy.^[10] The game's landscapes have different elevations, the Creeper can quickly spread across low-lying areas but must gather before rising to higher ground, like a liquid. Here the player can create choke-points to try and prevent the spread.^[8] Blaster units can attack the Creeper if they have line-of-sight contact but cannot attack higher elevations, while mortars can throw bombs into denser regions of Creeper and attack higher elevations.^[10]

Creeper World 2: Redemption

Creeper World 2: Redemption is staggeringly different from the original, most notably where the original had a top-down perspective, the sequel is a cross section of ground complete with functions of gravity. This game also introduces the ability to destroy Creeper generators through the use of nullifiers, which is the main objective of most missions. The energy system also received an overhaul, with collectors removed in favor of reactors producing a fixed amount of energy. Packets of energy used to build structures and power weapons fly as opposed to needing connections. Also introduced is an upgrade system of technologies to make units more effective. New weapons, pickups and a ground digging mechanic fill out the rest of the new features. A new enemy is introduced known as drones that can will your structures in one hit most of the time. Spores are still here. ^[11]

Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal

Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal shares much more in common with the first Creeper World than the second. It returns to a top-down perspective with collectors requiring space to generate energy and connections to a command node to operate. Taken from the second game however, is the ability to destroy Creeper emitters, the ability to deploy anticreeper (via sprayers and bombers) and the technology upgrade system (though it functions differently). The goal of most Arc Eternal missions is to destroy all emitters and other creeper devices. Odin City has also been replaced with Command Nodes, of which three are available, allowing the player to take on a multiple front assault. A new feature in this game is the ability to terraform, raising and lowering the elevation of the ground with use of a terraform processing node (TERP). The scale of maps has also been bolstered, allowing for massive battles and necessitating a zoom mechanic. New aircraft are also introduced into this game allowing for energy transfer and air strikes, as well as massive siege weapons in the form of artillery and space battlecruisers.^[12]

Creeper World 3 takes place on a series of star systems. The goal is to remove emitters and collect shield keys from all planets in these systems, then destroy a warp inhibitor in order to warp to the next system.

Story

Creeper World 2: Redemption

Creeper World 2: Redemption takes place 30 years after the events of Creeper World 1 where human technology has advanced greatly. The story begins with admiral Abraxis (the commander in Creeper World 1) shows off the improvements to the public. After you destroy the emitter with the new nullifier technology you leave the mission onto a new mission with the same objective. The mission begins after Dax (your character for this game) makes some rude comments about the consil (his ruling officers) and after destroying the emitters sent to sweep multiple small planets from creeper. After you find a message in day 5 :The Maxia Choice you find the remains of a commanders colony, gain the shield technology, and are given another mission to investigate several other planets where you soon find Abraxis's daughter Aliana.^[13]

Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal

Good Ending Creeper World 3 takes place 5 billion years after CR 2 (Creeper World 2) where technology has advanced greatly. The story begins with Skarsgard Abraxis waking up and meeting Lia. After discovering many mystery's left from by the Loki saying the the Seloi will perish above all and hints about the Arc, the 2 heroes come to Cricket on Arca where it is revealed that from the Loki that Abraxis is the imperator who when he was a child told the Loki to look for the Arc (code named Arc Eternal), the Loki began their onslaught using the creeper and it is Revealed that Lia is Abraxis's daughter Aliana. Then Abraxis goes into his true form and remains as Skargard Abraxis, and using missile silos hidden in the ground destroys the shield for the Arc. Skars uses the crashed Thor sent by Platius to destroy the Arc also destroying the Loki. Skars discovers he is Platius and takes on the identity of him. Billions of years further using only text Skars confirms the Seloi theory of the Arc.

Bad ending: Most of it is the same as the good ending but at Arca Skars gives up the life of Skars and destroy's Lia who in a desperate attempt to defeat Skars covers the world in ant-creeper and turrets. Before Lia is killed Skars says he can make copies and the game never happens.

Reception

IGN's editor named it their Indie Pick of the Week, stating "Creeper World may not be much to look at, but it's got it where it counts in the gameplay department."^[9] Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Kieron Gillen stated that "Creeper World is the most apocalyptic game I've played in ages".^[14] Game developer Greg Costikyan stated that despite no element of the game being original "..they are combined in a novel fashion that makes the game worth checking out."^[8] Big Download's reviewer called Creeper World's graphics "ridiculously simple" but added "..that works in its favor -- their iconic nature makes for immediate identification..", allowing the player to see the whole battlefield as though it was a diagram.^[10]

References

External links

• Official Website