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 Knuckle Cracker. 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. In later missions the player is able to collect nodes to allow them to update their systems. Six different upgrades are available. Three defensive and three offensive.^[10]

Creeper World 2: Redemption

Creeper World 2: Redemption has a cross-section view rather than a top-down perspective. 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 destroy your structures in one hit most of the time. Spores are still here in the form of phantoms, which target a building at random and proceed to pass through everything before transforming into liquid creeper at the destination. SAMs have been replaced by Phantom Coils.^[11]

Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal

Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal has 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

Creeper World:

^[13]

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 council (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.^[14]

Creeper World 2 thrusts you into the 14th millennium fighting an enemy that flows and oozes through the terrain. Employ advanced weapons, gravity manipulating repulsors, wormhole like rifts, and your own wit against this never yielding enemy. Excavate terrain, unearth techs, crystals, remnants and other artifacts. Face a new mechanical enemy that employs gravity manipulation against you.^[13]

Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal

Creeper World 3 takes place 5 billion years after Creeper World 2, when all human civilization has been destroyed by the Creeper and Loki. The story begins with Skarsgard Abraxis waking up and meets Lia, who is an A.I. As the story progresses, they discover technological artifacts, and ancient relics which introduce the titular Arc, the race known as the Seloi who came up with it, and other minor plot information. One of the planets visited (Otrav) is taking in massive amounts of information from across the galaxy, almost everything that has existed. This lends credence to the theory that the makers of the device intend to make use of the Arc, something that is defined by being unique to that universe. It is theoretical, but would allow total control over every event in the history of the universe, in addition to time travel. It is however, difficult (i.e. almost impossible) to access. The Loki device appears to be part of a Loki attempt to do so. This apparently requires detailed knowledge of a vast swathe of space/time. The Creeper, in addition to being a destructive / defensive force, is also seemingly a vast and intricate recording system. Thereafter, on Farbor there is found a device that will send the information on to an unknown destination, while simultaneously destroying the system. When the device is destroyed, saving the system and the main characters, the wreckage allows the destination of the information to be divined. Journeying to this destination, it is revealed that the Loki are still extant. The Loki claim that Abraxis that he is the "Imperator" and that he told the Loki of the Arc. This is found to be true, and Skars has an identity crisis, owing to the fact that the Imperator personality has a diametrically opposed agenda. Lia is revealed to be Aliana, his daughter from 5 billion years ago, as seen in Creeper World 2.

Pro-human ending: Skars remains Skarsguard Abraxis, and fighting the Loki Nexus, is sent the Thor plans by crashing the original Thor into the planet. He guesses that Platuis arranged this, and destroys the Nexus. He, having the Arc at his disposal, takes the pseudonym Platuis. He then goes back in time, to arrange his previously seen plans. This introduces an element of uncertainty into the storyline, as he has the ability to prevent the original creation of the Creeper. Due to game mechanics, there is no dialogue if the player fails in this scenario.

Pro-Loki ending: Skars chooses the identity of the Imperator, becoming the Loki commander. At this point, Aliana sacrifices the ship that had been hosting her, in a desperate attempt to defeat the Imperator. If this fails (success for the player, in this case), the Imperator gains control of the Arc, giving the Loki control over the history of reality. If the Imperator fails, the Arc falls under the control of Aliana, who hints that she will use it to cause Skars to change his mind.

The fast ending were you destroy the structures before they build the arc eventually releases the same stuff.

The game epilogue reveals that at some point, someone called Platius Abraxis worked with the Seloi on the theory of ways to access the Arc. It is indicated that there are two ways to access it, only one of which is known to the Loki. The other means is not stated.

Reception

Creeper World

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".^[15] 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

• Knuckle Cracker
• Knuckle Cracker Wiki