Friday, November 10, 2017

Creeping Terror (3DS) Review


When a group of friends enter a creepy mansion , they end up getting a memorable experience...just not the one they hoped for.  Ultimately, they have to survive the horrors that await them in Creeping Terror, a 2-D side scrolling horror game on the Nintendo 3DS.

The game starts off pretty slow.  It sets up the story, then has you explore the underground area for a bit.  The game then picks up when you finally find hit the first enemy encounter.  I tried to run away, but my stamina drained really fast.  I walked away as I waited for it to recover, but got caught.  So, I had to mash the A Button to escape.  It appeared as though I filled the meter in time, but fell over.  Then, I had to quickly mash it again.  Like the first time, it appeared like I won, but didn't.  Game over, man.

Okay, then, time to try again.  This time I skipped the event scene, which was not a good idea.  This didn't give me any time to start moving away, and was immediately caught.  Knowing a button mashing segment was coming up, I won it.  I took off and escaped.

Most of the time, you will be walking around the different areas and finding items.  Arisa moves pretty slowly, but you can hold down the R Button to run.  When not being chased by an enemy, your stamina is infinite.  The abandoned buildings and caves Arisa explores can be very dark, but thankfully she brought her phone, which is used as a flashlight (because of course there's no reception).  Some items are usable inventory items, such as food to replenish your max stamina, a charger for your phone, and defensive items to use on the monsters.  There are also necessary keys and such for progression, and collectible notes to find.  The notes provide some nice backstory.

While you won't run into enemies constantly, it does happen.  Since there is no real way to fight back (the usable items only stall the enemy for a few seconds), you'll have to book it out of there and find a place to hide.  While you do have the time and space to run away, the hiding places aren't marked on your map.  While some would say that makes it too easy, it's not always easy to remember where they were, since the map has no real detail on it, other than a basic layout.  When I know an enemy is near, I make sure to know where the closest hiding spot it.  At least the safe rooms are properly marked.

If a monster catches Arisa, as noted before, you will have to mash the A Button to escape.  Getting caught lowers the max stamina, which then shortens the distance you can run.  Another hazard to avoid while escaping are the small piles of rubble that Arisa trips on.  To avoid this, have your phone on.  Yes, tripping while running from the monster is a horror cliche, but I give credit for making a logical reason for it to happen.

The game isn't really hard, but it's easy to get lost.  Several times I wasn't sure exactly what to do, and would just wander around until something happened.  One time I ended up triggering an event where I lost an item, and retrieving it gave me the actual item I needed.  I generally had an idea whereabouts I should look, but not always the exact place.

It only takes about 4 hours or less to get through the game, but there are a few different endings.  That's some decent replayability.  The game is short enough that you can do multiple runs without a huge time commitment.  I'd also recommend doing a playthrough in as few settings as you can manage.  This makes it much easier to remember where things are located.

While not the type of game I usually play, Creeping Terror was pretty fun.  It's a well made game that could use a few improvements (I'd really like hiding places marked on the map), but is worth playing through at least once.  It can be scary, but was less so when I figured out the tell for most enemy appearances.


The Good:
Interesting and well made horror game.

The Bad:
Easy to get lost, would like some more detail on the map.

The SaHD:
One enemy you can hide from should be able to smell you, whether or not it can see you.

(Review code for Creeping Terror was provided by the publisher)

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