Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Freaky Creatures exists primarily as a series of 3D lobbies where you can either start matches with other players, or join those already in progress as a spectator. The lobby areas that I’ve seen so far are fairly small, but I never had any problem getting into matches. In fact, the moment I first logged in I was quickly bombarded with match offers, so I dove directly into combat with my creature that looked a bit like a Warlock’s succubus in WoW who’s head was about to explode. With an electric sword in one hand and a poison blaster in the other, I was ready to rumble!

Lairs add another layer of depth to the Freaky Creatures experience

Matches are pretty straight forward, with each player deciding which attack type to use at the start of a turn by hitting a UI button to select a specific body part. Before the attacks are executed, you’ll also have a chance to use one of your creature skills to either augment your own attack, or react to the damage type being used by your opponent. Rather than being directly player-controlled, the creatures act out the battle while you plan your next set of attacks and hope that you don’t lose too many hitpoints. Reducing your opponent’s hitpoints to zero wins the match, at which point you’ll earn some experience as well as gaining one of their skills to use in future matches.

That may sound pretty basic, and in the beginning it can be. As you progress it opens up more options for your creatures which can really up the strategic aspects of a match. There’s also leaderboards that track things like wins and losses, and is based on the trainer’s performance rather than that of an individual creature they use.

Think of Freaky Creatures as a strange Pokémon trip set in space, with the addition of customizable lairs that are a cross between EQ2-style player housing and a Sims mini-game. Lairs can act both as a social hub as well as a place to do things like tickle your creature until it passes out from exhaustion. You can also feed them all sorts of bizarre foods from a menu that changes daily, many of which your creatures will refuse to eat depending on which flavor of slugs they prefer. The only thing really missing from giving this aspect of FC the full Sims treatment is the lack of a bathroom for your creature to constantly nag you about needing to use. I’ve read that your creatures will do better or worse during matches depending on how you treat them in their lair, but so far I haven’t really noticed any difference whether I tickled my creature using the interactive mouse controls that leave you feeling a bit… wrong, and the times I ignored it completely until it fell asleep.

All things considered, Freaky Creatures is an interesting if not very complex game. Thanks to a cleaver approach to marketing, the title should appeal to a younger audience that enjoys the idea of owning a physical version of the creatures they use in game. Starter packs include figures and collectible cards for two creature types, while single creature booster packs will help round out your collection of beasts.

Calling Freaky Creatures an MMO is a bit of a stretch in some areas, but if you’re looking for a light-hearted fighting game that’s high on style and strategy over the cheap tactics of action-based fighting games, FC might be right up your alley!