How cute
is that? But wait a second. Cute? Video games? That’s sort
of an oxymoron, isn’t it? The bright colors, the cute little
animals. It sounds like a game for children. But it’s really
not. It’s actually a strategy game: How can you keep your little
community growing in spite of the dangers all around it? I found
myself having to make major decisions. Do I deal with the Ettin
who’s dismantling my defenses, or do I rescue a baby Norn who
wandered into the Grendel habitat? Should I hatch another pair
of Norns or wait for the adults to start breeding? Do I have
time to wander around and look at the other environments?
I also
realized I had to watch what I say to my Norns. In an early,
failed attempt, one Norn complained that he was hungry. I typed
the simple command: “eat.” Unfortunately he took that a little
too seriously and ate his sister who was standing innocently nearby.
After that I made sure I was more specific. And in trying to
get Beatrice and Benedick to breed, I typed, “Benedick play with
Beatrice.” Either that was too complex of a command or he just
chose to ignore me. And when I asked Benedick to teach one of
the babies to talk, he merely took the little one to the training
room. I guess it was a good try, though.
Creatures
3 isn’t all cute and cuddly. The game can be unnecessarily
complex at times. To get all of your machinery working, you have
to get powerups. This requires dragging a Norn around to find
the powerups and activate them. To make full use of my defenses,
I had to replicate them in a Creator. My first problem was finding
the Creator machine. My second problem was that I couldn’t find
enough powerups to get it working to its fullest, so I wasn’t
able to replicate my defense equipment. So there I am, helplessly
pulling my hair out while Grendels are beating the crap out of
my baby Norns and I can’t get the darned Creator to work. The
Norns themselves aren’t always cooperative. Sometimes they’d
fall asleep while I was teaching them to talk, or refuse to go
through a door when I was leading them around. There are sad
points in the game, too. I took it really hard when my first
baby Norn died. And then there was the death of Beatrice.
It’s absolutely
amazing how this silly game got me so involved that I actually
mourned the loss of an imaginary animal. That’s a testament to
how well the game is designed, though. The Norns act seemingly
on their own. They walk around, eat, sleep, talk to each other,
breed, et cetera. They interact with themselves and their environment,
independent of their “mommy” or “daddy.” In turn, you teach them
right and wrong. You keep them safe and happy. It’s so close
to real that it’s almost scary. It’s not a drippy little kid
game; it requires more thought than most children handle until
they reach a certain age. And it’s very addictive. I thought
I was impervious and that I’d never find a game that I really
like. But now I think I’ve found one I like a little too much.
-Heather
"elki" Haselkorn
actually enjoys this.
