Creature Defense Review

I don’t know what it is about PSP games that I don’t generally like. Maybe I’d rather just be playing a console, perhaps I just don’t like watching cutscenes in eye-strain-o-vision, but I like to think that the majority of the PSP games I’ve played just weren’t that fun. That being said, I had zero expectations for Creature Defense, a card-based tower defense game from Hudson Entertainment. Man, was I wrong. This game is now cemented in my top ten portable games.

The game is set up like any other tower defense games, but with notable changes. Instead of just being assigned normal units of boring soldiers and the like, you are given cards. These cards, with many others being unlockable, let you summon various monsters. These vary greatly, from sentient slime to rampaging dragons. There are also many different elements, and it easy to know which is most effective against which. These elements are the key to beating other enemies, and the simple fact that there are only 5 elements makes this easy to master.

The Graphics are about what you’d expect from a PSP game. There are some details to be seen when looking at the cards, but when overlooking the field, things get muddled quickly. The pictures of the monsters on the cards are quite cool, but their actual character models aren’t nearly as superb.

The sound is easily the worst part of this game. The lame music, coupled with bad clanking sword hits makes for some serious noise pollution. The sound effects seem like they were done by a one-year-old, banging pots and pans, and the music is a mixture of orchestra and techno beats. This game is best enjoyed with the sound turned off.

The gameplay is straightforward, and simple to understand. Enemies move on a predetermined path, and you summon loads of defensive creatures to protect your base. The enemies attack in waves, and the first phase of each stage has 50 waves of enemies. The creatures you summon cost mana, and mana is earned by defeating enemies, and surviving waves. You get mana bonuses at the end of each wave, and these bonuses depend on how many enemies reach your base. Your base has a set number of defensive points, and each enemy that gets through lowers this by at least a point.  I was a bit peeved i couldn’t choose the number of waves at first, and 50 seemed like a lot, but the number works rather well. The phases aren’t too lengthy, but last long enough to pass the time. Creating a deck of five cards is not something to be done recklessly, as you may regret regret your choices in later waves. Having all total badasses might seem like a good idea, but if you can’t afford the mana to summon them, they’re useless. Also, having all of one element isn’t a great idea, because you’ll face all kinds of elements in each stage, regardless of what is the main element of said stage.

The controls are very simple, and I had no trouble learning them. I thought that the controls were perfect for this game, and were one of my favorite aspects.

There are several different phases, time attacks, and other such gametypes to play. Many of these may take awhile to unlock, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing to do. The first phases are fun, and simple.

Overall, I really liked this game. It’s a true handheld game, something that could be played when on the go, or when you need to pass the time. I wouldn’t turn down a console game for Creature defense, but it’s certainly entertaining. As I’ve said, I generally don’t like PSP games, but this one kept me interested, in fact, I became addicted to this game almost immediately. Now, this game won’t be fun forever, and the difficulty can ascend rather quickly if you’re not careful, but I can see myself coming back to this game again and again; I can even imagine playing nostalgically, years from now.