Creepytown
Swain Valasek | Aug 9, 2009 Games
User rating: 
(5 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
(5 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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Scything it’s way into the app store is Creepytown from Slash Casual Software (also on Facebook). The game features a fresh approach by combining the classic brick-breaker theme with InkBall and flavoring it with outstanding graphics and audio. The premise is that the denizens of the town of Creepsford have been dying off mysteriously for months and those that remain are haunted by the souls of the departed. You are Death incarnate, hired by town mayor Chibs to clean the town of these lost souls. However, the more souls you harvest, the more you discover that things in Creepsford are not exactly as they seem and you begin to uncover a dark secret…
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The goal in each of the game’s 50 levels is to guide a lost soul to collect a set number of crosses that opens a portal where they can shuffle off this mortal coil and successfully enter the Netherworld. You do this by drawing directly onscreen with your finger which produces a brief energy barrier that can deflect the soul. Fortunately souls are generally ball-shaped and quite bouncy so in this way you can guide them around the screen. There are only 2 ways to die: bumping into a soul demon or letting time run out before you exit through the portal. Soul demons are encased in tombs and a single bump will expose them but won’t kill you; a second bump and you’re truly a lost soul. The timer varies per level and I found it generous enough to not be frustrating. You start with 3 ‘lives’ but gain an extra every 100 gold coins collected (getting to that) and can boost this further with a powerup (getting to that too). Providing challenge are lots of obstacles onscreen, some purely for the challenge (barrels, tombstones, etc) but others you must bump into with intent to break, namely different colored urns. Each color takes a different amount of bumps to break but inside could be a number of things, or nothing at all. Some are simple such as keys (some levels have locked doors), aforementioned crosses and bonus point ‘treasure’ items such as chests, diamonds, necklaces and the special coins mentioned earlier. However others represent the game’s powerups:
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- Speed boots – puts serious pep in your step for a brief time
- Mystery coin – opens up a bonus level where you can jack up your score
- Magic star – invincibility for a short time
- +1 life – grants you an extra life
- Ice gem – basically an anti-powerup as this freezes you in place briefly while precious seconds tick off the clock
This game has tremendous production values. The art direction is fantastic and almost ‘Tim Burton-y’, excellent animated cutscenes advance the story, the SFX are flawless and the music appropriately ‘Elfman-y’. The controls work very well, the UI is easily navigable and the game runs smoothly. I did experience 1 crash and it was a crappy one as it blew away my run on a high score but otherwise I would still say the game is stable. That said, on to the props and flops (formerly gripes and suggestions).
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- iTunes music is supported, props!
- Load times feel like they’re on the high side, especially when you’re simply replaying the same level again. Minor but noticeable.
- Nickname isn’t remembered for high score submission, PITA to type it in every time.
- Need more levels. The game has no selectable skill level and as is it’s on the easy side so the supplied 50 don’t last too long.
- Story is not well-integrated into the gameplay. At several points in the story people go missing and such and this would be a perfect opportunity to give levels a bit more personality by turning them into mini-missions to find the missing people or at least clues that advance the story. The last level is a good example of what I’m talking about but sadly it’s the only one like that.
- You can’t continue a game…at all. If you exit via Home or quit from within the app, you lose your score. This is a bit absurd given the inclusion of a global scoreboard which encourages you to compete but who’s going to sit down and try to play all 50 levels in 1 sitting?? If that’s the case then the scoreboard should be broken down into 50 small scoreboards! I hope the dev’s address at least this one as it’s a mega-flop.
All in all a very fun game and definitely worth the asking price. One of the coolest things about this game for me is the story is actually quite dark given the light-hearted tone of the graphics. I applaud the effort of trying to tell a story with some actual depth; something overlooked far too often. With an update or 2 this game will go over the top and become perfect casual entertainment for the iPhone crowd, up there with Flight Control and Bejeweled I daresay. I even ended up with an extra promo code so head to the comments section to grab it if you’re feeling lucky!
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Version reviewed – 1.0
Reviewed on – iPhone 3GS OS3.0.1
iTunes Link – Creepytown
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- Art direction is a slam dunk
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- You have to decide whether to spend time breaking urns or go for the time bonus
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- You can play any level previously unlocked at any time
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- Fear the Reaper
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- Yer basic gameplay shot, the green swipe is an energy barrier I 'drew'
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- Levels do get more challenging but never frustrating
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- You can never go wrong with bonus levels
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- Indeed Reaper, indeed...
(4.80 out of 5)