Creature Labis a horror-themed simulation in which the player assumes the role of a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein. The game’s premise is that the player controls the mad scientist in their daily life, which includes combining ingredients into mutagens, stitching together body parts,creating monstrous mutants, and wreaking havoc with their army of creatures.
The game is an intriguing combination of first-person simulation, puzzles, and strategy in what the developer calls a reverse horror setting. As the rather eventful life of the mad scientist evolves, the challenges and puzzle-like elements get harder and avoiding the wrath of the military more unavoidable. Game Rant spoke toCreature Labdeveloper Image Power about the game’s unique approach of reverse horror andbeing a mad scientist.
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AsCreature Labwas conceptualized within Image Power, one of the first core ideas the team agreed upon was the aspect of a player-controlled villain. The idea was to offer players something they usually don’t get to experience. While being a villain in a game isn’t necessarily new and the developer recognizes some of thegreats likeEvil GeniusandDungeon Keeper,the company took it to another level.
Getting to blast enemies with lightning bolts or crush their skulls with mere willpower is what villains usually do in modern games. However, the daily grind of being the bad guy is not as popular. The simulation genre gives this the perfect outlet, and a classic Dr. Frankenstein-like evil mastermind was a natural fit.
“We were of course inspired by those that followed in Frankenstein’s footsteps, especially in breathing life into abominable creatures.”
InCreature Lab, the mastermind isa disgraced scientist gone mad. His theories were dismissed by the public, and he didn’t gain the recognition he deserved. That made him vengeful and turned him insane, looking to avenge those that doubted his genius. The goal of the player is to create a so-called Ultimate Mutagen, which would turn every single person into a devoted follower of the once-humiliated scientist.
As the players advance in the missions the storyline, which is narrated in first-person by the mad scientist, follows them. However, the story has enough air that the player can create their personal path and make the mad scientist’s vindictive journey their own.
In the game, the players enter a murky hideout with kitschy potions, complex laboratories, bloody modern equipment, and body parts. The mad scientist, inspired by the likes of Dr. Frankenstein,H. P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West, and others, has to use his intellect and abilities to create concoctions and abominations in order to eventually achieve the Ultimate Mutagen.
Creatures can be enhanced by attaching gruesome limbs that can tear opposition into shreds and thus complete missions to obtain further resources and test subjects.Creature Labtakes largely place in the hideout, where the player controls the mad scientist,whether it is creating mutagens, attaching limbs, dragging bodies, or using high-tech equipment to develop more horrific inventions.
“You can use mutagen to revive the dead as (somewhat) loyal creatures. You can then extract their DNA to grow new limbs and change the arms and legs of your creations as you see fit!”
The game isn’t a pure simulation, though, asthere are puzzle and strategy aspects, which are a big part of the mad scientist’s daily routine. The puzzle side ofCreature Labcomes from figuring out the substances, potions, ingredients, and properties of all the mad scientist’s resources and how to combine them effectively. The randomized names also add replay value, as each time the combinations are a little different.
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Creature Lab Combines Strategy and Simulation
The city map is where strategy comes into play. This is where the players will discover different kinds of missions and accept contracts from the Dark Web. There are plans to also develop a companion app on mobile devices that would allow players to access the Dark Web on the go if a specificKickstartergoal is reached.
According to the developer, on normal difficulty, the strategy sideCreature Labis easier, but with harder difficulty settings it requires planning ahead and really considering the pros and cons of the creatures as the military is zoning in on the location of the hideout the more the army devastates the city.
There’s also theultimate Kickstarter stretch goal forCreature Labthat would allow the studio to create an even more impressive combat system. Instead of the background simulation of the battle, the upgraded turn-based system would allow the players to affect the result by managing the deployment of units and targeting specific units during the combat. All this is already somewhat built-in since it would use the same stats and calculations but would allow more input from the player, which the studio thinks would be a nice addition.
“When your creations are ready, you invade the city. […] You also need to gather resources from the city, harvest fresh corpses, spread panic to evade pesky investigators, or fight the military for control of the city!”
Each mutant has stats and can be specialized in particular types of missions. In addition to reinforcing and equipping the abominations during the creation and upgrade process, the creatures can be enhanced with temporary special abilities. The studio has also planned nine additional limb upgrades that would beadded toCreature Labif the Kickstarter stretch goalis reached.
To effectively do the bidding of their master and defeat the police and military, the creatures might need boosted stats or the player needs to find a more effective composition for that mission.
The players have to take care of all this while making sure that the hideout stays secret. After all, if the mad scientist is found it is game over.
