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First “Green” Videogame
It's cute, deadly, and fun
Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest as the first "green" videogame. We're not sure if developers Lightweight and Headlock intended their game to appeal to Prius owners, but we're down for some environmentally friendly fun, especially when the premise is Squirrels vs The Man.
The design for the characters is pretty cool. There's definitely something neat about angry little rodents beating the crap out of slime monsters and mutated beasts. Even Dorian is cute in a fat, cactus-person kind of way. The writing gets a little preachy sometimes due to the overall green message, but stays pretty lighthearted and occasionally gets humorous.
Eco-Creatures has a simple 3D environment design, and some cell-shaded characters. There are three types of fluffy killing machines. Ecolis are pink squirrels that have the ability to dance little jigs and make trees grow. Also they can kill people with their tails. Ecomon are blue raccoon/flying squirrel things. They can fly and carry stuff, making them the sort of like a furry little air force. Finally there's the Ecoby, ickle beavers that use their buckteeth to build bridges.
There is a multiplayer mode in Eco-Creatures, both locally and over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but we can't recommend either. The premise of the game is to try and plant trees, sometimes while robot minions attack the players. It runs smoothly enough, but the gameplay is just boring. We were hoping to have epic battles between armies of squirrels and beavers, and all we got was a race to plant trees. That's lame. Like, Arbor Day lame.
Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest had a lot of potential. It has the makings of a good game. It has interesting characters and premise. The design is simple, but fun. However, the clunky controls, slowdown, and useless multiplayer pollute an otherwise clean title. Saving the forest is a worthy endeavor, but gamers are better off just saving the green in their wallets. gamespot.com