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When I downloaded Creeper World IXE’s demo, I had it pegged as a bizarre original. It is, in fact, the latest in a series of real-time strategy games in which you position turrets and terraform maps to repel surging, simulated tides of purple liquid. This is a war between flesh and mineral, solidity and fluidity that dates back to the age of Gillen. Alex Wiltshire (RPS in peace) interviewed creator Virgil Wall back in 2019 – amongst other things, we learn that the original Creeper World was based on a “failure” – and Sin has an enthusiastic piece from 2021 about Creeper World 4, the first 3D instalment.
What does Creeper World IXE bring to the party? Well, 1) it ain’t 3D, and 2) it’s billed as an exercise in “dominating” the titular Creeper, rather than keeping it at bay. For too long has this sloshing, coruscating hooligan been allowed to wash over and corrode our precious starports. We will take the fight to it in the shape of an upgradeable 2D starfleet, equipped with lasers we can use to chisel away the geography and re-rout the flow of villainous Vimto.
Hopefully, we will do the aforesaid terraforming while cleverly opening passages to our mission objectives, such as power cores and hibernation pods. It’s important to pare away the rock and soil deviously, even artistically – to wield the terraforming shovel like the finest of paintbrushes. But going by my 20 minutes with said demo, there’s always the temptation to scrub your cursor back and forth and eradicate the layout, like a child losing patience with an Etch-A-Sketch. Up yours, fluid physics! We will find harmony in our mutual devastation. There will be no World for the Creeper to conquer.
In all seriousness, I’m delighted by this. It makes the factional “asymmetries” of other real-time strategy games look desperately unambitious. The Zerg could learn a thing or two from the Creeper.
While it’s labelled real-time strategy, the game often feels closer to Noita, the action-RPG where you spend half the time getting melted by accidentally excavated lakes of acid. There’s a similar joy in the arcane applications of particle, sand and fluid physics, with certain combinations of terrain material proving… volatile. Fingers crossed that Creeper World IXE involves teleportation, somehow.
Here’s a feature sheet from the Steam page.
Sand physics terrain where every pixel is simulated allowing the use of gravity and terrain as part of your strategy
Enhanced Creeper fluid simulation with waves creating new Creeper behaviour
Particle system for new and greater threats
Use terrain chemistry and terraforming to gain the advantage over your enemy
Extensive custom unit support with scripting where the community can craft their units, missions and control modules.
Online map database for endless fun and new challenges
I’d normally end a piece like this by offering some more direct comparisons, but what can I compare Creeper World to, aside from Noita? From Dust? If you know of a parallel, I’d love to hear about it.