Freaky Creatures is an MMO that was released early this month.  The game combines the features of an MMO RPG, collectible figures, and social networking to make a hybrid video game.  Some compare the game to Pokémon meets Spore with a little bit Yu-Gi-Oh thrown into the mix.

You start up the game after purchasing a starter pack, which includes 2 collectible figures, a 1 GB flash drive, 30 days game time, 20 random powers, 4 lair objects and 50 random assorted parts.  When logging into the game you're instructed to create a creature.  For those of you familiar with Spore, the same techniques are used.

The one exception is that you're only allowed to use the parts for which you have been given access to by buying the starter pack an add-on pack.  You must select the aesthetic looks, along with the powers your creature will be able to use.  The various parts and powers combine to make thousands of possibilities to make unique monsters.  When you add in color variation, there is a strong possibility that there will not be another monster exactly like yours.  And yes, you even get a theme song.

Abandon Interactive Entertainment launched Freaky Creatures with a unique business model.  There is a monthly fee of $6.99 to play the multiplayer functions.  Although there is an off-line feature, the point of playing MMOs is to play with other people.  Having said that, in order to put your monsters together you must purchase packs that cost $20 and $10 each.

AbleGamers' Tim Donaghy says, "Like Pokémon they want to nickel and dime you at every turn. The starter packs and add-on packs with random items thrown in.  Buy two add on packs - who knows if you could end up with multiples of the same item seems a bit ridiculous it me."

All in all, it will cost you almost $40 to start playing Freaky Creatures, which is pretty standard nowadays for MMOs.  The expensive part will be purchasing endless add-on packs to get particular parts you want.

Game Accessibility

Freaky Creatures is controlled entirely by the mouse, which means both one-handed gamers and mobility-impaired gamers should have no problems.  There will be shortcuts that are available for use depending on your basic needs.

There are no subtitles in this game but there are also no important speeches, the only time you'll need to communicate is by choice and that's through a chatbox to other players.  Colorblindness should not be an issue but the health bars are color-coded.  This simply means that if you are affected by some form of colorblindness, you may need to pay attention to the length of the bar as it fades.

The sounds in the game are purely ambient; being a deaf gamer should give you no problems in this game.  The hearing impaired might miss out on theme songs but ultimately, they are nothing of importance.

One thing of note would be the amount of camera movement and flashing lights may be a problem for those who are affected by epilepsy or motion sickness.

On a side note, part of the proceeds raised from purchasing a starter packs will be given to a very worthy charity.

"Abandon Interactive Entertainment has teamed up with the Starlight Children's Foundation to spearhead the launch of Freaky Creatures, donating a portion of the sales of Freaky Creatures starter packs to Starlight's "Great Escapes" program benefitting local children's hospitals across the US. The foundation gives terminally ill children and their families the chance to partake in fun activities in a friendly, accepting environment, including movie screenings, circus trips, mother and daughter makeovers, sporting events, picnics and more."

Gameplay

There are several facets to Freaky Creatures.  First, you will eventually build a lair for your creature, which is a place that serves like a house in other MMOs.  Lair objects will be given in the expansion packs that add to the look of the lair and allow you to interact with your creature.

The most interesting advantage to having a layer is the ability to purchase a pet for your creature.  Initially, the pet functions as entertainment for your creature.  Your creatures can and will become annoyed depending on how you treat them.  Giving them objects and pets will keep them happy.

Is having a pet important?

Absolutely.  Pets gain experience and just like your creature does.  Once the pet becomes level 11, it can enter battle with your creature, adding an additional edge to defeat your foes.

Another fun part about Freaky Creatures is that the battlefield is not the only place to defeat an enemy.  Abandon has added Mini games such as air hockey and penguin golf that can earn the in-game currency called creature credits, just the same as defeating enemies in battle.  These creature credits can be used to purchase in-game items from the creature store.

Grand Slam or Scam

The jury is still out on whether this will be a huge flop or success.  "Freaky creatures seems to be very user friendly, although more cleaned up from when I played it. It's kind of like playing Pokémon using the monster from your closet," said Tim.

Mark Barlet, editor in chief of AbleGamers, thought that the game was "dreadfully boring" and "would rather watch paint dry" then play this game again.  Perhaps, this game is targeted to a younger audience.

Regardless of your personal opinion on the game itself, having to purchase random packages of parts has only worked for select number of games.  Magic the gathering has gotten away with forcing players to purchase multiple decks for years.  But this is because it is more of a collector's game than an MMO RPG.

Can an MMO RPG pull in money to a game like Spore by introducing the parts randomly, so that players must continually purchase add-on packs?

That is yet to be seen.  We can tell you that Spore may not sell you parts randomly but they will continually release expansion packs to buy that have new parts to use on your creatures.

On a personal note, it is frightening to me that casual video games like Spore, Sims, and other similar games in the same genre charge money as often as they can to give new and more interesting options.  No one should be surprised by the monetization of a product but do they really have to make it so obvious when they are ringing money out of us?