Bite-sized Review:
No Creeps Were Harmed

By Chris Picone, 05 August 2024

No Creeps Were Harmed is a shiny new sci fi tower defence game with some flashy graphics and a great sense of humour.  

Aesthetics

No Creeps maintains a relatively minimal aesthetic, as befitting any tower defence game - tiles are plain because you're going to build turrets all over them anyway.  All the towers looks awesome; nicely detailed and suitably science fictiony. The creeps are a pack of angry alien beasties that often move too fast to be seen well but they're nicely colour coded so you can still clearly make out which particular type of creep is attacking you in each wave. The levels all look a bit samey, like some kind of mine cart track isolated in space. No Creeps is highly polished with slick modern graphics, a very friendly UI, and a killer soundtrack to boot.  There's also a bit of a "story" of sorts, which is revealed through dialogue between Brian Jar and his AI overlords at the beginning and end of each mission and honestly it's pretty damn funny. No Creeps has a great sense of humour. 

Gameplay

No Creeps' core gameplay is very traditional tower defence; the level is set, you place your turrets, enemies attack in waves.  The levels are quite interestingly designed, utilising all three of its dimensions as platforms might rise or be angled above the main track allowing you to create choke points and kill zones effectively, particularly important as turrets obstruct each others' line of sight. Levels also only begin partially "complete" - you can pay to finish scaffolding, and target obstacles, allowing you to extend some sections. This can be important for extending or redirecting the track the creeps must follow and it also allows you to create wider sections for your bigger turrets.  Of course all the usual turret types feature: shotgun shredders, machine guns, snipers, ground pounders, artillery, and more that unlock as you play through the game.  They've all got their own strengths and weaknesses and effective placement of each to maximise synergy is the key to success.  There's a catch.  The more turrets you have, the more you're taxed (of course credits are gained as creeps are killed).  However, each turret has a range of upgrade options.  You also get to control Brian Jar, who builds your turrets but also comes packing an arsenal of heavy weapons. He's powerful and can be upgraded so you want to keep him in the thick of it, whether it's whittling the enemy at the start, protecting a weak point where you can't build turrets, or protecting your home base.  You also have access to a range of special "hand of god"-style abilities that you can use. They cost for each use and have cooldown timers but they're very effective and their use adds a much-needed interactive element to the game when things start to get a bit rough.  At the end of each level you have the option to enter an endless mode to rack up more experience for better unlocks and also pick up an artefact which you can equip at the start of each new game.  I found the game very easy on medium difficulty but it's easy enough to pick a harder setting. 

Verdict

If you're a fan of tower defence games, No Creeps Were Harmed is an easy recommendation.  It looks and sounds great, and it's definitely entertaining. The game's level design is its best feature. Genre veterans will probably want to up the difficulty level fairly early on and you'll end up playing much of the game in double speed but all those options are available and it also makes the game accessible for those new to TD. 

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1932260/No_Creeps_Were_Harmed_TD/