Creature Lab Review (PlayStation 5 & PC)

If you’ve ever prayed on the hopes of creating your own clone of Frankenstein for the sake of terrorizing the world, then you’re in luck. It just so happens that such a game already exists—Creature Lab—and its sole purpose is to essentially grant you the power to transform lifeless corpses into sentient mutants and other abysmal creatures. Why? Well, why not, I guess? When all’s said and done, it appears that there’s a growing market for the weird and morbid concepts, and it seems the Creature Lab is merely a torchbearer for the future of oddly disturbing premises. But that’s fine — I’m all for getting a little weird with these sorts of things, even if they are a little, shall we say, grotesque and morally dubious.

To put you in the picture, Creature Lab is a first-person simulation game, one in which you, the supposed “mad” scientist, are able to generate unruly mutants through the use of fine DNA tuning, and tweaking various nodes and ligaments to produce unearthly results. The goal of the game, in short, is to transform enough of these once-humble beings into a collective of flesh-deprived monstrosities, which you can then use to whittle down the outside world and gradually scrape its natural resources from the clutches of its unknowing inhabitants. Think of it as a mixture of Plague Inc and Ravenous Devils, and you’ll have an idea of what we’re getting at here. That is, at least to some degree, Creature Lab, and it’s currently making its rounds on PlayStation 5 and PC.

So, is Creature Lab worth pouring a fistful of hours into, or is it something that’s better left to the back burner? Let’s talk about it.

Once a Monster…

Creature Lab sees you taking on the role of a scientist, one whose job is to tweak the DNA strands and other bodily functions of various corpses to develop a tapestry of abominations and other infectious foes. Aside from the overarching storyline—a premise that mostly revolves around the act of transitioning from a small-time weaver to a destroyer of worlds—the game sees you working through a series of challenges, each of which contain an array of concoctions, body parts, and diluted DNA fragments. Naturally, your primary objective is to learn from your mistakes, and effectively figure out a way to enhance your creations in order to claim even greater rewards and other in-game perks that idle beyond the realm of possibility. Easier said than done, mind you — but we’ll get to that shortly.

It is worth pointing out here that, while you can spend a lot of time physically creating the mutants on your operating table, you cannot see them in the flesh, nor can you witness the aftermath of their actions once they’ve left said table. And that’s a shame, truly, because if there was one thing I would’ve liked to have seen during my time as a scientist, it would’ve been the image of my creations unleashing their newfound power over their chosen subjects out in the wild. Alas, that isn’t the case here; on the contrary, Creature Lab squashes its entire experience into the four walls of your homegrown laboratory. Is this something of a disappointment? Absolutely. However, I wouldn’t go quite as far as to say that its lack of content spoils the entire experience, because that wouldn’t be entirely accurate, or even fair, all things considered.

Under Pressure

Whilst a solid portion of the gameplay centers itself around the art of sourcing reagents and installing them on various body parts and experiments, it also includes several other curveballs for you to overcome—the local law enforcement, for example, which often attempts to unlock your hideout and put an end to your gruesome trials. To add insult to injury, the government also has a mutual obligation to prevent you from harvesting fresh organs for your work, meaning, you don’t have any funds other than the ones that you accrue through illegal activities out in the city. In other words, there are no helping hands to help you out along the way, minus, of course, those that you fashion from the foot of the operating table.

Gameplay in Creature Lab is a bit of a mixed bag, as it’s predominantly crafting-based, whereas the latter portion of it is centered around monster management and other administrative tasks. However, for the most part, your goals often tie in with the general process of toying with random extracts, and shoveling through various test subjects until those deemed worthy enough to conquer the streets have arisen from the ashes of your previous failures. And believe me when I say, this is a lot easier said than done, and it’s thanks to the game’s lack of handholding that, even with its introductory tutorials and story beats, even the most basic blueprints can be a real headache to mold. Add the fact that the game also boasts thousands of formulas and outcomes, and you’ve got quite the stubborn masterclass in alchemy and DIY. But hey — practice makes perfect and all that jazz.

Jack of All Trades, Master of None

There’s definitely a steep learning curve to master in Creature Lab—a curve that, rather frustratingly, also applies to several other core gameplay aspects, such as its intuitive Fear system, which serves as a basic shield between your inner workings and the outside world. To put it simply, this isn’t your bog-standard bubbling cauldron, nor is it a forgiving platform that grants you free passage to flex your creative abilities without the added expense of having to deal with one of several major managerial issues, either. With all of that said, it is a game that tends to get riper with age, and therefore, something that could become a little less burdensome after several hours of play. It’s sticking with it long enough to uncover those benefits, that’s the problem.

General mixing and matching aside, Creature Lab isn’t anything particularly special — especially when it comes to the visual and audio department. As it turns out, the game only accommodates two tracks in its score, neither of which feel gripping enough to hold your interest for longer than the first handful of tasks. The graphics, too, aren’t anything to write home about, though for Image Power—a developer known for its relatively simple animations and visuals—it does align with the portfolio and its vast selection of simulation counterparts incredibly well. With that said, I wouldn’t go into Creature Lab with the hopes of it being a bewildering experience, because it simply lacks the same depth as a full-fledged work of art.

Verdict

I’m not saying that Creature Lab runs flawlessly, because it doesn’t; in fact, it often struggles to shed its burdens due to the sheer volume of said technical issues and other half-baked bugs. Having said that, if you were to remove the excess weight that it tries so desperately hard to siphon out, then you’ll come to realize that, as a product, there’s a tremendous amount to enjoy here. Sure, it could do with a few more added features—the ability to gaze beyond the looking glass and carve a little deeper into its world, for example—but the fact that it still provides a loop that’s both immersive and oddly satisfying to watch until does, in all fairness, justify its price tag. It isn’t perfect, but for a game of this particular ilk, it’s hard to complain all that much.

There’s still plenty that could be done with Creature Lab, and it almost feels like a wasted opportunity for its developers to ignore several potential expansions or fixes. Is it a complete game? It’s passable, but it isn’t without its drawbacks, and it pains me to admit it, but the fact that it still feels all rather unpolished does nothing to make me think that it’s anything more than just, I don’t know, okay. It’s a niche concept, and I’m all for the idea of returning to its roots to explore several of its upcoming features, but for the time being, there just isn’t enough to keep you coming back for a third or fourth operation. On that note, I’m still standing on the fence, waiting with bated breath until something—anything reaches out from the woodwork to pull me back. Until that time comes, however, I’m on a sabbatical.