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.
