Entomorph: Plague of the Darkfall

Did You Know?

• Entomorph is a top-down action RPG controlled by mouse or keyboard with a full range of movement, basic attacks, and magic spells.
• The game features an overworld style similar to older Legend of Zelda games like A Link to the Past, where the player moves to the edge of the screen to change areas.

Plot

After a mishap with a giant time-controlling spider, Warwick must restart his journey to find and stop the origin of the giant insects attacking his home. He reanimates the corpse of the village shaman to summon the ancient guardian of his tribe, then travels to Povros, where an insidious plot is turning the island's inhabitants into giant insects to replace the original insects that vanished overnight decades ago. Warwick joins the local resistance alongside his sister and fights inside the lairs of giant bees, giant ants, and giant spiders. Each nest contains a queen producing the Nectar that changes the populace. Tempted by undiluted Royal nectar at each nest, Warwick slowly transforms into a giant praying mantis. Fully transformed, he infiltrates the island's castle and confronts the queen, a fleshy abomination cursed by an ancient artifact. He defeats the queen, but the artifact latches onto him. In a desperate flight, he seals it in its sarcophagus, undoing the transformations.

Reception

Trent Ward of PC Gamer US called Entomorph an attractive, innovative break from usual RPG fare. A reviewer for Next Generation praised its graphics and music and called it a refreshing mixture of mechanics, but found fault with its control scheme and combat system. Scorpia in Computer Gaming World wrote that the game probably does not have enough of any one element to satisfy fans of a particular genre, but that it does work fairly well with what it has. The magazine included Entomorph in its holiday 1995 buyer's guide, noting that the action and unique story would provide gamers with an interesting and different CRPG. Chris Anderson of PC Zone considered it an attempt to compete with Ultima VIII and found it unsuccessful, but summarized it as good and reasonably big with a fairly engrossing storyline. Dave Harris of Fusion called it a good beginner's RPG and an excellent adjunct to Thunderscape. Mark Ramshaw in PC Format agreed it fell short of Ultima VIII in graphics, but wrote that it is expansive, slick, and the plot contains thrills, adventure, and genuine humour, concluding that Entomorph really isn't half bad. Andy Butcher in Arcane rated it 7 out of 10, calling it a fun, engaging game that stresses puzzle-solving over endless combat with an original story. Matt Barton in his 2008 book Dungeons and Desktops called Entomorph and Thunderscape well-crafted and highly playable games that attracted little interest from CRPG fans then or now.