So what makes it so unique? Where most strategy games have armies with standard military units, in Impossible Creatures the player designs their own army of nine creatures by combining two animals to make one. If you've ever wanted to lead an army of camels with a gorilla head into battle, then this game is for you. There are 50 animals in the game at the start, with 15 extra free to download and various player-made mods to further customise the game. Each animal has a unique balance of stats and abilities which makes it impossible to make the 'perfect' creature.
In order to balance the game, there are 'research levels', which cost resources to research. The best creatures are at level 5, so they aren't available to build until late on. A creature with better stats might cost more resources to build, making it harder to build lots at once. Coal and electricity gathering are a huge part of the game and if you get left behind in resources, you'll be left behind in battle. Finely balancing your resource gathering, researching, building and creature building are key to victory.
Combat is fairly simple - there are three types of attacks, melee, artillery and ranged. Melee attacks are generally more powerful but you may have to get close, obviously, which often gives the ranged units a defensive advantage. Ranged units however, have a huge problem with artillery units. There are a lot less ranged and artillery than melee units, so choosing them carefully is important.
The game's story mode is fairly unspectacular, but helps you to learn the ropes. Where the game really shines is multiplayer. Unfortunately, official servers and support for IC multiplayer no longer exists, so you might have to find some friends to play with over LAN, or use other software in order to connect over the internet.
Despite the game being over 10 years old, it is still fairly good graphically and importantly, the gameplay is still unique, varied and freaking awesome. If you've never played the game, I recommend you download it immediately. One of my favourite games of all time.
