Escape From Bug Island (formerly Necro-Nesia) infests the Wii
Everyone is used to horror video games featuring the usual suspects: zombies, monsters, demons, crazed killers . . . one enemy-type you don’t see too much of is bugs . . . giant, killer bugs. Yes, they did recently pop-up in Capcom’s excellent 3rd-person action game Lost Planet, but you have never seen bugs used quite the way they are in Escape From Bug Island.
From giant bugs to creepy crawly bugs to multiple-eyed and pinching critters, Escape From Bug Island uses everyone’s fear of creeping, crawling creatures to give the game it’s horror feel. Just the sound of buzzing bugs as you run through the outdoor environments gives you horrible thoughts of that time you went camping, wandered into the forest at night and found yourself swarmed with insects of all kinds (something like that). And it’s not only bugs you’ll face off against, but even giant apes jump in for some fun.
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Developed by Spike (Crimson Tears, Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi, the upcoming No More Heroes) and published by Eidos for the Nintendo Wii, Escape From Bug Island was formerly known as Necro-Nesia in Japan and it hit US stores on July 24th. So while it’s out now here, it has a release date of 14th September in Europe, where it will be going by it’s Japanese name (God only knows why, although I think that name is much cooler sounding).
Escape From Bug Island is an adventure style horror game much in the vein of Silent Hill, from the rolling fog to the slower pace and the clunky combat, everything feels similar to that popular title. Except this game has a much campier, B-movie feel to it, with pretty horrible voice acting (when it pops up, much of the cut-scenes and other parts of the game use text) and a story that doesn’t go very much deeper than you being a guy who’s out to save your girlfriend and your weapon-happy buddy who have both gone missing.
As mentioned above, the game is very much focused on combat, even if the combat is very clunky looking and not very smooth (but you can’t say much different for Silent Hill’s combat, though it does admittedly look worse here). You use the Nunchuck and Wii Remote to play (It’s only one player btw), with attacks using different gestures, including a left and right dodge. And you pick up various weapons as you go. This is still very much a survival horror title though, it’s definitely not a shooter.
Check out more videos on the game below. Keep in mind that all these trailers and videos are mostly from the Japanese version of Necro-Nesia; the US version will have some additions, enhancements and clean-ups to hopefully make it better and more polished.
In the end, I hope this game sells well because even if it doesn’t turn out to be anything more than average, the premise is still very cool and with better graphics, an improved camera, more polish and more depth overall (starting with a good story and interesting characters ala Silent Hill or Resident Evil) I think a lot more people would be willing to try it out.
Escape From Bug Island – Praying Mantis Battle
Necro-Nesia/Escape From Bug Island Trailer 1
Necro-Nesia/Escape From Bug Island – Island Arrival Cut-Scene
Necro-Nesia/Escape From Bug Island Trailer 2
Necro-Nesia/Escape From Bug Island Trailer 3
Necro-Nesia/Escape From Bug Island – Hands on Gameplay (E3 2006)
Did you know the unique PS Vita game Gravity Rush is helmed by the Siren series director? 
