Thornton tells a story about when he let a snake crawl in his hair while he was stuck in traffic. We're not sure what the hell Dennis Hopper is talking about. Then again, who is!

Oh! Apparently, Hopper's explaining the game's plot. There's also footage of him saying the same lines different ways and stroking his facial hair.

Watch the interviews in the embedded links below.

Dennis Hopper Interview and Billy Bob Thornton [TWG News via Go Nintendo]

OK, so it's animated, but it's also pretty damn funny.

Still so very much on the fence about this one. I have enough trouble playing scary video games based on events that couldn't possibly happen in the real world. A game that combines my fear of arachnids with the very real possibility that there's one on the floor somewhere near my feet as I type this?

Well that was a bad line of thinking. I'll be huddled on top on my chair crying like a girl if anyone needs me.

Hopper plays George Struggs, the owner of a run-down gas station with a plot to get his hands on some Civil War gold. It's sort of a story within the story, with the humans thinking they are the stars when in reality the titular Deadly Creatures are the ones in the spotlight. Towards the end of the video, Hopper calms any fears that the game might be a flop, assuring us all that "gamers are going to love Deadly Creatures," and who knows gamers' tastes better than King Koopa himself?

THQ has announced that the two actors will be voicing human characters in the game, unfortunately not covering the lead roles of Scorpion and Tarantula, which is a shame as I couldn't imagine a more appropriate casting.

“What surprised me about Deadly Creatures is how it looks…like watching a movie,” said Billy Bob Thornton. “The scorpion and tarantula are like two actors meeting up for a gun fight.”

If you ask me, this is terrible news, but then I am an arachnophobe who is also a big fan of Hopper and Thornton. I just have to figure out if their voices will be enough to keep me from getting that itchy, jumpy feeling I am getting right just imagining playing the game.

Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper to Voice Characters in THQ’s Wii-Exclusive, Deadly Creatures™
Award Winning Actors Bring Triple-A Talent to Action-Thriller Wii Title

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) today announced that Academy Award® Winning actor Billy Bob Thornton and Academy Award® Nominated actor Dennis Hopper are lending their famous voices to THQ’s new action thriller Wii™ game: Deadly Creatures™. Critically recognized as a unique, one-of-a-kind Wii experience, Deadly Creatures is scheduled to hit retail outlets worldwide in February 2009.

“What surprised me about Deadly Creatures is how it looks…like watching a movie,” said Billy Bob Thornton. “The scorpion and tarantula are like two actors meeting up for a gun fight.”

“Gamers are really going to love Deadly Creatures,” added Dennis Hopper.

“Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper’s involvement as the voice talent for the human characters in Deadly Creatures is a testament to the game’s high level of quality,” said Nick Wlodyka, General Manager, Rainbow Studios. “The AAA talent helps bring this cinematic storyline of greed and betrayal to life in a one-of–a-kind action-thriller exclusively on Wii.”

Deadly Creatures has been recognized by top media outlets as a very unique, stylized Wii experience.

“One of the most compelling third-party games to hit Nintendo’s console”
- IGN.com, October 2008

“The concept behind Deadly Creatures is unique and intriguing”
- Gamespot.com, July 2008

“Deadly Creatures definitely gets points for originality”
– 1up.com, July 2008

About Deadly Creatures

Deadly Creatures is a 3rd person action-thriller set amidst a desert world of venomous terror, exclusively for Wii. Players control an armored Scorpion and a deadly Tarantula as they fight for survival against Gila monsters, lizards, black widows and many more terrifying creatures. Featuring intuitive motion controls and a deep combo-based combat system, Deadly Creatures is a thrilling mix of brutal, creature-crushing action and suspenseful exploration of vast 360 degree desert and man-made environments. Gamers will explore this darkly compelling story through the eyes of two of the world’s most deadly creatures.

The Wii exclusive does a lot of neat things with the genre. First is the fact that while you do take turns controlling both the scorpion and spider in Deadly Creatures, they aren't buddies. In fact, they're deadly enemies of one another. You will never actually do combat while controlling either creature, but you get to witness a few stand-offs as the game unwinds.

While most of the action of the game takes place in the desert of Arizona, there is an overriding story that deals with these mysterious guys searching for something. It's these cut-scenes that sort of tie the entire experience together.

Controlling the spider and scorpion involves a lot of motion control, but the good kind, not the bad one. For instance, while moving the spider around you can target nearby creatures and then strike at them with a sudden flick forward of your hand. This also allows you to do some distant jump attacks. The spider, of course, can also crawl up walls and such, and both creatures regain health by eating crickets. Movement can be just as important as combat in the game too. In one scene the spider had to ditch a rattle snake by tricking it to strike into a cactus repeatedly. The whole thing, from interface, to movement and types of attack, has a very organic feel to it.

Both creatures unlock new abilities, like the ability to spin spider silk to capture creatures, by defeating a set number of creatures to hit predator goals.

Unfortunately, the game won't include any two-player co-op play. Instead you get take turns playing as the two critters in alternating chapters.

While almost all of the game is about surviving the environment and other nasty creatures, the final boss is one of the two humans in the game, the developer told me.

"I don't want to give too much away, but it will make you very squeamish," the developer said. "We do awful things to that poor man."

THQ's Rainbow Studios, known for the Cars game and the MX vs. ATV series, developed Deadly Creatures as a "labor of love," according to the rep, since the studio's based in Arizona, where its team was inspired by the desert crawlies native to the warm region.

As such, in Deadly Creatures, you can play the action-adventure game either as a venomous scorpion or fabulously gross tarantula, and the different strengths and weaknesses of each animal mean that navigating the game's areas and defeating its bosses, which include a rattlesnake, a gila monster and a horned lizard, among others.

After watching the rep demo it for me, here's what stood out:

First of all, if the title didn't clue you in, you play as - and against - dangerous creatures.The tarantula's animation was spot-on and cringe-inducing, as spooky as a real big, hairy spider can be. The tarantula, it was shown to me, is more agile than the scorpion, who can climb walls, leap gaps, and wrap hostile creatures in its webbing. I didn't get to see the scorpion, but the rep told me that the scorpion is more of a "tank" character, able to do damage with his venomous stinger and burrow underground.

Your creature of choice navigates the level in its own unique way, gradually opening more areas of the forbidding landscape as it defeats bosses and accomplishes objectives - gameplay blends action with problem-solving and exploration. The rep told me that gameplay would gradually expose a backstory leading up to the creature's confrontation with its ultimate predator (drumroll), mankind.

Getting up close and personal with the more dangerous aspects of Mother Nature by controlling fiends we normally find repellent is a really cool idea - I was actually reminded of how much I loved to play as the hive-devouring spider in Sim Ant back when I was young.

The graphics look good, too, in full 3D with a 360-degree camera, letting you see all the creepy crevices, gross bugs and spider leg hairs you can stomach. The rep told me that Deadly Creatures is aimed at Wii users who have been waiting for something a little more mature to play than the usual brightly-colored fare, and this sure looks like a fun choice - especially if you're as vaguely sadistic as I am and love watching things eat each other on National Geographic.

The level on display was one of the early scorpion levels and I was pleased to see that the Wii graphics looked rather nice and the controls weren't too gimmicky. For instance, flicking the remote would cause my scorpion friend to swing his tail in a huge circle, reminding me a bit of Link's circular sword swing. As I traversed the underground tunnels that made up the better part of the level, I discovered that I needn't always have all of my many legs on the ground. being an insect has it's privileges and it was fun to start crawling up the walls to avoid certain obstacles although this change of perspective made navigation difficult at times. Power ups and enemy creatures abound giving you upgrades for the harder levels that are surely found later in the game. Adding to the overall spooky factor was a great soundtrack that did a terrific job of capturing the mood and making it seem like you were taking part in some sort of insect ridden horror film.

If you were a fan of Bad Mojo, chances are you will probably get a kick out of Deadly Creatures. Will Deadly Creatures be the best game you will ever play on the Wii? Probably not, but it's an original and interesting IP which is always a welcome addition to the often times typical Wii entries.And in my opinion, anything that breaks the crushing mini-game mold is definitely worth a look see.

THQ Announces Deadly CreaturesTM Exclusively For Nintendo® Wii

Action Thriller Pits Players Against a World of Creeping Terror

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. February 15, 2008 - THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced Deadly Creatures™, an original action thriller title coming exclusively to the Nintendo Wii console in 2008. Developed internally by THQ's critically acclaimed Rainbow Studios, Deadly Creatures throws players into a venomous world of desert terror, where the greatest victory is survival. Players will follow the entwined adventures of an armored scorpion and a stealthy tarantula as they struggle against a variety of creatures including vicious Gila monsters, tarantula wasps, black widows, and the most dangerous predator of all - Man. Deadly Creatures takes full advantage of the Wii's unique motion-based control scheme and allows players to fully experience every pounce and tail sting.

"Deadly Creatures is an amazingly innovative game concept, and exemplifies THQ's commitment to creating original new IP for the Nintendo Wii platform," said Randy Shoemaker, director of global brand management, THQ. "With Deadly Creatures, we are raising the bar for all 3rd party Wii titles, and focusing on deep, compelling gameplay for a largely untapped audience of Wii gamers."

"Deadly Creatures is a creepy, cinematic thrill ride, where the distinction between predator and prey can shift around every corner," said Nick Wlodyka, executive producer and general manager, Rainbow Studios. "With brutal motion-controlled combat, a dark compelling story and some of the best visuals to date on the Wii, we are excited to bring Deadly Creatures to a large core Wii audience that hungers for a new experience."