Game: "Alien Breed"
System: Other
Genre: Action
Published by: Other

Reviewer: Dr. Boogie
Posted: 8/11/2008

Review: Remember Aliens? Of course you do. You remember it far more than any other film in the Alien series. And it makes a great basis for a video game, whether you can get the license or not.

In Alien Breed, you play a space marine who has come to check up on a station that has ceased broadcasting, blah blah blah. Bottom line: there’s a space station full of aliens and you’ve got to work your way through it the hard way.

A daunting task, to be sure. Luckily, the former residents managed to fling their valuables all over the place before they died, so you’ll be sweeping up ammo, keycards, and money as you move from deck to deck. Better still, the futuristic vending machines used by the former residents are still in tip top shape. Find enough credits, and you can trade in your crummy machine gun for something with a little more moxie.

Therein lies the beauty of Alien Breed: it’s simple, yet fun. Each deck has a mission attached to it, but they all more or less fit into one of three categories: find the elevator, escape before time runs out, or kill the big alien and escape before time runs out. Stay on the move and keep an eye on your ammo. The latter isn’t too tough, so long as you don’t get carried away blasting away at the never-ending supply of aliens, or opening locked doors the old fashion way.

The aliens themselves come in two flavors: humanoid and facehugger. Technically, they aren’t “facehuggers” because this isn’t a game based on the Alien franchise, but I challenge anyone to look at those creatures and tell me that they aren’t supposed to be facehuggers. The humanoid types look like the aliens from the movies, too, but with a little more variety. And a level where you have to take care of survivors that have been implanted by the facehuggers? I’m just glad nobody got sued.

The mood of the films is captured nicely, too. The endless waves of aliens coupled with your limited supply of ammunition makes for a tense experience, especially when coupled with the hum of machinery in lieu of actual music. Granted, it’s kind of a mood breaker when you grab a 1-up that looks like a large smiley face, but that doesn’t happen too often.

At the end of the day, you can’t go wrong with the old school. But let’s say you don’t have an Amiga lying around your home. You can still enjoy this classic shooter in the form of a remake called Alien Breed: Obliteration! Check out the link, and enjoy blasting some xenomo-er, “aliens”.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)