3 Oct, 2010
Team 17 of ‘Worms’ fame, bring us ‘Alien Breed: Impact’, a Playstation 3 updated version of Alien Breed Evolution (released on the Xbox 360 Arcade), a stylish sci-fi shooter adventure title based on the classic series of the same name. Set aboard a futuristic space craft name ‘Leopold’, you play as engineer Conrad who after the craft collides with a mysterious ghost ship, is forced to explore the damaged remains of the vessel aided by android Mia, in order to find various key cards, consoles and power cells so that he may enable his escape through each section of the game. The game opens with an effective little comic strip panel illustrating and introducing our initial principle characters and introducing our plot and objectives, and from there immediately places us on board the Leopold and into the shoes of Conrad.
Alien Breed Impact is an isometric view shooter, which aesthetically I couldn’t help but feel reminded of oldies such as Reloaded and even the original Fallout games, in terms of how the game plays and works. Your enemies are the various aliens who have come bounding aboard the ship from that which you collided with, and make a quick point of decimating the crew and parts of the ship alike with equal ferocity. You have a small range of weapons at your disposal, starting with a basic assault rifle and pistol and then collecting and upgrading weapons as your progress further into the game. The introduction of the Upgrade Shop on the save game terminals, gives the player the ability to tweak weapons and purchase supplies such as med packs smaller weapons like grenades. The third person overview style camera is adjustable by using the R1-L1 buttons, which allows you to rotate at 45 degree increments in order to scope out your various surroundings. This camera dynamic I felt hindered the combat system, when trying to take on enemies in small spaces or in the dark, it was often difficult to be accurate and avoid taking damage from circling aliens, but on the same token being trapped in a small area with an onslaught of aliens bounding towards you, as you spray bullets all over the shop in hope that you’ll take them down fast, are some of the most tense moments of the game.
The game consists of 5 single player levels in which you control Conrad through his search through the Leopold, before finally hoping onto the opposing ghost ship for the game’s finale. The interiors of the ship are dark and brooding, and the game’s sharp graphics do justice towards the sense of being trapped in a cold artificial environment, which in itself can work against the player as things explode and spark, causing damage to Conrad. The level design, especially in the early sections of the game can be somewhat frustrating in a sense that it becomes easy to take a wrong turn, or get a little stuck between boxes and chunks of debris in the smaller rooms. You will also feel like you spend a good chunk of your time avoiding areas blighted by fire, or searching for terminals to turn off an electrified area which can feel repetitive as the game goes on. Fans of sci-fi may possibly find that they draw parallels with the visuals of Alien Breed with titles such as Doom 3, and even films such as James Cameron’s Aliens (which I personally felt myself being reminded of in terms of the ships look and touches such as the blue flashing motion tracker) with the beautifully rendered futuristic environments. Players may feel somewhat cheated by the cliff hanger ending of the game which is a clear indication of a sequel being in the pipes, and as such players may feel the game is a walking advert for Team 17’s next release.
In addition to the story mode, we also have a co-op multiplayer mode consisting of 3 sections for up to 2 players. In co-op you assume the roles of Vance and Barnes, their plight running alongside that of the main story, your objective is to fight through the Leopold in similar fashion to find Conrad. These sections, while sadly not as long as the main feature, create an exciting and challenging experience and are one of Impact’s strongest points.
In terms of replay value, Alien Breed Impact comes complete with a hearty chunk of trophies for the completionist’s amongst us- ranging from finishing the game on a certain difficulty to witnessing a window being smashed, but generally speaking many players may find it difficult to play the game multiple times due to the simplistic nature of the game play. The basic find item, shoot alien, repeat dynamic may wear thin for many players, but there is a lot to like about Alien Breed Impact on the same merit. As something that you will buy and play from the Playstation store as an arcade type title, it’s formula works very well in terms of providing a few hours of back to basics sci-fi action with some nice trophies to boot and the opportunity to jump into the game with a friend in the co-op mode of the game.
So for some back to basics run-and-gun game play that throws in some alien target practise for good measure, Alien Breed: Impact is definitely worth taking a look at. If you can overlook the basic story and a few little niggles in the level design, there is a lot of fun to be back with Alien Breed: Impact. Priced at £11.99 from PSN, what have you got to lose? Give it a try!
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