Alien Breed


Title		Alien Breed
Publisher       Team 17
Game Type	Shoot-em-up
Players		1-2
Compatibility	All
Submission	Lee.Fletcher@sms.ed.ac.uk

Review
	Imagine for one moment you are a futuristic marine stationed on a
command ship floating in deep space. Suddenly a message is broadcast over
the warning system. You hear gunfire in the distance. Screams and strange
alien noises echo around you. You prime your weapon and step through a
door to meet them. Suddenly you're surrounded by unrecognisable creatures
all running toward you, eager to taste your blood. You freeze. Panic sets
in and you start spraying random gunfire in the hope of taking a few of
them down before they reach you. As your ammo counter clicks to zero you
relax, waiting for the inevitable to happen. Then "BANG BANG BANG!" The
creatures explode one by one in a hail of limbs and entrails. You turn
round to see your friend appear behind you in the doorway, his gun smoking.
	That is the kind of atmosphere that oozes out from this excellent
game.  A fine game for one player, it really turns on the charm when you
plug in a second joystick and invite a friend to join in the carnage. And,
to be honest, you'll need the help! This game is hard! You progress
through the ship in the hope of saving yourself from the hordes of alien
attackers, moving from deck to deck via the end of level lifts. Various
obstacles are in your way such as locked doors, energy fields, huge
four-armed aliens with dripping teeth, you know..the usual. You may have
seen it all before but you won't have seen it done as well as this.
	Viewed from a top-down perspective the graphics in this game are
clear and crisp, with well animated sprites and smoothly scrolling
scenary. There are a number of lighting effects to see as you progress
through the game such as the flames from the flamer weapon which  are lit
up in the dark. The last level, for instance sees a power failure and a
strict time limit with which to escape from the ship. The tension mounts
as the auto-destruction system periodically announces how little time you
have left. The corridors are pitch black and all you can see are the
glowing eyes of the aliens as they race to attack you and the explosions
as you pepper them with whatever ammunition you have left. Then you see
the red lights on the floor guiding you to your escape and you follow them
to the lift.
	Throughout the game you come across various items to pick up like
health, keys, money and ammunition. The money then lets you purchase
weapons upgrades and extra ammunition via the console terminals you can
log on to when you see one. These terminals also serve as save points
giving you a password to jot down if you've got the money.  Weapons range
from your lowly blaster to more powerful machine gun blaster weapons, and
from flamer weapons to energy weapons which riccochet off the walls. The
aliens on which you use these weapons range from your typical cannon
fodder to huge mother aliens which take one hell of an arsenal to kill.
	As mentioned before this game is hard! For one player it may seem
like an impossible task at first, with little or no ammunition, no health
and no hope of finding any before you're caught by the line of monsters
snapping at your heels. But with practice you'll progress and that's what
makes this game so good. It's always a challenge but never too much of
one. You will always find a way to get just that little bit further into
it which will draw you back to it again and again. There are plenty of
secrets to find as well. Get your friend to play and you'll never tire of
fighting over the health bonuses! But, too much bickering will end in
tears. You will need some good teamwork if you're to beat it with two
players.
	Alien Breed plays like the James Cameron film Aliens (but the
aliens mostly resemble the ones you find in the Space Crusade board games,
with many of them being the pixellated cousins of the genestealers) and as
such, delivers non-stop action and suspense, which, in most games of this
genre is sadly lacking. A landmark title which set new standards for
future developments. Definitely a must have game. Buy it and your Amiga
will love you forever.





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