VITALS
Publisher: Team17 Software
Platform: XBLA, PC, PSN
Players: 1-2 players
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
I have been a huge fan of twin stick shooters since the first time I played Smash TV in an arcade; so when I was given with the opportunity to check out the latest twin stick shooter from Team17, I jumped at the chance.
Alien Breed 2: Assault is Team 17’s second installment in the Alien Breed series on Xbox Live Arcade and PC. The game picks up were the first game, Alien Breed: Impact, left off and starts with a quick recap of the story to bring new players up-to-date. Players encounter various types of alien breeds across five levels of game play, as the stories lead character, Conrad, tries to restore power to a stranded spaceship.
Conrad is tasked with restoring power the ailing ship, using the a mix of inventory and credits he finds along the way. Automated weapon stations found throughout the ship give players the opportunity to stock up on ammo, weapons, and upgrades as well as save their game. Even with opportunity to purchase ammo, players may find themselves lacking ammo due to each machine only contains a limited amount of ammunition. The pistol is blessed with unlimited ammo; but the lack of ammo powerful ammo leaves you feeling very vulnerable at times.
As Conrad, you work your way through the infested ship slaying swarms of aliens as your try to return power to the ship. The game offers a good mix of exploration and exterminate throughout the levels without requiring a lot of backtracking through the ship.
The Unreal engine provides a good budget game experience, but I found myself almost nausea at times due to the developers abundant use of camera shake to illustrate the fragile state of the ship. While the exploration of the ship is a big part of the game, the manual changing of the camera angle tends to get in the way when trying to focus on the constant onslaught of extraterrestrials.
I was unable to test the multiplayer Co-op Assault mode, which I believe was due to the build version of the game I was playing; but the co-op play is based on three levels outside of the main story of the game.
In single player, Survival mode is akin to Horde mode in Gears of War 2, players are tasked with surviving as many waves of attackers as possible. Free Play mode allows player to reattempt each of the levels to try and improve on their score, which is tracked by in-game leader boards.
The game has a great sense of replay value across its story mode, free play, and survivor mode as well as local and remote co-op modes. The game lends itself well to short bursts of gameplay with frequent save-points opportunities and autosaves; but I wouldn’t rely completely on the autosave. The save system has a tendency to save just as a player has barely escaped a situation, leaving very little health and resources.
Team17 announced that Alien Breed 2: Assault will launch on the PS3 Oct. 5 in the U.S.
Overall the game offers a lot of prospect for its minor investment. The game is available on Steam for $9.99 and on XBLA for 800 Microsoft Points.
This review was based on a Steam copy of the game provided by Team 17 Software. All images and video provided by Team 17 Software.
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