How should I
start this review? Should I let everyone know the amount of trouble I had just
getting the game to work? Why not! First thing first, I couldn’t get this game
to work on my Windows XP machine. After I installed the game and tried playing
the game, I received a message that a video codec was needed to run the game. I
didn’t have the video codec installed on my system, so I went to the developer’s
website. The video codec was available but for $14.95. So I emailed the
publisher and they sent me a link to download the codec free of charge.
After installing
the codec, the opening credits for the game flashed upon my monitor. But then
the game crashed. Another email was sent to the publisher and they recommended
I download an older driver for my video card. I thought maybe that was the
problem, since I downloaded the newest drivers before I installed the game. So
I downloaded a version 40 driver from NVIDIA’s site. Same problem, the game
would crash. Now when I say crash I should be clear that the game would never
play. It would try to load the title screen and crash every time. I tested my
version of DirectX 9.0b, turned off a pop up killer, ran a virus scan, ran a
spyware scan, and defragged the hard drive. But the same problem every time!
Finally I thought I would try the game out on my old Windows 98 machine*.
Wouldn’t you know it? The game installed without a problem and booted up fine
with Windows 98.
I’m not going to
say that everyone will have the same problems I did when trying this game, but
buyer beware. I’ve had problems previously with other PC games, but nothing
like this one. I just hope you don’t need an older PC just to play the game
like I did. Why this one game wouldn’t play is a mystery to me and maybe even
the publisher to this day.
Enough about the
technical problems, let’s talk about the actual game. Alien Blast is set in the
year 2060 and you’re part of the Allied Force. The Allied Force is designed to
conquer and guard planets for the citizens of Earth. But everything isn’t happy
in the deep regions of space. It seems the planets are subject to an invasion
of aliens. It’s up to you to defend the planets from the horde of alien
invaders. However you’re at it alone and everyone is depending on you to defend
the planet.
The best way to
accurately describe Alien Blast is to say that it’s a shooter. Not a fancy,
technical, brilliant shooter, but just a shooter. Imagine playing Space
Invaders or Galaga in a first person mode and you should have a good idea of
what Alien Blast is about. In fact I would call this game old school, simple
from the fact that there isn’t much variety in the game. You just shoot and
kill as many aliens as you can during the stage. That’s about it. You might
think there has to be more to the game, but there isn’t.
As I mentioned in
the opening line that for those looking for an old school blast from the past
type of game, then Alien Blast will probably do. There isn’t much to the game,
which can be a good thing or a bad thing. For gamers looking for a quick fix of
intense shooter action, then look no farther. But for gamers looking for a
modern pack, full of variety, then steer clear of this game. In fact stay as
far away as possible.
Gameplay 5.0
The game is played
out in a first person point of view, with you controlling a gun turret. You can
move the camera around in almost any direction, if you want that direction to be
on a swivel. The game doesn’t allow you to actually move your gun anywhere on
the stage. So in essence you play the game in a first person perspective, but
the entire game is played from a bunker position. You can move your guns in
almost any direction to fire at the aliens, but you’re always stuck in the same
location. My first instinct when I was finally able to play the game was to try
and move around the stage. But maybe I wanted too much from a game that took so
long to install! There are 45 stages to complete and each stage plays out the
same as the last stage. You have to fight off the alien invasion with the
weapons at your disposal. On occasion a drop ship will come by and drop some
power-ups, such as extra health or better weapons. Probably the only saving
grace to the gameplay is the controls well. You can play the whole game with
just your mouse if you want, since you don’t have to worry about moving
anywhere.
Graphics 6.3
The graphics,
while not the most detailed by today’s standards, are well done. The stage
graphics range from moderately detailed to just boring. The graphics for the
aliens were a mixed bag as well. The character models weren’t too detailed but
even with a ton of different aliens on the screen at one time, the game never
slowed down. I was impressed with the larger aliens that would show up from
time to time. When the huge aliens would appear on the screen the game never
had a problem keeping up with the action. But even with the huge aliens and
large number of characters on the screen at one time, the explosions were
desperately lacking. All of the aliens would seem to blow up in three or four
blocks, every time! So when you take out a huge alien, it blows up the same way
most of the other aliens do, in blocks. Each weapon also had it’s own unique
animation and effect.
Sound 5.5
The sound effects
and music are decent and seemed to fit the game. The music didn’t play a huge
impact in the game, since you usually heard the sound effects over the music.
The sound effects for the aliens came across loud and clear during the game.
Each alien sounded exactly the same after a while. I was impressed with the
sound effects for your gun. Each weapon had it’s own unique sound effect that
made each weapon stand out. Between stages there is a short speech from someone
in Allied Forces command. The voice acting wasn’t great and will probably have
you clicking on the fire button to advance to the next stage.
Difficulty
Medium
The game’s
difficulty depends on your gaming skills. If you’re used to fast paced, intense
gaming action (especially old school shooters) then you won’t have a problem
with Alien Blast. New players might have a problem keeping up with all of the
action on the screen. Most of the stages seemed to be paced where the first
couple of stages are fairly easy. As you move farther along the stages get
increasingly harder. But there always seems to be a set cycle, two or three
stages are easy and then the next two are harder. Then the cycle starts over
again. Even as you move farther along in the game you will probably still
notice this cycle repeated over and over again.
Concept 5.0
You’re stuck in a
rut, oh I mean turret. You simply shoot as many enemies as you can to clear the
stage. You earn points for the number of enemies you shoot down. You’re also
ranked on how well you are with your shot. Ten years ago that might have been
fine, 20 years it would have been even better. But in today’s gaming market
this isn’t the type of game to draw in new fans. If you’re dying for a chance
at some white-knuckle intense shooter action, then jump right in.
Multiplayer
N/A
The game offers
4-player multiplayer action over a LAN or the internet. Unfortunately I was
unable to test this feature of the game. When I logged on there was no one
available to play against. Maybe the other gamers are having the same
difficulty I did getting the game to work?
Overall 5.5
This definitely
wasn’t the game I was expecting it to be. The way the game describes itself I
imagined a first person shooter where you’re out in space blowing up aliens.
Sure it’s set in a first person perceptive, and you do blow up aliens but this
isn’t the game most gamers will expect. You’re stuck in your gun turret, firing
off your weapons to an endless amount of aliens, and that’s it! There isn’t
anything else to do in the game, but blow up aliens in your turret. Once again,
for gamers looking for this type of game, then Alien Blast will probably
satisfy. It offers plenty of non-stop intense gameplay to make some gamers
happy. The game even does a commendable job of keeping up with the amount of
action on screen. But for the rest of us, Alien Blast probably should remain on
a distant planet far away. If you do purchase the game I just hope you don’t
run into the system problems I did during install.
Ignore the default Specs below of my usual
reviewing PC:
