Review | Alien Breed Evolution: Episode 1
Format: Xbox360 | Genre: Top-down shooter | Publisher: Team 17 | Developer: Team 17 | Release date: 16/12/09 | RRP: £6.80 (800 MSPoints)
By Greg Giddens
Alien Breed Evolution is mostly just that: an evolution of the classic series, taking the original experience and enhancing it through modern means.
The result is nostalgic but fresh, and is sure to please the legions of fans that have been so patiently waiting for the series to return. Whether it quite does enough to impress on a wider scale is up for debate.
//Alien resurrection
The core remains mostly unchanged. You fight your way through each level, dispatching aliens in order to progress. The additions include a more satisfying narrative to drive you though each level, rather than the high score compulsion the original opted for, with voice acting and comic stills introducing each level. But with the episodic formula Alien Breed Evolution is using, there was always going to be the threat that each episode would fail to provide enough story to drive the player forward. Unfortunately, at present, this seems to be true. While the narrative shows the promise of quality, Episode 1 feels distinctly sluggish and repetitive, lacking the drive in each level to justify the in-game objectives, and not progressing very far with the between-level comics. There’s only three or four hours of content to speak of so far, so there’s plenty of time for the narrative to show us its true colours, but it’s not the most immediately gripping start.
But, in-game, Alien Breed Evolution feels like a well executed balancing act, using modern game concepts but maintaining the original’s integrity. It’s very impressive how Team 17 have incorporated elements new and old into the experience, and formed a game that caters to both the fans and the newcomers. It’s still a top-down shooter like the originals, but uses an aerial view to show off the 3D update. Other, older elements used in the formula include the use of save-points throughout each level instead of checkpoints, which seems at first to be a strange design choice, but turns out to fit the experience perfectly, making your progression through a level a little more cautious and tactical, forcing you to keep an eye on your health and ammo and searching out more, as well as finding the save points and using them regularly. It’s interesting how the omission of checkpoints can work so well, shifting the difficulty of the experience further towards challenging but rarely in a frustrating way.
//Not new, but improved
There are plenty of enhancements going on behind the scenes, but there are several more obvious ones that instantly stand out, such as those found in the presentation. Alien Breed Evolution looks stunning, making brilliant use of the Unreal 3 engine, with fire and explosion effects in particular standing out. The lighting and colour palette are dark but used well, creating an atmospheric environment that never compromise the visual quality, even in the game’s darkest areas. That’s a relief, as the detail itself is remarkable. Great attention has been paid in the design of every aspect of the environment and the enemies. And although the human characters are less detailed when zoomed in, it rarely causes concern due to the aerial view. In fact, it makes the whole thing look even more impressive – it’s always tantilising, as you never get close enough to fully appreciate it.
All the visual qualities are complimented by a great selection of sounds and music, and while fans of the original may miss the retro effects of yore, there is no denying that the new ones are an improvement. The score proves to be a great fit for the environment and atmosphere, and although it’s not always easy to hear it above the explosions, weapon fire and screaming aliens. But when it ramps up during larger battles, your heart rate can’t help but follow the tempo. It combines with various design choices to create an impressively frightening experience, one that provides a real sense of vulnerability.
Indeed, this is perhaps the area in which the Alien Breed evolution is most noticeable. Ammo and health aren’t abundant, and when using health packs or searching bodies and lockers, there’s a progress bar to fill by holding the use button and waiting, leaving you at the mercy of any nearby enemies. It’s very effective in adding a survival horror feel to the game, working with the presentation to enhance the atmosphere further.
//There’s always a but
While on the topic of vulnerability, though, there are a few small problems that damage the experience. The levels’ visual quality may be impressive, but they do suffer a little from a lack of variety, with everything taking place within a ship’s interior. There’s enough variety to give each location some character but is still a little disappointing not to see more. The mission objectives suffer from a similar problem – the simple task of opening a door often turns into a search for a way to power it and, once that’s done, dealing with the power overloading. It’s a scenario that occurs a bit too often, leading to a fairly repetitive mission structure.
Alien Breed Evolution is great fun to play, and fans of the series will find it ticks all the boxes. For everyone else, it’s certainly an enjoyable shooter, and one that should do enough to grab people’s attention – but it’ll have to up its game in the next episode if it wants to be sure of maintaining it.
7/10
