Alien Breed isn’t the most original game on XBLA but it still offers a relatively fun experience especially for those who are looking for a quick and simple shooter.
Alien Breed Evolution is actually a remake to the original Alien Breed, a game that came out in the early 90s so it’s safe to say not many of today’s gamers have played the original. Alien Breed was a simple shooter but very fun considering the era in gaming it was released in. Now on XBLA Alien Breed Evolution attempts to bring the classic game to a new generation with updated graphics and a more interactive game overall.
Graphics are one of the best things about Alien Breed, it has above average visuals for an Arcade game. There are plenty of nice lighting effects, and explosion effects through out, and the environments are also fairly nice, if you played the original Alien Breed you’ll know that this game is a giant step forward. However one of the main problems is that the environment though are technically well done are some what generic looking, the whole game almost takes place entirely in a space station that’s been run over by aliens so you already know pretty much what the setting is going to be like.
Sound is average, generic gun sounds are plentiful and aliens themselves also have typical bug noises. Through out the game there will also be a female announcer giving updates on your actions. Music is also some what bland but it fits in with the action. Like the graphics, sound is technically done well but there is very little you haven’t experienced before.
Gameplay in Alien Breed is fairly simple, like many other XBLA such as Assault Heroes the game gives you an isometric top down view, the left joystick is to move around, right joystick is to aim and right trigger is to fire. The majority of the game just needs those controls but there are plenty of extras like using items switching guns, and running. The game drops the player in the level and just sends hordes of aliens at them, players shoot down the aliens and get to the next level, a very simple mission overall.
Alien Breed Evolution is a game that sticks very close to a proven formula, the top down shooter has been done several times now on XBLA and they’ve overall been a big success, however Alien Breed Evolution stays too close to this formula. There is almost no originality in the game, everything from the guns, items, enemies, and environment have all been done in similar ways before which makes it difficult for Alien Breed to stand above the crowd. It is important to note that there isn’t anything really wrong with the game everything is technically well done but the end result comes off a little on the stale side. However if you’re looking for a simple and straight forward shooter you can’t go wrong with Alien Breed Evolution.
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Overall = 7.4
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