• Format: PSN
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Team 17
• Developer: Team 17
• Players: 1-2
• Site: http://www.team17.com

We asked for episode 3 and Team 17 have delivered. However, we are not too sure if we should have asked for it so enthusiastically. This, unsurprisingly, is the third instalment for the PS3 of the Alien Breed reboot. It’s already graced Xbox Live Arcade and now here it is on the PlayStation Network.

The game is much the same as the two previous instalments. You are one of the few survivors on a grand spaceship which has crashed into another, Alien infested spaceship. There is some overall plot line about some kind of overarching intelligence pitting themselves against your fairly nondescript character. However none of this matters as you will not care. In essence it’s a top down shooter which rips off the Alien movie franchise better than any game ever released as a license of Alien (the PS1 FPS aside, which was excellent!).

The game still revolves around going from point A to point B, and in some cases going back to point A before you move onto point C, where you can then start the process over again as you prepare to move onto point D. In itself this is ok (it worked with Metroid), but the game is dragged out and becomes a ‘start-stop’ experience due to Team 17′s insistence of showing you that they really did use the Unreal Engine to make this game. Hence as a way of demonstrating some nice tech (such as some nice water early on in level 1) and as a way of ‘justifying’ why you have to go to point B (or C, D etc), they will suddenly show you what’s up ahead. Normally this is an obstacle that needs to be removed by going to point C to deactivate some random computer terminal. This also allows them to bring the camera down to make you feel you are part of the game world which is cute, but well overdone. However, instead of making us feel part of the game world as the designers had intended, it has the effect of taking us out of the game and killing what atmosphere has built up until that point.

Alien Breed was always a game about atmosphere. It was a game which really tried to capture the seat of your pants, stress and pressure of the Alien movies. It did this by making you this lonely, solitary figure in a world where it was just you and the aliens. Now it’s become you, the aliens, some weird baddie intelligence who talks to you regularly and lots of meaningless cut scenes which cause the game to stutter along.

This game works best when all the gimmicks are removed and it’s just reduced to your character, a good map, your machine gun (which has a great sound to it), with your Alien-esque movement scanner and creatures which come from all directions. However there are some serious flaws such as Nintendo style end of level bosses, which are poorly executed, co-op is still limited and we still don’t have the bonus of the original game (we would love to see that).

Alien Breed was a great franchise and overall this has been a fairly successful reboot. If you have played and enjoyed the previous two instalments it might be worth seeing the story to the end. However if you decided to overlook episode one and two, there is no new reason for you to suddenly join in the saga.

• Format: 360 (version reviewed), PS3, PC
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: SEGA
• Developer: Rebellion
• Players: 1 (2-18 online)
• Site: http://www.sega.co.uk/avp/en

Even if you haven’t seen any, chances are you’ve at least heard of one of the Aliens or Predator movies or maybe even the ones where they crossed paths. They’ve also been involved in a number of games too and Rebellion, who already have a few under their belt, have taken another stab at perfecting the mix of xenomorphic creatures, hyper advanced hunters and squishy moving targets.

Set on the colony of Freya’s Prospect, the player can take up the role of a marine nicknamed Rookie answering a distress call from the planet, an alien christened Six causing the aforementioned distress, or a Young Blood Predator out to stop the desecration of ancient land by both other parties.

While the player is able to see these events from the three perspectives, it generally involves going through the same core levels just with a different play style. It’s worth pointing out now that those of a weak stomach would find the constant extreme gore in the Alien and Predator campaigns off – putting. Anyway, what’s really the key selling point of this game is the various online components and in order to be able to discuss those at length, what follows is a brief summary of the three campaigns.

The human campaign is both the longest and most involved of the three. Rookie is often on his own and the build up to your first encounter with an alien is handled brilliantly. Sadly, after that things become very generic and you won’t find anything you wouldn’t find in any other FPS here. Limitations with the human abilities can also be frustrating at times (such as no side-step or crouch). We also found the incredibly potent auto-aim to be detrimental in successfully hitting targets.

The Alien campaign offers a very unique style of play. You must lurk on walls or ceilings taking out lights to conceal yourself, just waiting for the chance to pick off hapless humans, which is usually quite fun. The only two disappointments about this campaign were that it was probably the shortest (unless you make it a point to stalk every enemy) and that it’s very distracting that aliens sound like excited elephants when they leap or die.

The most fun from the single player is most definitely in the Predator campaign. With his cloaking device and endless gadgets he is the most amusing to play as and clearly the most powerful – a point which has had somewhat disastrous implications to multiplayer.

Through all campaigns fans of the movies of each respective franchise will love numerous references and nods to them. The acting is about on par with them and the music (which seems to spike at random) is also fitting.

This won't end well...

Now we move to the multiplayer. The multiplayer is unbalanced. We suspect that you will read that in many places, but we equally suspect that the finger of blame will be pointed in different directions depending on who you ask. Some online mods have set ratios (such as classics like Deathmatch) and the ratio seems to be one Predator for every two aliens or humans.

In theory (we stress the theory part) that sounds about right given the overall strength of the Predator. However, certain other modes don’t seem to be restricted in the same way. Take Species TDM or Mixed Species TDM – these either have equal numbers of each race against each other or as many of whatever race the player wants fighting each other. Go into a mixed species match and you’ll be hard pushed to find a human and any less than six Predators.

It’s possible the fault with the balancing is not so much in the respective abilities of the races and more the core of the combat. The Predator and aliens have instant kill techniques if you press a button when facing an enemy’s back, often leading to insta-kill trains where everybody lines up nicely behind each other ignoring the redundancy of getting a kill just to then die afterwards.

Blame should not be placed on people going for instant kills though (especially since this is a key component to doing well as an alien) as the hand-to-hand combat is slightly broken. In theory it is supposed to be a rock-paper-scissors kind of mix between (light or heavy) attack, block and counter, but in practise it’s more like rock-rock-pencil. If a person is blocking, the only way this block can be broken (via close combat) is to use a heavy attack. However, a heavy attack takes time to build up and as such a blocking person can counter with a light attack and then go back to blocking. It feels like a massive oversight and is extremely annoying in multiplayer and the campaigns on higher difficulty.

There is fun to be had in multiplayer – until all the little faults that have slipped through in the core combat start cropping up over and over. You’ll start to feel less like you’re playing well or not and more like you’re just working through a broken system that’s deciding how well you do for you. You’ll start resorting to what everyone else seemed to do and go the Predator and find the laser or throwing disk and just keep your distance trying to get lucky with those. The only mode that doesn’t suffer from any of this particularly is Survivor in which four humans fight waves of alien AI which is good fun for a little while.

If you are willing to overlook some pretty bad oversights, lack of attention to detail, perceived unbalance and are a fan of the movies then you will find something worthwhile here. Those who might only be interested in the next big online game for Live or PSN or in a compelling single player campaign will need to look elsewhere.

6/10

• Format: PS3 (version reviewed) 360, PC
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Bethesda
• Developer: Bethesda
• Players: 1
• Site: http://fallout.bethsoft.com/

The mother ship announces itself in proper alien fashion by sucking you up into its guts with an abduction beam. You are then poked, prodded and probed (read: violated!) proper alien style. Mmm, that’ll get your bowels moving!

Frank's dentist assured him the medication would wear off soon

After waking up in a cell, stripped of all your stuff (and we mean all your stuff) you are introduced to a fellow abductee who tells you what happened to you, not that you’ll need much more info than what you already know. It’s not long before you find yourself running around the ship, whacking little green men with a zappy stick and randomly prodding buttons that do god-knows-what! There’s a distinct Dr.Who-ish, B-movie feel to this place that’s very different to the world you’re used to. Things are clean, new and shiny rather than old, mouldy and broken. The corridors are confined and give you a sense of claustrophobia too, but this is due to the size of your captors which makes it all seem more tangible.

Space-fridge-raiders

It’s not long before you meet other captives, all of whom are from different times in Earth’s history. One particular individual is from Anchorage, and brings with him a continuity to the DLC that fits in nicely with what’s just happened to you. Not only this, there are also recordings of conversations between people who have been abducted and their captors for you to find and collect, giving you further insight into how long ‘they’ have been watching us. These range from comical to freaky, and flesh out the experience very well. As you traverse this massive ship you’ll no doubt feel lost at times because of everything looking so alien, and without an English signpost in sight, you’ll thank God they forgot to take off your Pip-Boy!

The weapons that can be found here have great names and are fun to use, things like the deadly Disintegrator or Atomiser can be found rather quickly and there’s even a cow-dispenser to test your new toys on. Mothership Zeta has its tongue firmly in its cheek all the way through, little touches will no doubt have you thinking how alien we are to them. Things like their fascination with robot ponies built on Earth for little girls can be found up here in large quantities, and much as they have collected these, you’ll be stuffing your pockets full of alien crystals that for all you know are alien nose products!

Regardless of what your style of play is, Zeta will be suspenseful and intense most of the time, due to the sheer amount of aliens and drones that inhabit the confined ship. Getting into a fire-fight will give you little manoeuvrability for advantages and even less options for tactical retreat, while staying hidden can prove very difficult most of the time because of lighting and streamlined corridors. Much like Point Lookout, there is no chance to fix or find bodily protection either, however, there are handy ‘health tubes’ to walk through now and again that can restore you fully (if you have the skill to modify them).

Wait, this isn't NASA!

For the final DLC pack on PSN, this is a fun romp around and those into sci-fi will see quite a few inspirations from 50′s cinema here. The joy of being in such an environment has its own merits, but Bethesda has brought the abduction experience to a fun new level that should have sci-fi fans grinning all the way.

4/5