Alien Shooter: Vengeance Preview

I’ve mentioned in several PC reviews that the PC gaming market is far from dead. No matter how powerful the Xbox 920 or PS5 will be the PC market is still moving forward and sometimes backwards. For every game that makes use of DirectX 10 graphic cards we still get games that are throwbacks to earlier times in the PC gaming market. Alien Shooter: Vengeance is another PC game that will probably remind gamers of titles released years ago. Sometimes taking a good idea and reworking it, no matter how old, can still reap rewards.

Alien Shooter: Vengeance (ASV) immediately reminded me of games styled after the first two Diablo games. Instead of hunting down demons ASV is set in a science-fiction setting but the basic hack 'n slack experience is still intact. This is an all out assault of you blowing up as many aliens as possible. Sure there is a good storyline in the game but really the gameplay is the focal point.

The game plays out in a 3D-isometric viewpoint just like titles from years ago. The premise of the game has you exploring different levels in the game looking for particular items or characters. The entire time you are exploring the stages you have to watch out for the aliens that will usually attack in waves. I’m not talking about small waves of 10 or 20 aliens but tsunamis of hundreds of aliens attacking you. This is where the game shines because I had a blast just shooting down wave after wave of aliens. I didn’t need to worry about picky AI or finding cover to stand behind. I just ran around and fired as many shots as possible killing as many aliens as I could. This sums up the majority of the game but there are a few extra pieces to add to the enjoyment.

You’re not just a brute running around creating rivers of alien blood. One piece of the game is the RPG elements present for your character. When you start the game you get to select from several different characters with their own unique attributes. After you have selected a character you can then upgrade certain skills for that character. As you progress in the game you do level up, which increases those skills. Sure these features are found in almost every hack 'n slash released, but it still keeps ASV from being just a mindless shooter.

A few other features about the game that I enjoyed in this preview were the weapons, graphics and difficulty. The game has a shop feature that you can use to purchase a huge variety of weapons. The graphics were a pleasant surprise especially for a game that first reminded me of something released from the late 90’s instead of 2006/2007. The game includes some nifty light effects for the flashlight that you use throughout the game. The explosions were excellent and kept you distracted from the rest of the dated graphics. Even with hundreds of aliens on the screen at one time I never ran into any slowdown problems with the game. Finally the difficulty definitely reminded me of an old-school type of game. With wave after wave of aliens coming after you the game was relentless and wouldn’t let up. You might find yourself having to play some stages a couple of times.

Alien Shooter Vengeance was a nice surprise to me since my first initial thought was “wait did they send me a Diablo clone from years ago.” Instead I got sucked into the game with the unforgiving onslaught of aliens I was blowing up. The main portion of the game is the campaign mode but there are two additional modes, survival and online. The survival mode has you fighting off as many aliens as you can before you die. Sadly no one was online when I tried an online game. I would recommend that anyone looking for a fun and entertaining game void of an overblown production should check out Alien Shooter: Vengeance. It’s a classic type of gameplay that still works even if it does appear to be dated.