Never underestimate the value of mindlessly gory entertainment. Alien Shooter: Vengeance, a game as straightforward as its title, recreates the tension from the movie Aliens. In that film, a group of terrified marines gawk at motion trackers displaying the approaching of an alien horde. Every moment of Alien Shooter captures that sense of panic as endless waves of monsters creep forward.

The plot may not amount to much; dinosaur-like aliens invade and the player must take up arms to single-handedly exterminate them using superior firepower. Players simply stand in front of doorways and narrow corridors, using a collection of weapons ranging from pistols to laser cannons to mow down enemies. Stats can be increased, making the character move faster, take more damage and shoot more accurately. The game even lets players choose a special ability at the beginning of the campaign, allowing for faster healing, faster leveling or better melee combat, although using one's fists usually results in death.

Monsters become increasingly difficult and eventually pack intense firepower like plasma cannons and rocket launchers, which means that players must ramp up their end of the arms race by saving pennies for better guns and armor. Some of the levels can be surprisingly impressive, especially areas like the office, where players need to shoot through glass to create their own path. The game makes extensive use of lighting and shadows, as most monsters creep out from the dark, requiring players to invest in flashlights or night vision goggles. However, players need more reflexes than brainpower to get through this game, since the monsters only have one objective: to overwhelm the player. Turning up the difficulty increases their resistance to bullets but doesn't make them any smarter. However, even easy mode becomes almost impossible to endure, especially when difficult to destroy teleportation pods enter the picture, bringing in an unending flood of creatures.

To better exterminate these foul beasts, people drive around in armored vehicles, running over monsters and leaving bloody tire tracks in their wake. They also take control of remote controlled chain guns and high-powered security drones.

Alien Shooter may be a one-trick pony, but its mindlessly addictive game play makes it oddly compelling. One can easily sit in front of this game with the intention of playing for a few minutes, and then realize that an hour passed without notice. Gamers should polish their guns for some alien killing action.

Final Score: 6 (out of 10)

Related Links

Alien Shooter: Vengeance Game Guide

Sigma Team Company

Our Final ScoreMediocre

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