We got an interview with WayForward where they talked with us about the development of this one. http://www.pocket-console.com/2011/10/interview-with-wayforward-aliens.html
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aliens infestation |OT| "you heard the man, assholes and elbows!"
- Thread starter Criminal Upper
- Start date
AndyMoogle
Member
I completely forgot about this game until a friend asked if I had played it yet. Definitely getting this asap.
Anasui Kishibe
Banned
now that i'm Xenoblade-free its time to dive in. Will buy along with kirby
jufonuk
not tag worthy
just completed this.. great game, well worth playing, I had a glitch
overall would give the game a solid 8.5/10
first go out, found all but one marine and upgraded all weapons to max, even the pistol
never 99% a game before
took me about 7 hrs approx as died a few times and was playing on the commute in short chunks
on the last boss crashed the game twice, I think it was the marine i selected to face the last boss (bone saw) plus going to the hidden health to the very left and up the longest ladder, then climbing up the front ladder seemed to crash it out twice. selected a different marine and avoided doing that sequence, completed the game 
overall would give the game a solid 8.5/10
first go out, found all but one marine and upgraded all weapons to max, even the pistol
never 99% a game before
took me about 7 hrs approx as died a few times and was playing on the commute in short chunks
sixteen-bit
Member
I need to pick this up
dr3upmushroom
Banned
I'm probably going to get this at the Toys R Us B2G1F sale as long as I can find two other games I want. Kirby Mass Attack looks fun, I'm not sure there's anything else out I'm dying to play though.
I take it from the lack of chatter that this game is getting ignored across the board. This is a crime against gaming. Though I haven't finished it yet, there's no doubt that this is a game Aliens fans, Metroid fans, and retro game lovers should be buying. It's also very much a true Metroidvania, one that doesn't hold your hand, a fact very much appreciated. So buy it, people! We need more games like this!
â Narayan
Member
Getting this along with a DSi XL next week.
Criminal Upper
Banned
Even though I slapped together this OT, I can't find the game anywhere in Montreal. Two EB Games only received two copies each.
Eat a dick, Sega.
Eat a dick, Sega.
SpaceBridge
Member
Out of curiosity, but does this game fall anywhere into established Alien canon?
JacksUsername
Member
SpaceBridge said:
Can't remember the exact time, but it takes place a few months (6 maybe?) after Aliens. You start on the Sulaco and very quickly go to LV-426.
Picked this game up on Thursday, on the third boss now. Like the Metroidvania aspect, but I do wish the weapon upgrades were more impactful and it would be awesome if there were health and ammo upgrades. I'm enjoying it, but it doesn't come anywhere near the best of the Metroidvania games so far IMO. Having been playing sloppy and lost a lot of marines though. Hoping to beat it before the end of the weekend since it's supposedly rather short.
dr3upmushroom
Banned
I don't know if there's just a lot of "in the know" gamers in my area or if my Target got a small shipment, but for the last several days the only copy they've had has been the display.Tiktaalik said:
This is the most half hearted, "duty of publisher" release I've ever seen. If you ignore all the table of contents, warranty, licensing and bilingual junk in the black and white manual the actual amount of content is a single page that just explains the controls.
Whatever the absolute minimum Nintendo DS cart order is is probably the print run of this game. 20k maybe?
Whatever the absolute minimum Nintendo DS cart order is is probably the print run of this game. 20k maybe?
Has anyone else tried to order this from Amazon? I preordered it there and it still hasn't shipped even though it shows as being in stock and available for purchase. I checked my local Walmart yesterday and they didn't have it either. I'm assuming my Amazon order will ship eventually and now I'm glad I didn't wait for a price drop like I did with Infinite Space, which I ended up having to import from the UK. Anyway, looking forward to playing it, was playing Contra 4 previously and really enjoyed it even if it was hard as hell.
JacksUsername
Member
Well, just beat the game - 3DS puts my game time a little over 6 hours; but some idle time in combination that I started the beginning twice - I'd say it was probably 5-5.5 hours for me. When I load a game now, it says 99% complete, all weapons upgraded, missing one marine.
It was an okay game, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed a bit. There's very little exploration outside of the main path. It wasn't like I was really going out of my way to get the weapon upgrades - they tended to be in vents right off the critical path. There's also no real reason to go back to the game now. I'm missing one of the marines, but he/she may also be in an area that's no longer accessible anymore, so I'm not going to hunt through the ship for a character bio I may only be able to obtain by restarting.
There are just some other additional bizarre design decisions. You can't recruit marines unless you have empty slots in your 4 person line-up. The only way to get an empty slot is to have one of your marines die or get captured (you start with 4). So instead of getting to your Save Room and being able to choose from a roster, if you really come across someone you want in your party, you have to sacrifice one of your current team members in combat to free up a slot. I like how character death is permanent, and how they wanted to emphasize they mortality of all of the marines, but that becomes a joke when you're literally letting a couple die to make room for some marines you think would be more interesting than your current roster.
Bosses are bullet sponges and it's based around learning patterns and avoiding attacks. I wish there would have been more of a Zelda/Metroid element where your new power-up is required for the bosses, but there's none of that here. It's just shoot the weak spot. (to be fair, the third boss was a bit different and fun - should have been more of that)
It's not a bad action game, but doesn't do enough to make it transcend from an average game to the likes of a Super Metroid/SOTN/Shadow Complex. If you really love Aliens though, there is plenty of fan service to keep you happy.
It was an okay game, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed a bit. There's very little exploration outside of the main path. It wasn't like I was really going out of my way to get the weapon upgrades - they tended to be in vents right off the critical path. There's also no real reason to go back to the game now. I'm missing one of the marines, but he/she may also be in an area that's no longer accessible anymore, so I'm not going to hunt through the ship for a character bio I may only be able to obtain by restarting.
There are just some other additional bizarre design decisions. You can't recruit marines unless you have empty slots in your 4 person line-up. The only way to get an empty slot is to have one of your marines die or get captured (you start with 4). So instead of getting to your Save Room and being able to choose from a roster, if you really come across someone you want in your party, you have to sacrifice one of your current team members in combat to free up a slot. I like how character death is permanent, and how they wanted to emphasize they mortality of all of the marines, but that becomes a joke when you're literally letting a couple die to make room for some marines you think would be more interesting than your current roster.
Bosses are bullet sponges and it's based around learning patterns and avoiding attacks. I wish there would have been more of a Zelda/Metroid element where your new power-up is required for the bosses, but there's none of that here. It's just shoot the weak spot. (to be fair, the third boss was a bit different and fun - should have been more of that)
It's not a bad action game, but doesn't do enough to make it transcend from an average game to the likes of a Super Metroid/SOTN/Shadow Complex. If you really love Aliens though, there is plenty of fan service to keep you happy.
Criminal Upper
Banned
SpaceBridge said:
Well, I clearly state when it happens in the first few paragraphs of the OT. Might want to read that.
As a short cut, in the established Aliens canon, there is a month between the ending of Aliens, and the start of Alien 3. This game takes place within that month between both films.
Hmm so I can recruit more marines in the future? I may continue attempting to go forward on my current save then. I got to the first boss but lost 3 of my marines on it because I was reckless. I was considering restarting but if there's another guy I can get early in the next segment of the game then I might try pressing on.
Echoing the shortness concerns I noticed that at the end of this first boss my completion was already 30%. Surprising but not necessarily a negative.
Echoing the shortness concerns I noticed that at the end of this first boss my completion was already 30%. Surprising but not necessarily a negative.
JacksUsername
Member
Tiktaalik said:
Yup, there's about 15 recruitable marines besides the initial 4. They basically serve as extra lives, but they all have unique dialogue during the cut scenes. If you go into extras, they'll have a roster to complete - if you talk to a marine when you have a party of 4, they will be added to the roster in Extras, but you can only recruit them into your party by talking to them when you have empty slots. I think there's a couple of marines planet side where you're at, but don't remember how far in they are.
Since there's nothing to do after completing the game and because the game is so short, I was contemplating trying to do a no death run and finishing with the initial 4 marines.
Tokubetsu
Member
Talyn said:
I ordered yesterday after seeing all these posts about how it seems to be a small print. Just got an email from Amazon saying it shipped (they print a label and boxed it...It'll probably actually go out later tonight/tomorrow morning). DSi should be here tomorrow, this a bit after that.
Cow Mengde
Banned
Wait, this game is out?
itwasTuesday
He wasn't alone.
Dammit Jones!
Hour or so in impressions.
A weapon upgrade only effects the weapon you are carrying when picked up, seems cool but not sure if I will try more guns out or just try to max one before moving to the next. The +1 shotgun i have now seems to do the job.
Reloading the shells is a pain though. Getting shot while I'm just stuck in reloading animation is always fun.
Turning around to while trying to shoot something takes some getting used to, got to stop firing so you don't just moonwalk backwards.
Otherwise... so far having a pretty good time with it.
Hour or so in impressions.
A weapon upgrade only effects the weapon you are carrying when picked up, seems cool but not sure if I will try more guns out or just try to max one before moving to the next. The +1 shotgun i have now seems to do the job.
Reloading the shells is a pain though. Getting shot while I'm just stuck in reloading animation is always fun.
Turning around to while trying to shoot something takes some getting used to, got to stop firing so you don't just moonwalk backwards.
Otherwise... so far having a pretty good time with it.
nincompoop
Banned
This game's manual is pathetic. It contains literally one page of information on the game!
Allan Holdsworth
Member
Got it today. Manual is a joke.
Gonna play it on the Phat, since it's uncomfortable on the XL (crappy shoulder buttons)
Gonna play it on the Phat, since it's uncomfortable on the XL (crappy shoulder buttons)
Allan Holdsworth
Member
Nevermind, game is too dark to play on the crappy screens of the Phat. Phat with Lite screen would be the perfect DS for non-touch screen games.
Anyway... I finished the game, with all soldiers found (8 dead) and all weapons upgraded to +3. Not sure how long it took me, but it was rather short. Overall, it was good but not great. Probably gonna replay it in a week or two to try to do a no-death run.
Conclusion: like Monster Tale (another "Metroidvania" released this year), get it for $20 or less.
Anyway... I finished the game, with all soldiers found (8 dead) and all weapons upgraded to +3. Not sure how long it took me, but it was rather short. Overall, it was good but not great. Probably gonna replay it in a week or two to try to do a no-death run.
Conclusion: like Monster Tale (another "Metroidvania" released this year), get it for $20 or less.
Ugh, this is why I rarely ever buy a game on release but who thought it'd go on sale a week laster. Oh well, I just finished it last night and while I enjoyed it, it could have been better. Alien 3 for the SNES was my personal benchmark for comparsion and while I may be viewing it thru a lens of nostalgia given it's been years since I last played it, I think it's still the better game.Snaku said:
A lot of reviews mentioned how good the pixel art is in Infestation but frankly I was underwhelmed. Contra 4 looked better than this. Indeed, Contra 4 had xenomorphs and facehuggers that looked better than these. Hell, Alien 3 looked better than this and it was released in 1993! Everything just seemed flat and lifeless. There was hardly any lighting to enhance the mood, even the flamethrower's flames paled in comparsion to Alien 3. The audio wasn't much better, aliens rarely shrieked in pain when damaged and the sounds in general seemed too quiet even when using headphones.
The controls in general were ok but again there were issues. Using the touchscreen to cut open welded doors and toggle the map was fine given how rarely you had to do it but using it to manually reload rendered the shotgun virtually useless given how often you'd need to do it. The only alternative being to fire all the shells and then watch your Marine stand there vulnerable while they reload it with 12 shells, one shell at a time. It's just too much trouble either way given you can just use some other weapon. Also I didn't see the point in having a light toggle icon, once you turn it on why would you want to turn it off again? It doesn't run out of energy so there's no reason to ever turn it off and therefore no reason to have a control icon for it at all!
Then there's the "cover system." Why this was even implemented is a mystery to me. It doesn't work against aliens and is completely unnecessary against humans. Some reviews mentioned how silly it was to take potshots at someone on the other side of the crate you're taking cover behind and they're right, it's absurd. You have hand grenades for a reason and it's not just to blow the grates off of access tunnels!
However my main issue was with the Marines themselves. This is a common complaint but why give them personalities and specific dialog then basically treat them as 1ups? You have a team of 4 so basically you have 3 extra "lives" at any given time with a few extras scattered around each level in case you need more. These two concepts are at complete odds with one another! Clearly if you've taken the time to create 16 extra Marines for players to find to fill out their roster you would also realize that those players would want to select the Marines on their team from that full roster, right? Apparently not! Instead you're stuck with the starting 4 until they die or you kill them off to replace them with others you want to use instead. Even if you had that restriction on the 1st playthru for "realism" you could still have added a New Game+ mode that allowed players to chose their starting 4 from the roster! That this wasn't done just feels lazy.
Speaking of lazy we have the extras. This may be the first time I've seen credits and the control layout listed as extras. Again, these guys made Contra 4! They know about extras! That this game lacks any other than the weak Knife Trick minigame boggles my mind.
In summary, it's not a bad game but it could have been so much better. I regret paying $30 for it, $20 a week later would be preferable but if I weren't concerned about it going OOS I'd wait for an even lower price.
I finished this game this morning. 100% complete, all Marines registered, no deaths and all weapons fully upgraded. I liked the game for the most part, but it's definitely not my favorite WayForward game. I'm a sucker for Metroid-vania style games so I can't say I didn't enjoy this. It's got the right attitude, but it's definitely got some problems. With a bigger budget/more time I KNOW these guys could have made a bigger, better game.
Here's some final thoughts:
-I really like the idea of your Marines dying permanently. However, there's no reason to stop you from just turning the game off and reloading your save file if you die. The game should have auto-saved when a character dies. This would have made the game true, 100% survival.
-The animations in the game are slick (Marines especially), but it would have been cooler if they all had a distinct look outside of the save rooms.
-Bosses were cool looking, but they kind of just jumped around and charged at you from left to right. You could EASILY outdo their AI by just letting them get close enough to melee and then turn around and blast them. Come on guys, you made Contra 4, and that's a game about Aliens! You know how to make better bosses!
-I'm a bit confused about why there are sooo many empty vents in the game. Most of the time these vents also just have ammunition or health. What's the point of this when your save rooms do the same thing? Also, there are more upgrades than weapons available. I guess since some areas get cut off they didn't want the player to be unable to max their weapons out?
Overall, I think there is good ground work here. A successor by Wayforward, and only them, could do a banging 3DS title in this Universe. They have all the right ideas, I just get the feeling, like I've mentioned before, that they needed more time/budget. If you like 2D games and Metroid-style structures then pick this up on the cheap.
Here's some final thoughts:
-I really like the idea of your Marines dying permanently. However, there's no reason to stop you from just turning the game off and reloading your save file if you die. The game should have auto-saved when a character dies. This would have made the game true, 100% survival.
-The animations in the game are slick (Marines especially), but it would have been cooler if they all had a distinct look outside of the save rooms.
-Bosses were cool looking, but they kind of just jumped around and charged at you from left to right. You could EASILY outdo their AI by just letting them get close enough to melee and then turn around and blast them. Come on guys, you made Contra 4, and that's a game about Aliens! You know how to make better bosses!
-I'm a bit confused about why there are sooo many empty vents in the game. Most of the time these vents also just have ammunition or health. What's the point of this when your save rooms do the same thing? Also, there are more upgrades than weapons available. I guess since some areas get cut off they didn't want the player to be unable to max their weapons out?
Overall, I think there is good ground work here. A successor by Wayforward, and only them, could do a banging 3DS title in this Universe. They have all the right ideas, I just get the feeling, like I've mentioned before, that they needed more time/budget. If you like 2D games and Metroid-style structures then pick this up on the cheap.
Sorry for the double post, but this thread is a ghost town. I guess this game wasn't on many people's priority list, oh well. =(
I finally beat the Knife Trick mini game high score tonight. I tried my hardest to legitimately complete this mini game WITHOUT 2 stylus, but every time I would get close to 300 with just one stylus I'd mess up something or run out of time. Here are my best times:
With 1 Stylus: 297 Score-Taps/Sec: 4.242
With 2 Stylus: 348 Score-Taps/Sec: 5.574
Also, I feel like my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I believe the Extras menu outer frame color changed to gold. Can anyone check their Extras menu frame to see what color it is? The gold-ish yellow on mine just seems new to me. It popped out when I backed out of the mini game. All you have to do is select Extras to see the color of the background. I'm thinking beating that high scores changes the color of the menu to gold.
I finally beat the Knife Trick mini game high score tonight. I tried my hardest to legitimately complete this mini game WITHOUT 2 stylus, but every time I would get close to 300 with just one stylus I'd mess up something or run out of time. Here are my best times:
With 1 Stylus: 297 Score-Taps/Sec: 4.242
With 2 Stylus: 348 Score-Taps/Sec: 5.574
Also, I feel like my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I believe the Extras menu outer frame color changed to gold. Can anyone check their Extras menu frame to see what color it is? The gold-ish yellow on mine just seems new to me. It popped out when I backed out of the mini game. All you have to do is select Extras to see the color of the background. I'm thinking beating that high scores changes the color of the menu to gold.
Pinko Marx
Banned
Never even heard of this game. But a metroidvania set in the Aliens universe?
I'm down.
I'm down.
Noisepurge
Member
Bought a 3DS because of this game.
My original DSlite is broken and i wanted to buy a DS XL but that thing is more expensive than a new 3DS... thought i might as well invest in a more current device.
My original DSlite is broken and i wanted to buy a DS XL but that thing is more expensive than a new 3DS... thought i might as well invest in a more current device.
Noisepurge
Member
is there any way to remove dropped flares?
its gold/yellow, just started the game.
Yuterald said:
its gold/yellow, just started the game.
I bought this at full price from BestBuy for $30.
Completed it at 100%, 2 marines dead and 1 not found. I guess I was expecting a lot more since it is developed by WayForward.
- Animation and graphics are very detailed and impressive. Music was mostly ambient and atmospheric. It's great to see that 2D sidescrolling action games are still alive.
- Feel like the game was half finished. It has a lot of good ideas, but it doesn't take full advantage of them due to the shortness of the game. For example, the cover system has no real value.
- Sure the game is a "metroidvania" style of game, but the story throughout each stage eventually sends you back to the areas that were previously unexplored (you were locked out by missing an access card or special item). Once I had all the weapon upgrades at 100% there was no point in exploring the vents, it would be nice if the developers would have placed hidden collectables to encourage exploration (maybe dog tags/medals) that would in turn unlock a feature in the ""extras"" section.
- I liked the idea of having to find extra lives by recruiting marines but unfortunately once you complete a level there is no way to return and explore (USS saluco level being the exception).
- Enemy variety was really lacking. I think you only encounter about 5 different normal non boss enemies. There was more variation of enemies on a single stage of Contra 4.
- Boss battles were simple and easy to exploit the AI. Dodge according the the pattern and spray it with bullets. On the last boss I was able to stay on top of the first platform and just spray bullets while he seemed to just be stuck at the bottom corner of the screen running and jumping.
Although I found a few flaws (more due to the fact that the game seemed rushed) I enjoyed the game and I would recommend it to anymore who enjoyed Contra/Metroid/Castlevania style games.
Completed it at 100%, 2 marines dead and 1 not found. I guess I was expecting a lot more since it is developed by WayForward.
- Animation and graphics are very detailed and impressive. Music was mostly ambient and atmospheric. It's great to see that 2D sidescrolling action games are still alive.
- Feel like the game was half finished. It has a lot of good ideas, but it doesn't take full advantage of them due to the shortness of the game. For example, the cover system has no real value.
- Sure the game is a "metroidvania" style of game, but the story throughout each stage eventually sends you back to the areas that were previously unexplored (you were locked out by missing an access card or special item). Once I had all the weapon upgrades at 100% there was no point in exploring the vents, it would be nice if the developers would have placed hidden collectables to encourage exploration (maybe dog tags/medals) that would in turn unlock a feature in the ""extras"" section.
- I liked the idea of having to find extra lives by recruiting marines but unfortunately once you complete a level there is no way to return and explore (USS saluco level being the exception).
- Enemy variety was really lacking. I think you only encounter about 5 different normal non boss enemies. There was more variation of enemies on a single stage of Contra 4.
- Boss battles were simple and easy to exploit the AI. Dodge according the the pattern and spray it with bullets. On the last boss I was able to stay on top of the first platform and just spray bullets while he seemed to just be stuck at the bottom corner of the screen running and jumping.
Although I found a few flaws (more due to the fact that the game seemed rushed) I enjoyed the game and I would recommend it to anymore who enjoyed Contra/Metroid/Castlevania style games.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
Wow, this thread is depressingly small.
I finished this game up last night and I enjoyed it quite a bit overall. I don't think it's as good as a proper 2D Castlevania or Metroid game but its definitely still worth playing if you're a fan of the genre.
A few issues I have with the game:
- The weapons are kind of boring and there aren't very many of them.
- Unlike its genre contemporaries, Aliens: Infestation has very little platforming elements. The vast majority of traversal is running through flat rooms. I suppose it works well enough for the game but it makes things feel a little stale at times.
- There are not enough items worth collecting. I had all the guns that I cared about maxed out long before the end of the game and I kept finding weapon upgrades laying around everywhere. Other pickups are generally even more worthless.
- Bosses are honestly kind of terrible due to their boring design and how long they take to kill.
- The vehicle segment and (minor spoiler from about 90% in)
segment both seemed underdeveloped and throwaway in the gameplay department.
- There is very little enemy variety and almost all fights play out exactly the same.
Reading all of that it sounds like I have a pretty negative view of the game but like I said, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit overall. The controls felt fairly solid and the animations were good. I liked the visuals and gunplay regardless of their simplicity and I also loved the perma-death concept seen in the game. The story was light but serviceable.
The biggest praise I can give this game is that it hooked me and kept me wanting more over the 7 hour span that it took me to finish it. I definitely want to see more games like this.
Summing it up, it's a fun 2D action game that could have used a little more fleshing out. I think it's a worthy purchase at $20 or less.
I finished this game up last night and I enjoyed it quite a bit overall. I don't think it's as good as a proper 2D Castlevania or Metroid game but its definitely still worth playing if you're a fan of the genre.
A few issues I have with the game:
- The weapons are kind of boring and there aren't very many of them.
- Unlike its genre contemporaries, Aliens: Infestation has very little platforming elements. The vast majority of traversal is running through flat rooms. I suppose it works well enough for the game but it makes things feel a little stale at times.
- There are not enough items worth collecting. I had all the guns that I cared about maxed out long before the end of the game and I kept finding weapon upgrades laying around everywhere. Other pickups are generally even more worthless.
- Bosses are honestly kind of terrible due to their boring design and how long they take to kill.
- The vehicle segment and (minor spoiler from about 90% in)
outer-space
- There is very little enemy variety and almost all fights play out exactly the same.
Reading all of that it sounds like I have a pretty negative view of the game but like I said, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit overall. The controls felt fairly solid and the animations were good. I liked the visuals and gunplay regardless of their simplicity and I also loved the perma-death concept seen in the game. The story was light but serviceable.
The biggest praise I can give this game is that it hooked me and kept me wanting more over the 7 hour span that it took me to finish it. I definitely want to see more games like this.
Summing it up, it's a fun 2D action game that could have used a little more fleshing out. I think it's a worthy purchase at $20 or less.
DukeTogo1300
Member
Just picked this up and I am floored, though I am just now beginning to run into the Xenomorphs and Facehuggers. The moment I got the motion tracker was pretty incredible, everything about it is just so Aliens. It does feel slightly less clever overall than the Metroid series, but the map layout isn't really any less complex than the Metroidvanias were. There is a more horizontal focus, but that lends more to the setting and the characters. I like the little touches, like being able to switch the motion tracker off/on, or being able to weld/unweld any door. So far it is more than just a lot of fan service, there is a genuine sense of survival and tension here.
Shin Kojima
Banned
I just got this for 10 Euros and I had never heard of it before. This game really needs more attention, it's surprisingly awesome. I've always been partial to Aliens games though. I loved Alien 3 on SNES and Alien Trilogy an PS1 was the first FPS I ever played and liked.
Baron
Member
I put off buying Aliens: Infestation for a while, but I noticed Amazon had stopped selling new copies of the game, so I went a-hunting for it. Gamestop's website still lists it as being available, but I bet it's out of print at this point. I didn't want to miss it, so I picked a copy up today at Best Buy for $19. Those on the fence, get it while you still can, I think.
Haven't had the chance to play it yet, but glad I have it now for when I do.
Haven't had the chance to play it yet, but glad I have it now for when I do.