Alien Breed 2 Assault review

Alien Breed 2: Assault isn’t about what could have happened if Liza Minnelli and David Gest had actually spawned children, instead it’s a sequel to the Xbox Live Arcade title that was also based on the retro arcade game I used to play on the Amiga.

Its roots very much still based on the top-down shooter mould, you play as ship’s engineer Conrad who must get a doomed spaceship up and running before all the aliens on board take over and do nasty things to him. You know, like flick his ears and give him the middle finger and the like. Actually, I jest - they’re more likely to attack him with their sharp teeth and lay eggs in his chest. Conrad doesn’t want that - look what happened to John Hurt. So it’s lucky he’s got an arsenal of weaponry he can use to try and stay alive just a little bit longer and hopefully until the end of the game.

As you move through the ship you can pick up new weapons such as shotguns, assault rifles and the like and you move and fire independently using both analogue sticks and the right trigger to fire. If you remember Smash TV you’ll know exactly how that works. The game’s not totally top-down either and you can rotate the screen using both the bumpers. This can be a bit disorienting at first but luckily you also have a radar which not only shows where aliens are coming from Aliens-style but also a handy marker which guides you to your next objective.

To move through the ship you have to open doors, drain flooded areas and unblock corridors thanks to some well-placed explosive barrels. As you move through the moody corridors big and small aliens burst through the floor and run at you at speed. Health pick-ups can be used to refill your meter if it gets a bit low and you can save, buy more ammo and upgrade your kit with credits you’ll find scattered all over the ship and on dead crew members at the Intex computer terminals.

Being an arcade game you’re also going to face some mid-stage and end of level bosses as well before you get to bring the ship’s various gadgets and gizmos back online as well. Keep shooting and moving and you should beat them with ease though.

Single player mode is fun at first but you soon find that the gameplay is rather repetitive with all the flicking switches to open doors, shooting and doing it all over again. However, the co-op assault mode that’s also included is a lot more fun. Like many things it’s always fun with someone else and this game mode is a lot more streamlined and action-based. And thanks to the Unreal 3 engine the game also looks great too with moody lighting effects as strobe lights activate on the ship floor and strange gases escape from pipes (no sniggering at the back). The game does nothing new but if you like aliens and arcade games then this is definitely worth a download. It gets a good 6 out of 10.

Get Alien Breed 2 Assault now
New: Buy Alien Breed 2 Assault from Amazon.com

Related: Alien Breed Impact review, Alien Breed Evolution Episode One review