Alien Syndrome

Alien Syndrome - (PSP and Wii)
Developer: Sega
Format: PSP and Wii
Genre: Action


Is this blast from the past worth the trip down memory lane?



Alien Syndrome is one of those games that seems to have been around forever - quite possibly because it has. It's been 20 years since the title first surfaced in arcades of yesteryear and since then has been developed for pretty much every home gaming platform (we're talking Commodore 64, Amiga and even the Sega Master System). Now it's the time of the current crop, namely the Wii and PSP to have a bash.

The title offers two fast-paced action-RPG modes - the single-player campaign, plus a co-op multiplayer mode where up to four players can delve into the quest. There are 20 different weapons to use, ranging from flamethrowers, quad-barrelled lasers, nanobot swarms that dissolve enemies and incendiary grenades that unleash fire geysers from the ground. Each weapon offers different advantages and disadvantages, dependent upon how it is used and which speciality the player has chosen to adopt. With the sheer variety of weapons and abilities available to players, any number of combat strategies can be used to defeat hordes of more than 100 different alien enemies.

There's also heaps of end of level bosses, sub bosses and more character customisation than you can shake a PSP at. But we would argue it's still not enough to keep your attention for much longer than a bus journey. The game just feels old and reeks of repetitive gameplay served with substandard graphics and sound. It wouldn't be quite so bad if you could just jump into a game of co-op like the game was supposed to be played but on the PSP every other player needs to have a copy of the game - and let's be honest what's the chances of that happening?

If you loved the original then you're old enough to know better - sorry only kidding - but really, we're all for bringing back the classics - but perhaps they need to be classics in the first place. For all its weaponry and run and gun action, Alien Syndrome doesn't qualify in that category.