Alien Breed is an isometric sci-fi shooter where you independently control the direction your character aims and moves. You maneuver through a series of 5 stages in each episode, collecting weapons and items, and shooting aliens as they appear while you move from objective to objective provided on your mini-map.

It is difficult to write a separate review for each Episode, as they all largely play the same - you move from point A to point B to pick up access code C to open door D to get to point E to get access code F to.....you get the picture. Lots of backtracking through same-looking corridors, fighting similar looking enemies which pop out of the floor and walls.

It's fun, but only moderately so - I would NOT recommend playing through a single episode in one sitting, let alone all three episodes. The gameplay is repetitive and it's the sort of thing you'll want to put down for a while between sessions (I'd actually say on the level of months between episodes) so it doesn't get stale.

Welcome to this stupid ship where the controls to operate every part of the ship are thirty miles from the thing you're trying to use. Thank you for choosing Intex.

This game, now about 10 years old of the time of this review, still holds up. Good 3D engine (UnReal), good background ambient audio and voice over, and nice level design that adds to the overall tense atmosphere of being aboard a failing ship called the Leopold. It slowly introduces the new alien types and along with hidden logs throughout the levels. You can pick up credits to upgrade gear, purchase items, or save your game at accompanying terminals. Good ARPG with an rotating isometric view which takes a little to get use to but is worth it. Recommended with or without a friend to play with.

Alien Breed: Impact is apparently a remake of a very old Amiga game, which is impressive. It probably takes nothing but a theme from the game, but it's great to see an old game get a remake.

Unfortunately, that's the last time I'll probably use the word great for Alien Breed: Impact, or really anything in this series.

It's not that these are awful games. They are technically good games, and functional. It's just the games themselves do nothing interesting or impressive in the least. The player goes between waypoints, presses A for a few seconds and then goes somewhere else. The whole time alien bugs are trying to kill him. He does this for five levels and there's a boss fight (A boss fight that was easy to not get hit during) and then the game is over.

While the game lasts 5 hours, I don't even know if I was truly interested in a full hour of the gameplay in total. The multiplayer is dead, but if you're not playing with someone I'm not sure if there's much reason to even play this game. The game is just doesn't do anything interesting after a level. You get more weapons but nothing even worth spoiler. They all operate about the same, and none feel that powerful.

The levels mostly start, to go to point A, get blocked, sidetrack to open a door, then go back, then get blocked again and sidetrack again, then come back. It's repetitive, but it's mostly just wave after wave of the same enemy. There are at least 6 or seven enemies in the game, but I really only remember 3 that constantly harass the player, and there's not much to tell there.

Is it a bad game? No, but it's not a good game. I don't know who I'd recommend this game to. Maybe someone who REALLY loves twin-stick shooters wants to shoot a lot of bugs over and over and has a lot of time on their hands. But really, I'm sure there are a few games that do it better than Alien Breed: Impact. Personally, I'd recommend Geometry wars, Everday Shooter, Beat Hazard, or HellDivers.

Note: I got this in a humble bundle I bought to get the Worm games which are also from Team 17, which I enjoy. This was an add-in that I was not planning on buying.

This is one of those games that I want to give a "Meh" or "So-so" review, a more neutral score. For the sake of the fact that I enjoyed it more than I was bored with it I'm giving it a positive review, but for the most part this isn't necessarily reflective of my own opinion of the game. I'm probably going to do an in-depth video review of this in the future, once I acquire the two sequel games.

Pros:

+ A decent twin-stick shooter
+ A budget game, you can get this on a college budget
+ A very smooth game, no bugs encountered beyond the intentional enemies
+ Fairly cool level aesthetics, especially with the final chapter
+ Short n' sweet, you're getting your money's worth.

Cons:

- Game gets repetitive up until the fifth chapter, most of the levels look similar despite each deck having its own "theme" to it
~ Enemy roster's far from perfect (though for a short game it's understandable, kinda)
- Way too much ammo lying around
- Flamethrower was best weapon when at damage upgrade, while ion spike was nowhere near as good (two shots from a default Ionspike could damage the boss, when only three were needed from a fully damage upgraded laser rifle, which is far from nominal)
~ Story was completely meh, though its presentation of comic-like cutscenes was okay-ish. You aren't even given an explanation about why the aliens are there, though I presume this is explained in the later games.

Bonus Points:

+ You explore a space hulk at the end that's a derelict ship built by whatever company designed yours, so awesome. This is why it's getting a thumbs up instead of a thumbs down, because Space Hulks are kind of my fetish fuel
+ Aliens look like giant-sized four-legged ticks, which actually looks really great IMO
+ Flamethrower's the best weapon on the game (PURGE THE XENOS!)
~ Pistol animation makes it look like you're holding a shotgun instead of a deagle, which is amusing
+ Has co-op, so if you have a low-budget friend you can play this with them too (haven't tested it yet)

For what's essentially a revision/remaster of an old title with modern graphics and engine design, Alien Breed: Impact is not that bad, though it isn't perfect either. Fans of the old game might enjoy their time with this, and while fans of the twin-stick genre might find its controls appalling it's alright if you want a cheap 5-hour time waster. However this is one of those games that I know I would have had much more fun with if it was an FPS. If Team17 wanted to remake Alien Breed: 3D I would totally play it.

-Kerian

Alien Breed: Evolution is a video game in Team17's Alien Breed series and is the first new title in the series since 1996. It was released on Xbox Live Arcade on December 16, 2009.
A version of Alien Breed: Evolution was released on PlayStation Network and Steam, renamed Alien Breed: Impact. This version was expanded to include redesigned aliens and an Upgrade Shop.
Anyway, I like this kind of games where you use an exometric camera while you do your progress through the game.
Lots of aliens and lots of places to explore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw_7XMeCTFI

I can't seem to get on with this game. The controls were good, the graphics are okay, the overall feel is good.. It's just the huge amount of backtracking I've had to do so far that puts me off massively. I've completed the first mission and I just felt like it could have been around a 5 minute completion time if it wasn't for the fact that every time I would progress, the game would send me back a few minutes to activate something I've already passed previously.
Is it just a technique to make a small map feel bigger? Probably. But it got very boring very quickly.
I'm going to keep going at it, and if my feelings change I'll update this review accordingly. But for now I'll stick with changing the game's name to "Alien Breed: Backtrack".

Been playing alien swarm from steam version, so i got this game.. I Its pretty tough at times and a lot of intense action does happen. Sound effects for this game were amazing.

pro
Graphics on this style of game is really good
upgradable
Gameplay is addictive and solid
sound effects
Top down shooters are great and this ones no different
Easy Achievements
Co-op

cons:
In co-op missions can not control the camera and therefore have a fixed view
There aren't a lot of options or collectables in terms of inventory but the weapons do feel satisfying
Objectives are a little repetitive

I know it's been 7 years since the release but after buying the whole trilogy mostly out of nostalgia I had to write a review even after all these years. This review goes for all three games despite that initially I only played ep2 (check it in my library if you don't believe me). I upgraded the whole trilogy recently because of the cheap price and because of the name.

I am a huge fan of the original Amiga games. I played the floppy disc versions so much that my discs stopped working and I had to get replacements from the store (yes - floppys could malfunction after being used a lot). I was hyped when a new one was announced finally but unfortunately it disappoints. Not because of core gameplay - that is okay. nothing exceptional but very solid. It disappoints because of lack of polish:

1. Sound and Music.

This is my biggest gripe with the game. Everything feels like it's placeholder for an unfinished product. Speech is emotionless and is queued in game (and cutscenes) without any sense for timing or drama, whatsoever. Some effects are over the top while others are way too quiet. All the sounds are super minimal. Music is completely absent. It feels like there was no budget left so things were handeled as cheap as possible.
This is the thing that keeps the player distanced the most because it never pulls you into the game into the first place.

2. Muddy to no accentuation in the environment

The art in general is absolutely fine. Animations are smooth, environment (especially for a low budget 7 year old title) are very detailed. The Unreal Engine 3 renders as crisp an with nice effects as one expects.
What doesn't work at all is that gameplay targets can't be made out in the environment without referring to the minimap. Terminals and interaction points blend into the uniform environemt so good that you have no choice but to walk near with help of the minimap and wait for the interaction text to appear when you get close to the target. This is no fun and it's bad design.
Gunshots feel solid until you shoot aliens. Then it feels like the shots are fired in the general direction and the enemies (like B-movie actors) just drop dead when they think they should be dead. Gunplay feels like it has no impact.
You shoot in a general direction while the laser pointer even shines ABOVE the aliens. So you actually feel like you shoot the air above small enemies. Still they just drop at some point.

3. Minor gameplay decissions that interrupt the flow.

Nearly all interactions need 1 or 2 seconds. You can't just explore and grab stuff. you need to stop to interact for everything that doesn't lie around in the open. And each interaction takes time. It's like the game couldn't decide if it wants to be a tactical game or an arcade shooter. Ultimately it fails at both.
Also there's only checkpoint/terminal savepoints.


On the other hand there are a lot of good things to be said as well:
1. Art and details
The art is really detailed. The environments are fleshed out and look superb for a 7 year old low budget title. The artists gave everything it seems.
2. controls are fluent and snappy. No sloppy, sliding things. Everything that needs to snap at angles snaps and everything that needs precission has enough precission. Switch between gamepad and mouse/keyboard works without any problems.
3. Local 2 Player coop. Not many games still have that today.
4. The levels are not only linear corridor runners like so many newer games. They are in a very similar style of the other games from the 90s even though the environment types aren't as varied.
5. It's a new and official Alien Breed! The core gameplay stays intact. Find money, shoot aliens, buy upgrades, search for keycards.


Ultimately the lack of polish drags the game down and keeps it from being fun.
I love you Team17 and I hope you do manage to release another one without these problems.
Ultimately I still cannot recommend it except for hardcore fans.