Golden Axe Meets Aliens (Alien Storm (Amiga))

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	Alien Storm (Amiga)
Date:	10/07/09 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Varied gameplay, charming graphics and animations, great fun

Disadvantages: Nothing stunningly original, but still well done and hugely enjoyable!

Alien Storm is a classic scrolling beat-em-up very much in the vein of Golden Axe- all the characters are drawn in the same style and the controls and moves are the same too, although obviously the animations and nature of the moves themselves are different.

The story revolves around the world being invaded by ghoulish looking aliens, and you get the option to play as one of three characters- a burly guy with a short range laser gun, an athletic woman with a flamethrower or a robot called Scooter who wields an electric whip. The gameplay is exactly the same as Golden Axe, requiring you to dispatch groups of enemies before moving forward, and anyone who has played said fantasy beat-em-up will feel instantly at home. You can run and shoulder charge enemies, jump over them and fire down on them from above or just tear into them up close, with some great animations from each character, including hitting enemies with your gun, lobbing grenades at them and firing a secondary firearm into their gaping maws, or, in Scooter's case, lifting up one leg from the floor whilst your foot remains on the ground and using your leg as a makeshift bazooka. The game is full of little touches like this that make it a lot of fun to play. The magic special attacks in golden axe are still here, although instead of magic you employ various high-tech equivalents, such as dropping an atom bomb on your enemies, calling in an overhead spaceship to rain plasma down upon them, or, in the case of Scooter, simply blowing yourself up, with a replacement robot walking into shot to replace the detonated model.

The level settings are interesting and varied, including a trainyard, leafy suburban streets, a high-street and the inside of a UFO, and there are lots of nice touches such as aliens leaping down at you from rooftop or bursting out at you through shop windows. Theres an interesting range of enemies too, including Giger-like monsters, snail-like creatures that emerge from underneath oildrums and telephone kiosks, aliens with fly-like wings and also huge-many-faced blob-like creatures with tentacles and ball-like creatures that sprout spider-like legs - both of which are straight out of John Carpenter's 'The Thing'.

There are some grotesque and interesting baddies at the end of each stage as well, and Alien Storm also adds some fantastic new subgames into the mix. The first of these come in the form of well executed 'Operation Wolf' style sections, in which you aim a target around the screen blasting away at the aliens in settings that include warehouse, an electricals shop and a convenience store amongst others. All the settings are completely destructible, making things even more fun. The second subgame takes the form of high speed scrolling sections in which you run at a ridiculous pace after low-flying UFOs, blasting away from a distance at its hull whilst jumping over obstacles and eliminating of running and flying enemies.

The graphics are colourful and pleasing to the eye, despite their age, and the game is full of wonderful little animations that help to keep things interesting. Oh and the eerie yet funky midi music is great too! Its a fantastic little game thats still great fun with either one or two players, and well worth a look for fans of Streets of Rage, Golden Axe or Final Fight.

Summary: A fantastic sci-fi beat em up!