Alien Swarm

[Sotha]

Since there's been a lot of other game related off topic posts, I'll now submit my contribution as well.

 

Got bored today, saw this free game by the name of "Alien Swarm" on steam. Decided to give it a go.

 

Basically it is nice refreshing co-op online topdown brainless shooting game with low-level puzzle elements.

Players are in a team of 4 marines armed to the teeth and try to accomplish missions while assaulted by a horde of aliens. Game reminds me a lot of good ol' Space Hulk boardgame/computer game and Aliens II movie.

 

The game has an unlock system which gives the player new alien killing / marine buffing tools, which provide a slight addiction to see what you get next, like in the diablo games. New equipment changes the way the game plays, like in team fortress 2.

 

So far I've played the offline practice mission and one easy online game. I had fun, although at this difficulty level each player could pretty much wander around the map on their own as the aliens were a pushover. The game promises that on higher difficulty, team work and tactics like welding doors shut are essential for team survival.

 

I'll definately give the higher difficulties a go tonight. And I recommend this if you want to play something completely different for a change. It's fun, and won't cost a dime.

[New Horizon]

Yup, it's a great little game by Black Cat Games, the makers of Thievery and the now dead Nightblade.

 

Since there's been a lot of other game related off topic posts, I'll now submit my contribution as well.

 

Got bored today, saw this free game by the name of "Alien Swarm" on steam. Decided to give it a go.

 

Basically it is nice refreshing co-op online topdown brainless shooting game with low-level puzzle elements.

Players are in a team of 4 marines armed to the teeth and try to accomplish missions while assaulted by a horde of aliens. Game reminds me a lot of good ol' Space Hulk boardgame/computer game and Aliens II movie.

 

The game has an unlock system which gives the player new alien killing / marine buffing tools, which provide a slight addiction to see what you get next, like in the diablo games. New equipment changes the way the game plays, like in team fortress 2.

 

So far I've played the offline practice mission and one easy online game. I had fun, although at this difficulty level each player could pretty much wander around the map on their own as the aliens were a pushover. The game promises that on higher difficulty, team work and tactics like welding doors shut are essential for team survival.

 

I'll definately give the higher difficulties a go tonight. And I recommend this if you want to play something completely different for a change. It's fun, and won't cost a dime.

[demagogue]

Yes Black Cat Games have been an extended part of our community for a long time, and were sort of forerunners for TDM by making their own multiplayer Thievery on another engine. And there are other connections; Oddity worked on models for Nightblade and the Dark Mod. You (Sotha) even talked about them a few days ago when you commented on the alien-looking burrick model one of their artists submitted to us to use (comparing him to the Half Life spitter IIRC). That creature was a concept made for Alien Swarm. I just thought it was funny that you'd talk about Alien Swarm without acknowledging that their makers aren't entirely strangers to us, but you might not have caught that and independently played this game and liked it.

 

Anyway, on topic, I haven't gotten a chance to play this yet, but I want to very soon!

I've heard nothing but good things about it.

[Sotha]

You (Sotha) even talked about them a few days ago when you commented on the alien-looking burrick model one of their artists submitted to us to use (comparing him to the Half Life spitter IIRC). That creature was a concept made for Alien Swarm. I just thought it was funny that you'd talk about Alien Swarm without acknowledging that their makers aren't entirely strangers to us, but you might not have caught that and independently played this game and liked it.

 

Oh yeah! Right. Maybe I got the hint of this game from that burrick thread. Also I now remember seeing some alien hats in TF2. You get one in TF2 if you get a AS achievement. Nice.

 

Anyway, on topic, I haven't gotten a chance to play this yet, but I want to very soon!

I've heard nothing but good things about it.

 

Just gave it a go on normal difficulty. Much more challenging and now you really need at least to move in pairs to survive. Some of the aliens seem to be designed so that killing them alone is really difficult, but in pairs you can outmaneuver them.

 

After that I tested it on hard difficulty. At that level, moving as a team is a must. If you move alone, you die. If there is no medic on the team, you die. If there is no tech class with ammo satchels, you run out of ammo and you die. I love it!

 

New equipment arrives really fast. You get something new and fancy almost after each successful mission. New guns need some skill, so I still prefer assault rifles and the autocannon. Especially auto-aim guns are nice. I tried a shotgun, and it is really effective but runs out of ammo quickly.

 

I wonder if they are adding new content to this. The current maps probably get repetitive fast. But they are really well made. I was stunned in the slow-motion combat in the elevator. And after that, all hell breaks loose.

 

Yep, I definately recommend this one.

[BrokenArts]

This is indeed funny. modetwo, who is running the board for you guys, and is the webmaster too, for Black Cat games. I'm an admin on Black Cat games.

We also are moderators for the Steam bunch.

 

Cythe who is created the Belcher for us, is a part of Alien Swarm, and is one of the creators, and also a member of black cat games. He also helped on Portal and L4d 2. lol funny. Enjoy!

Edited September 4, 2010 by BrokenArts

[lost_soul]

Sounds interesting. Are the aliens humans, or just AI-controlled "bots"? I used to play Tremulous a lot, which has strategy elements and is also about humans vs aliens, but sadly it seems to be dieing.

[Sotha]

Sounds interesting. Are the aliens humans, or just AI-controlled "bots"? I used to play Tremulous a lot, which has strategy elements and is also about humans vs aliens, but sadly it seems to be dieing.

 

Aliens are AI controlled. They're not very clever, they just rush you. But there are some ranged attacker as well. The playing team consists of 4 marines. If you have only 2 players, you still have 4 marines, two of which are AI controlled.

 

EDIT: I also tried Tremulous once. Was a bit too fast for my old man reflexes.

In this game, the speed is well thought of. Challenging but not too fast.

[Crispy]

The Tremulous scene was way too hardcore for newbies like myself, sadly. I loved the mechanics, but there was absolutely no mercy in it. Getting upgrade points for kills is a nice idea in theory, but leaves no room for disparate player skill levels. It really needs a way for new players to involve themselves without feeding the other team and becoming liabilities. Take some lessons from TF2 - if they pick the right classes, new players can always make positive contributions even if they suck. Experienced players are still significantly more effective, of course.

 

And yes, it is a bit too fast. Those little alien critters are speedy. This is bad no matter which team you're on; as a newbie human, they're way too hard to hit, and as a newbie alien, your character is way too fast to control...

 

Eventually I just didn't have the time and energy to train myself up, so I stopped trying.

 

I did play it on a LAN with some friends once, that was a bit better. Except that the humans won landslide victories every time, until the alien team figured out their tech tree, at which point the aliens won landslide victories every time. We humans never quite figured out the correct strategy.