Never in my life have I been more convinced that nuking it from orbit is the only way to be sure ...
Official Site This little gem came out this past Tuesday -- oh, did I just give it away by calling the game a gem? Well, it is one -- although many will find it to be a diamond in the rough. There are games out there that are great enough to make you think about all the stuff that could have been done to make them greater. The pity is that, upon this kind of reflection, we sometimes lose track of how good the game actually is. A:I is very much one of these games BUT only if you want a blast from the past.
The main question here is are you down for a little retro-action? A:I's major flaws -- it's repetitiveness via backtracking, respawning enemies, re-used visuals and music -- are key features of the Metroidvania oeuvre. If you're looking for something innovative, you will be frustrated with A:I. But if you want true-to-old-school gameplay, you'll have far fewer complaints -- and maybe even none, other than it only being about six hours long. Plus, the game is tough. Now, this is 2011 -- Demons Souls/Dark Souls aside, tough does not mean well-nigh impossible. But this is no stroll through the park: you will be toast if you get impatient and decide to go balls-to-the-wall.
And you know, that is exactly what the game is trying to make you do. A:I's designers appear to be careful students of Mr. Cameron's film, to which the game is a direct sequel story-wise. You have a crew of rugged, asskicking marines -- what could go wrong? Well, just like in
Aliens, coming face-to-face-hugger with the horror of xenomorphs can panic even the toughest rough neck. For a sidescroller, A:I is surprisingly good at psyching you out. Xenomorphs will pop out and come at you from floors, walls, ceilings, vents, etc. You'll be fighting things you know -- or think you know -- you're not ready to fight. Without spoiling anything, I can tell you that there is a genuine, major "holy fething gak" moment just one hour (or maybe a bit less) into the game.
And if you lose a marine, that's it: "Game over, man. Game over." At least for that marine. You have four marines to chose from but can only play one at a time. They each have their own personality and unique dialog in the talky bits but otherwise they're really just "extra lives" in the Super Mario sense. Like I said, dead is permanently dead but you can recruit other marines to your pool of "lives" throughout the game to a maximum of four at any given point. Should you spend the lives of all four marines in your pool, however, it really is game over. Fortunately, the "safehouse" mechanic gives you a chance not only to regularly save your progress (which is a must) but also restock on ammo and get healed up. The trouble is that you have to survive the trip back to your safehouse. A:I does a great job of making you think about resource management and balance it against the drive to move forward -- lending a very
Aliens-esque sense of tense action to the experience.
In short, if you've ever looked back on your life and said "I really wish there had been Super Nintendo in 1986 because
Aliens would have been an awesome sidescroller" (the
real thing wasn't too bad) then go buy this game immediately. For everyone else: this is fun but you have to be tenacious and you have to set your expectations regarding graphics and gameplay back to a time that could well be before your were born. Like I said at the outset, A:I is a game that's good enough to make you realize that it could have been better. squad-based gameplay, non-linear sidescrolling (think Viewtiful Joe), multiplayer capability -- these things could have made A:I a perfect 10. But a solid 9 ain't bad.
