Alien Breed

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Alien Breed
Alien Breed box cover
Developer(s) Team17
Publisher(s) Team17, MicroLeague
Designer(s) Andreas Tadic, Peter Tuleby
Platform(s) Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS
Release date 1991 (Amiga version)
1993 (DOS version)
Genre(s) Run and gun
Mode(s) Single player, Two player
Rating(s) N/A
Media 3 floppy disks or 1 CD-ROM
System requirements 1MB RAM (Amiga)
Input methods Joystick, Keyboard

Alien Breed is the first in a series of science fiction computer games played in the form of a top-down shooter for one or two players. It was released in 1991 by Team17 for the Commodore Amiga and later in 1993 by MicroLeague for MS-DOS[1].

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

The game was based heavily - and unofficially - on the Alien films, specificially Aliens, and also on the 8-bit-era games Laser Squad and Paradroid[2] (although the game bears some gameplay similarities with Gauntlet, with which it has been compared[3], as well an obvious comparison with Sega's Alien Syndrome). Alien Breed consists of the player or players having to find the lift down to the next level, occasionally setting the self destruct sequence to blow up the level above them. The players collect or purchase a variety of weapons from the space station's computer terminals. In some versions of the game, these so called Intex terminals provide additional features such as a clone of the classic computer game Pong. Credits found on the ground have to be saved for these weapons and other enhancements, each giving the players an edge over the gradually more and more powerful Alien forces. In advanced levels, players are occasionally trapped in enclosed spaces with huge "boss" aliens, reminiscent of the Alien Queen.

Alien Breed was in many ways a 2D precursor to the popular 1993 FPS Doom[citation needed]. In both games the gameplay invariably consists of clearing each level by rampaging from point A to point B. (The third game in the series, Alien Breed: Tower Assault, introduced non-linear gameplay: some levels are not required to be completed before exiting, and the game can be completed in several different ways).

[edit] Critical response

Alien Breed was released to critical acclaim. CU Amiga awarded it 90%, noting that 'Team17 have come up with a winner'.

[edit] Intro disk

Team17 also made an "Intro disk" available, containing a short animated introductory sequence with on-screen narration which follows events leading into the start of the game. After the introduction is finished, the player is prompted for Disk One of the game, effectively making the Introduction disk "Disk Zero". Team17 produced a similar Introduction disk for Superfrog, animated by Eric W. Schwartz, although this was included with the retail edition of the game.

[edit] Legacy

Alien Breed Special Edition '92 was an expanded version, published in 1992 at budget price, and was hugely popular staying in the British software charts for more than a year. It also featured a movie trailer style advert for Team17's upcoming Superfrog, which was unusual at the time. As well as being released on the Amiga, this version of the game was also released on the Amiga CD32 in a double-pack with Qwak, a platformer puzzle game developed by Jamie Woodhouse.

Both the original and the Special Edition did well enough to merit further sequels, almost all of which have been commercial and critical successes.

The player characters in this game and its sequel were named Johnson and Stone. By the third sequel (Alien Breed: Tower Assault) the player characters were named Jordan and Nash. In keeping with the Aliens theme, a female voiceover (the voice of Lynette Reade) provided warnings and other messages to the players.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Alien Breed at Dream 17. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
  2. ^ Interview with Rico Holmes of Team 17. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
  3. ^ Review of DOS version of Alien Breed at Mobygames. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Alien Breed video games
Alien Breed · II · Tower Assault · 3D · 3D II: The Killing Grounds · 2004
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