Alien Hominid

"One of the greatest shooters I've ever seen!"

From the new creators, Behemoth comes one of the best shooters to date. Alien Hominid, which spawned from a short flash game on new-grounds, involves a yellow alien whose spaceship has been shot down by the FBI. Now the alien must fight his way through hordes of FBI agents on the streets, in Moscow, and Area 51. That's basically the entire story, not great I know, but its a shooter and shooters don't need marvelous stories.
Story: 5

The controls are very simplistic, no combos are needed, just jump and shoot is all that's needed. Even the special moves like jumping on an agent's head, then either biting their head off, or picking him up is simple to execute. Entering/exiting vehicles can be done with a single press of a button.
Controls: 10

Playing the game can get very cumbersome. Enemies from both sides of the screen, and some from the top make it seem very hectic. Its very hard not to die in a level from the bullets flying from every possible direction. With practice it can be done to beat a level without dying, but you need to be very attentive. Aside from the normal side scrolling, shooting there are a few other types of play involved. One level involves you to ride a sled for half the level, dodges high and low bars, as well as the agent's bullets. Another puts you on the highway travelling on top of all the cars while helicopters drop missiles on the cars, and agents do drive-bys. Then at the end of each area (each area contains 5-6 levels) you have an asteroid-esque level, in which you must fly your UFO, collecting upgrades for it, then fighting the boss which the UFO. Aside from the main story game there are a few mini games to play. One is an addictive one screen kind of puzzle game where you need to jump on the heads of the enemies and make it to the end of the level. Other mini-games involve a soccer type game, a high scoring point game, and a missile guiding game. When you're not playing the main game, there is plenty to occupy you.
Game play: 10

The sound is so-so. Music is nothing spectacular, but the sound effects are pretty decent. I normally just leave the sound off and play some Jethro Tull, or some other music instead.
Sound: 7

Graphics are quite good for a 2D, cartoon-ish game. The animations from slicing opponents, or biting there heads off is hilarious, and very well done. Also, explosions, and the collapsing of buildings is nicely done. For its type of graphics, they are perfect.
Graphics: 10

Re-playability is high. I've already played through the game three times, and I've yet to start becoming bored of it. The 200+ PDA levels, and the level editor is also almost as fun as the actual game, only it takes a very long time to beat every level.
Replayability: 9

Overall the game is a perfect time killer. It takes an average of an hour and a half to beat it in one play through. Or if you like a specific level, there is a level select to choose whichever level you want to start on. And the mini-games provide some extra time wasting fun.
Overall: 8

Rent or buy? Well if you like shooters, then buy it as it will provide good fun for a long time. However, if you are skeptic save 30$ and rent it. You could easily play the main game, and some mini-games in that period to decide if you like it, and if its worth it to you. So it really could go either way from renting and buying.

This is my first review, so I hope you enjoyed it, as much as I enjoyed the actual game itself.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/22/04