"Another weak Wii title"

Alien Syndrome is either a remake of a NES game or a sequel. I'm not really sure since I never heard of the original game. Anyway, I had to return a game because it didn't work and saw that this game was available. Quickly grabbed it since I had nothing better to do and the game looked like it might be fun. After playing for a few hours though.... Read on!

I know the game has a plot. Woman has lost her loved one, aliens have invaded a ship and you go back as your first day back on the job. I'm sure there is more but I honestly didn't care.

Graphically this game is ugly. Character models are bland, overused and just bad. The levels themselves feel generic and if I didn't know better I'd say they used some random generator to make these but they aren't random. Textures are almost not present here. Cut scenes are still frames that look hand darn but not in a good way.

The sound in this game is very average. The music did nothing for me. Not good, not bad but it existed. Sound effects were so-so but the little details just weren't there, like footsteps and stuff. The voice work was rather bad. Mute will be your friend in this game.

Control in the game actually isn't half bad. Move around with the nun chuck. While you do use the Wiimote to aim and while it would be awesome to aim, it really doesn't aim so much as turn your character. The D-pad on the Wiimote is used for all kinds of stuff like weapon switching and item use. Problem is that it's the freaking d-pad and it's not very easy to health in the middle of a battle when you're fumbling for the correct direction on such a tiny object.

The game itself is perhaps one of the more boring experiences I have had of late. It's not to say the game plays terribly though. The game is made up of levels. Travel from one end to the other. Killing enemies, opening doors, hunting for keys and just killing more enemies that never seem to quit spawning.

The action is as mindless as it comes but you can spice it up a little by picking from four different classes. I sadly didn't realize I had this option and some how ended up with a Demolition class which provides one of the harder to aim weapons and it bounced to make things more annoying.

You can also do melee attacks with your weapon. My demolition character had some lame staff that was like running into a wall. Hard to aim and just didn't hit well. I've heard you can move the Wiimote to do damage but again I didn't know that (those darn rentals with no manuals). I hear it works pretty well though.

Along with you is a little robot buddy. He usually shoots the enemies. He is also your link to the cyber store where you can buy ammo and stuff. Sadly I didn't realize that but whatever. He is also how you upgrade your person and what not. Or so I think.

To be honest I didn't play this game for more than an hour or so. It was just so dreadful I couldn't stand it. The game does seem long and it offers a fair amount of customization if you're willing to allow yourself to dig into it. I personally couldn't get past the badness of the game. It also offers four player co-op which is cool. Problem is that the camera can rarely be moved, if ever and even playing solo is a pain with the camera so zoomed in you can barely observe your surroundings and it's just bad.

I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone. I was actually interested in it and I think I gave a squeal of delight when I saw it was in. Sadly I didn't like it at all. maybe it's the new love it or hate it game but to be honest I hated it and while the customization is a redeeming value for the game, it just requires you to actually play the game which I can't agree with.

Story - 5/10
Graphics - 5/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 5/10
Replay value - 5/10

Final Score - 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/07/07