"the sequel to Sega's legendary classic arrives, delivering a galactic level of fun"

I always admired the Alien Syndrome games, even the SegaAGES remake of the original. It was basically timed levels where you had to rescue all civilians before the exit will open, then destroying a boss to clear the level. And now they have an official sequel to the original's story, and ironically, I'm surprised they didn't add the number "2" to the title when the story and scenario clearly takes place long after the days of Mary and Ricky. That being said, Sega has done a magnificent job evolving the core Alien Syndrome gameplay while maintaining the action and intensity of the original, and on top of that, doubling the co-op support to 4 players instead of just 2! With such a sharp focus on gameplay and customization, the foundations of fun, it's perfectly logical why they chose that direction to be able to stabilize and support so many players, aliens, item drops and destruction going on at once.

The story is expressed in a way that's rarely done in games, but that makes it all the more appealing. Cutscenes expressed by still images and simple animations here and there still have their artistic sense of beauty and mystery woven within their lines, curves and many shades of colors. Overall the art is very well done, and at some points, almost appears to be virtually photorealistic in some cases, as if the artist is portraying real people through these cutscenes. The story cutscenes are extremely different from the artstyle the boxart uses, and looks even better! Being a fan of Phantasy Star IV's cutscenes, Alien Syndrome goes a step further with convincing voice overs from the characters and a higher quality of art.

That being said, to understand the story you must first understand what the Alien Syndrome is. Unlike Ridley Scott's Aliens, or Metroids or Flood or any specific form of hostile alien creature, the Alien Syndrome is a plague whose very touch can mutate humans, machines and other organisms into horrifying monsters. About 100 years before this sequel, Earth Command encountered the Alien Syndrome and two Troopers, Ricky and Mary went from starship to spacestation, fighting and eventually defeating the ultimate threat in the universe.

However at the present time, as humans are exploring the farthest reaches of the galaxy, Earth Command is worried about SAT5, which is one of the many terraforming stations, and therefore sends the Starship Logos to investigate; as Aileen Harding, a young and talented Lieutenant, we discover a threat that was thought to have been extinguished long ago.....

The characters in Alien Syndrome are given a healthy amount of background, dialogue and depth, especially Aileen herself whom players begin to care more about as they progress in the game. While Alien Syndrome doesn't have a super epic story like a big budget RPG, the story and character depth is lightyears beyond the original game; it isn't required to enjoy the gameplay but it DOES give the whole experience a greater purpose and greater sense of accomplishment.

The RPG elements truly enhances the gameplay, depth and experience. If it worked for Castlevania, it can work for Alien Syndrome. Elements such as Class based specialists, each with its own starting attributes, weapon, uniform and still offer customization that suits your play style. This in itself makes everyone in multiplayer unique, and even alone, this gives us more reasons to replay the game and experiment. Players should not feel overwhelmed by the attributes and statistical properties that fill the screen. It's all in fact easy to comprehend and people who just want to suit up and shoot something can easily just pick what they like and feel the difference in performance.

Aside from stats and skills, you have a floating companion (Sentient Combat And Recycling Assemply Bot) that serves as a shop and can use Resource Points to build weapons, armor, and virtually anything else that's of use. it can also help you fight or heal or a combination of both, providing an extra dimension of fun to the formula. And with so many items to pick up and the weight system encouraging players to strategize their priorities and which items they wanna keep and others they wanna recycle, it really keeps us material mice busy, and hungry for more.

In addition to many types of guns (categorized by projectile, energy, explosive, etc.), combat is split into ranged and melee types of weapons. The melee aspect provides Alien Syndrome with that missing piece the original didn't provide, and melee weapons are in fact just as fun as using guns, providing a fresh new flavor to the classic alien mashing action.

the Aliens themselves are a vast and diverse collection of different monstrosities, the alien designs truly blow away the alien designs from the original Alien Syndrome, and even aliens found in other games. These are the kinds of aliens and mutations that are more alien and much more menacing than the typical generic humanoid shaped, gun-wielding aliens found in mainstream shooters these days. The bestiary in this Alien Syndrome is a very creative selection that includes many of the most horrifying creatures ever designed. Of course from an overhead perspective, you'd wouldn't think how scary they would be up in your face, but those with a sharp perception would see what I mean. And what's even more intense is how they frequently attack in hordes.

Well I have only mentioned perhaps 1/3 of the game, and now we come to the point of talking about visuals. Alien Syndrome has never looked better. The models, special effects, alien designs, level designs, all have an ambience and magic that brings it all to life. Jaw dropping explosions, floors with expansive windows that lets you see the endless sea of stars outside, everything is modeled and animated in a solid and effective manner. For a game that offers so much multiplayer, alien hordes, action and destruction going on at once, the graphics deliver in a positive way. I can only imagine what a Alien Syndrome 3 would look like. But for now, Alien Syndrome looks good enough to play and enjoy what's happening onscreen. it's slightly less polished than the Wii version, but the PSP version still looks solid.

The camera takes some getting used to, but after that it's second nature. oh yes and its recommended reading the manual, many cases people seek answers that the manual already answers. also, the minimap radar can help you trace enemies beyond viewing range, so there are alternatives to adapt to situations.

the Multiplayer aspect is self-explanatory you can play the whole story with 1-3 buddies for up to 4 player cooperative alien busting action! Like they say, the more the merrier. But unlike some co-op games, you don't need multiplayer to have fun with this game. Overall, I appreciate the option for up to 4 players co-op. This can be a personal quest for self-discovery or a wild party of alien hunters, therefore, the multiplayer options opens up more ways to enjoy the game for many more types of players. Although admittingly, for portable systems, I can't seem to get into multiplayer as much as I can feel comfortable with such a feature with a console and a large TV, but that's just me.

The Sound and Music. I really love the sound effects in this game. the weapon sounds, the alien screeches, and the music isn't bad either (though more tracks would be nice) . everything sounds as it should. One thing I would have liked would be the return of the 2 remixed boss themes from the Alien Syndrome remake (except the final boss theme in the ps2 remake, that one sounded goofy and random). now those, especially the remix of the original theme that first played during the original first boss in the game (which became the 2nd boss or I think 3rd boss in the PS2 remake), that one sounded sooo awesome I would buy a soundtrack just for that music alone.

But anyways, yes the sound fx and music are good enough. Always room for better music, but still good enough, it isn't super adrenaline pumping music but in a way it's a good thing that it doesn't attract too much attention cause that's better than the sound FX being drowned or muffled by the music. So yes, the sound fx are really really great, the music is okay, and I'm glad they didn't use voices for the melee attacks cause overusing voices during the gameplay unless it's story specific dialogue then whatever but I just feel something like attack yells or warcries would not fit at all and I'm happy the developers avoided stuff like that cause they knew people would be tired by repeated voice overs when they attack or destroy something.

The controls are responsive and very solid to me, it's really no trouble moving, aiming and firing. Alien Syndrome does a good job laying out the controls in an effective manner. The controls as they are makes the game solid and playable, what more can they be said about the controls?


STORY: 10
GAMEPLAY: 10
CONTROLS: 10
GRAPHICS: 9
SOUND: 9
OVERALL: 9

Conclusion: I admire this Alien Syndrome so much I would like a future sequel, preferably released for today's next-gen consoles. Sega has a great franchise in their hands and we can only imagine now how much bigger and better Alien Syndrome can be if they decide to make a 3rd game with this winning formula (not counting the remake and ports) in the series.

I'm still baffled they didn't call this one Alien Syndrome "2". It isn't like they planned to start over since the story takes place 100 years after the first game's scenario. But yes I can only imagine how this game would play in the future, and maybe with graphics like Mass Effect but maintaining the artstyle they used in-game and for the gameplay models too, but more immersive and stuff like that. oh yeah and more music tracks. And the return of Aileen and SCARAB, and the return of 4 player co-op and RPG customization, etc. . There's so many things they can improve and surpass, with maybe character creation like in Phantasy Star Universe, with more adventures blasting the many hordes of the Alien Syndrome, which proves this franchise has plenty to offer in future installments if Sega wants to.

Despite my preferences, I got the chance to play the PSP version of Alien Syndrome over a friends house, and while I'm not into portables often, anyone who has a PSP owes it to themselves to try Alien Syndrome and see if it's their cup of tea. Within is a flavor of fun you can't find in other games.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/17/07

Game Release: Alien Syndrome (US, 07/24/07)