Developer: Valve/ Black Cat Games
Platform: PC (Windows Only)
Genre: Action, Third Person Shooter
Release Date: July 19, 2010
Availability: Steam (Game compatible with windows only)
Steam Store Link (Opens Steam)
Original UT Mod by Black Cat Games: Link
System Requirements (Recommended)
- OS: Windows® 7 / Vista / Vista64 / XP
- Processor: Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz
- Memory: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista
- Graphics: DirectX 9 compatible video card with Shader model 3.0. NVidia 7600, ATI X1600 or better
- Hard Drive: at least 2.5 GB of free space
- Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Review System
- OS: Windows 7 64-Bit Home Premium
- Processor: Intel Core i7 940 @ 2.93GHz
- Memory: 6 GB Ram
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
- DirectX®: Microsoft DirectX 10
- Sound: Creative Labs X-Fi
- Internet: 768 kbps DSL
- Game Settings: Maximum Graphics @ 1920×1080, 4x AA
- Peripheral: Mouse and Keyboard.
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Digital distribution on PC has been on a steady rise as many companies are trying to gain more revenue in video game sales by switching over to this medium giving rise to offerings from Gametap, Stardock, Microsoft in the form of the Games for Windows Live Marketplace, and even Electronic Arts. The most popular, with over 2 million daily users, is Steam; a distribution service created by Valve Software who are best known as the developer of Half-Life, Team Fortress, Portal and Left 4 Dead. there has been some controversy over how each provider handles the digital delivery of its content, but when it’s done right this method has its perks.
With the success of Steam, Valve has been able to really focus on building their portfolio. In order to do this Valve has been acquiring new, young talent to help them create all new franchises. Some examples of these new franchises are Portal, Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2, all of which came about through new talent acquisition. All three of these games started out as side projects or mods for Counter Strike or half Life and ended up getting Valve’s attention. recently Valve took in a modding team known as Black Cat Games. using the the Source Engine the team over at Black Cat Games created a brand new game known as Alien Swarm, which originally started out as a 2004 Unreal Tournament Mod.
The game features some very unique characteristics not seen in many modern PC games today. up to 4 players can join together for a co-operative experience, which is how I would recommend playing this game. you and your teammates are given 4 classes to pick from, each with their own unique characteristics. they are:
- Officer- your standard shooting class. The man with the regular assault rifles and grenades that get the job done. Has buffs in ammo resupply for your team.
- Special Weapons- The brute that holds the machine gun. More of the tank for the group, taking down enemies extra fast. Able to hold more ammo.
- Medic- well if you don’t know what a Medic does by now then you shouldn’t play this game… The healer and curer of the team. only one able to remove the infection from your team.
- Tech- Able to unlock or reseal doors, lock or unlock consoles linked to turrets. Buffs in gadget usage also, making that tesla cannon have a little extra kick to it.
each kit has 2 choices of characters to choose from, having various buffs or sets back to make them unique from each other. Besides the features and the gameplay experience, it should be said now that this game is completely free. That’s right I said FREE. Don’t let this make you think that it’s a shallow, lifeless shell of game. Valve is behind this one, almost guaranteeing premium quality and the support you’ve seen in all their other multiplayer games. if free sounds good to you then I recommend you keep reading.
Liked
This game has a completely different approach to the term “shooter”. It’s not a first person shooter, rather a top down third person shooter. you control your character with the w, a, s, d keys and use your mouse to shoot and all this is in the style of an RPG like Diablo. take these new found mechanics and set it to a style comparable to Left 4 Dead. The basic premise is as follows: Four lone fighters, struggle to get out of an alien infested factory complex. while this premise may seem a little cliched and basic, it really fits the game and what it is striving to do. The game offers intense gameplay that is complemented by its controls that adds both style and difficulty to the game.
The amount of content you get for a free game is also unmatched, in my opinion. The is a single campaign with 7 different chapters and the game is open to 3rd Party mod support. each level takes about 30 minutes to complete, depending on the skill level it is set on, and how many people you have helping you. there are Easy, Medium, Hard and Insane difficulty settings, which offer greater replay value as each one really changes how the game plays. For example, insane difficulty takes more time to complete due to the increased number of enemies, which you will encounter.
As you complete each chapter, you gain experience, which helps you level up. As you gain levels, you unlock more for your kit, including new guns and support gadgets. another big addition to this game are achievements. The game has 64 Steam Achievements to unlock, ranging from reach a certain level, act a certain way in a chapter, or unlock all the weapons for you kit.
Disliked
The game is buggy. As it stands right now these bugs could get squashed soon. since I downloaded the game I have seen Steam update it about 2 times in one day. I’ve had issues with stuck or un-killable enemies and a weapon reload glitch. These glitches prevent you from being able to complete a chapter most of the time, forcing you to go back and redo the entire thing.
to the trigger happy, this could be an annoyance too. The controls can get a little odd, as innovative as they are, they do have their setbacks. As seen in a screenshot above, you are given an aiming cursor and a line of fire to see what you’re shooting. it works relatively well but sometimes aliens can come at you from above. there really isn’t a way to shoot them as you are aiming from top down. if you line up a shot correctly they will incur some damage but it generally becomes a “spray and pray” situation.
The game also doesn’t have an option to turn off friendly fire. Meaning if someone walks in your way while you’re trying to take out some aliens, they are welcome to a mouth full of bullets if they don’t duck and roll. Aggravation between players will be seen for this, just need to keep your eye out and pick a direction to shoot from.
I don’t want to spoil too much, but this game does feature a story line. Scattered throughout the levels are PDA pads, with event logs and personnel files. if you ever played Doom 3 before, this is kind of the approach Valve took. they explain why and what has happened, as well as a fully voiced worker that helps you get through each chapter. Valve has certainly out done themselves for a free game. while Alien Swarm might not be the longest game, it does pack quite a big punch; 4 player co-op, multiple difficulty settings, 4 different classes to choose from and 3rd party community mod support. it has the best sticker price, “FREE” and more content then some full fledged disc based games and for those reasons, there is simply no way I can’t recommend you download Alien Swarm and play to your hearts content.
FINAL VERDICT:
I do have a closing thought though… a question for Valve. Where is half Life 2: Episode 3?