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Welcome to the 54th issue of the GBAtemp Recommends Revival Project! This project is a weekly feature where we share our favorite games and applications with you. The things we recommend may be "old school" titles, a Homebrew, a ROM hack, sleeper hits, an application, etc, but one thing's for certain, we think they are fantastic and deserve your attention!

GBAtemp Recommends!
Aliens Infestation​

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Please help us to welcome back the GBAtemp Recommends Revival Project! This project will continue to recommend great software titles that are worth experiencing, yet now ulitizing a new slimmed down format structure. We will continue to press onward and bring you the features that you have come to expect from GBAtemp. Without further adu, issue #54...

Aliens Infestation for the NDS is a 2D side-scrolling adventure platformer developed by WayForward Technologies and Gearbox Software for publication by SEGA in 2011. Taking place in the famed Aliens Universe, the game incorporates familiar weapons, locations, and experiences that help the player to focus more on the action and less on the plot. The story itself picks up after the USS Sulaco, a lost spaceship, gets rediscovered. A squad of 4 elite Space Marines is sent in to search for survivors, of which only 1 has been confirmed. Unaware that the ship has been overrun by alien life forms, the Marines must press forward in an attempt to complete the mission while escaping with their lives.

Aliens Infestation feels very much like a GBA-era game, from the graphics to the music and sound. If one could imagine the bottom screen’s contents placed under the start button, it would be easy to visualize experiencing this game on the GBA. The simplicity of gaming mechanics and the use of 2D sprites provides a charm that has long since been lost with modern 3D game experiences. Aliens Infestation will take you back to an era of classic gaming that not only dominated the handheld market but left an entire generation of gamers with extremely fond memories.

Game play unfolds across 2D side-scrolling levels completed in Metroid-like fashion. Characters can run, jump, shoot, climb, roll, and ride elevators to save points that further offer weapon restocking and character selections. The game initially provides 4 characters, each with their own unique lines of text. As the game progresses it is possible to invite Maries, from the squadron which proceeded your own, into your active party. Depending on what character is actively being controlled the textual aspect of the story may alter itself dynamically. However, you must proceed with caution, for when a character dies they are gone for the entire game.

Each Marine starts out with a pulse rifle and a hand gun. The game quickly offers opportunities to stock up on additional weapons such as grenades, traceable flares (IE: map markers), a shot gun, and more. Tools such as a portable arc welder, key cards, and a motion tracker also become available to the player. Correctly utilizing the right weapon for the kill and the right tool for the job can be the difference between an easy or a much more difficult playthrough experience.

Aliens Infestation is not an overly complex game, in fact that game is rather short, and getting the most out of the game lies in the player’s ability to properly explore their surroundings while leaving no corner unchecked. Overall, it can be an extremely addictive experience that will generate a high level of fun through an arcade-like side-scrolling adventure platformer that makes intelligent use of the dual screened NDS.

Genre: 2D Side-scrolling
Release Year: 2011
Developed by: WayForward Technologies, Gearbox Software
Published by: Sega
Released for: NDS

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Aliens Infestation on Sega.com