he future has become a tough place to live in. The Earth is torn by political turmoil, pollution chokes the atmosphere, the population smothers the planet's surface, and armies battle bitterly over what slim resources remain.
From this morass sprout the colony ships. The last hope of a dying Earth, they
are sent to unknown planets not only to colonize, but to grow the sustenance
needed to sustain the human race.
Unbeknownst to these frontiersmen, there is another species in trouble--the
Hunjak. These insectoid critters have also sent pods from their homeland to seek and inhabit strange new worlds. As luck would have it, a pod lands on a
newly settled human colony. There is a knock on the door, a human answers, an
alien lops his head off, and the game is on.
The game is Enemy Infestation, an isometric-view, real-time strategy
adventure that's also an action shooter. As is typical with most of the "next-generation" real-time strategy games, there is no resource management in Enemy Infestation. Players control up to 15 colonists and nearly as
many weapons in a bid to defeat an alien infestation on the
colony world of Redavi.
There are 25 puzzle-type missions to work through, from rescues to all-out
defense. The interface is the typical keyboard and mouse setup. Players left-click to select a trooper, scientist, electrician, and then left-click again to shoot an alien, research new technology, or perform other commands such as "hide" or "guard."
Multiplayer is a cooperative endeavor in which each player controls one or more
colonists as they strive to defeat the Hunjak. Online gamers may play the single-player "story-line" missions or those handcrafted from the multiplayer maps provided.
A bug hunt with class
Alien Infestation is an intriguing CD-ROM of fun. One part Alien Earth, one part StarCraft and one part Aliens, this game is an electric grab bag of entertainment. But it's a combination that makes for some top-notch fun.
The missions are well executed puzzles free from the incessant "build up your forces" motif of many strategy games. In one scenario, players will need to don pressure suits, wade into the airless unknown and secure an alien specimen. In another they'll need to rescue a downed commander. And yes, in some the main requirement is plain old hard fighting. In all, gamers will need to think, and--as the advertisement says--improvise, adapt and overcome.
The good news is that Ripcord has given players the tools to do just that. Each
colonist is capable of myriad semi-intelligent actions. They can assault
aliens on sight (good for the military types), hang back and hit the bugs with
ranged weapons, hide, or drag comrades to safety, to name but a few of the
available options.
Additionally, Enemy Infestation makes players look good while assaulting,
shooting or dragging. The down-to-the-lights-on-the-commander's-bed detail is
gorgeous and reminiscent of both Fallout 2 and Alien Earth. Anyone who loves table-top miniatures will enjoy hunting aliens through the holo-beaches, cafeterias and loading docks of Redavi's bases. The view is spectacular; the feeling almost creepy.
Creepy, that is, until the clown who runs the mission briefing opens his mouth. In what must be one of the more serious lapses of game development judgment this year, Ripcord Games hired the janitor (or someone of similar acting talent) to read the mission briefings.
Briefings aside, Enemy Infestation is a classy piece of work. There are
beautiful graphics, there are challenging missions and there are characters that players care about. In short, all the stuff that makes media entertaining. Go buy it.
