Retro Revisited – Alien Breed: Impact Review

Recently while on steam I spotted Alien Breed: Impact, I remember seeing this title at the time of release but just couldn’t bring myself to buy it.

Alien Breed on the Amiga was one of my all time favorite games the darkness, the tension, the fast frantic fighting and twitch game-play this was something that Team 17 pulled off so brilliantly in 1991 that I was afraid that the reboot would no doubt disappoint whilst I played it through my Rose tinted glasses of yesteryear.

This weekend with nothing to play and no titles really grasping my interest I decided to bite the bullet and pay the paltry £6.99 on Steam for it.

I loaded the game up with apprehension expecting a bastardization of what was a simple control system back in the day but pleasantly found the controls near identical to that of the near 20 year old Amiga version.

I then proceeded to start a new game in Story Mode a very welcome addition as the Amiga version was pretty much a run through dungeon with little reason to venture forth other than completion to aim for.

My initial impressions where good the music, graphics and sounds where all brought bang up to date without ruining that retro feel but then the true test came as the first swarm’s of aliens came at me with 6 coming from the front and 8 from the rear I very quickly laid waste with my machine gun to the front and spun whilst switching to the shotgun to the rear aliens and in 2 shots the initial wave was over and I had a grin like a Cheshire cat.

As I progressed through the levels enjoyed the storyline, came across puzzles, interesting boss encounters and more and more waves of increasing number and larger sized aliens I found myself being 12 years old again and wrapped up in a game the likes of which died in the 90s.

Throw in a RPG element to it with customization of weapons, a co-op mode and minor multi-player then Alien Breed:Impact really does make a impact.

I have now purchased the 2 follow ups Assault and Descent again at a paltry £6.99 a piece and have to tip my hat to Team 17 a developer I last saw splashed across the load screen of a Amiga. They have truly done Alien Breed justice.

I highly advise snapping it up for those who enjoyed Alien Breed in its Amiga heyday or for those of a younger generation who often wonder why the elder gamers complain of the copy and paste standard of today’s games.

Written By smogglesboggles