Thursday, September 17, 2009

Review: Downloadable Full Version Free FPS PC Multiplayer Shooter Game - Alien Arena

(It was late when I made this; might update it tomorrow afternoon.)

"Do not run! We are your friends!" so the goblin sappers of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne are fond of quoting. While millions of gamers may be reminded of Blizzard's diminutive green imps everytime they hear this quote, nothing resembles Mars Attacks! more than Alien Arena. This downloadable full version free FPS PC multiplayer shooter game from developer COR Entertainment has taken Quake 2-style gameplay and fused it with a 1950s alien invasion design theme that warps players back into the years of yore.

The review of this 1950s-themed downloadable full version free FPS PC multiplayer shooter game (plus a video of me against "Hard" difficulty bots!) after the jump.

Jolly, fragile-looking devils with MASSIVE guns

Right from the get-go when you fire up the game and see teammates and opponents alike in bubble helmets and goofy martian skins, you'll know that this game tries hard to have a retro sci-fi feel.

And it succeeds. Brilliantly.

From Martian Enforcers to rusty, one-eyed cyborgs, Alien Arena has all the trappings of a 1950s alien invasion film. Cylindrical bodies; segmented, tubular metallic arms; bulbous helmets --- the design at first might strike you as uninspired but after a few minutes of gaming, you'll realize that the graphical aspect of the game is intentional---and considering that all shooter games nowadays are going in the opposite direction of the timeline design-wise---brings a breath of fresh air that reeks of ingenuity.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

From the high-pitched whine of death rays (yes! green ones!), the otherwordly pew-pew of the default Blaster to the electric crackle of the Violator (the game's lethal, close-range weapon), the game's audio effectively captures what film directors of the 50s thought martian energy weapons should sound like. And while Alien Arena might be full of the pew-pews of that decade, it pulls out all the stops when it comes to the powerhouse armaments. When you hear the SKRAAKT! of the Chain Gun's alt fire or the guttural rumblings of the Flamer, you know you're holding a bad a$$ something of alien manufacture that should be bound to numerical keys above five.

But what's really satisfying to fire is Alien Arena's Vaporizer (no, it's of martian make; it's not Nick's invention). That weapon is pure evil. Compared to it, Doom 3's BFG is ghey. When you fire it, for a full second, it gives out a keen wail as its electronics charges the thing --- and then it punches out a bar of blinding blue light that totally dismembers, destroys, and disintegrates anything it lances through. It's like you have a mini-Son Goku or Lews Therin Telamon in there throwing kamehamehas and balefire.

Wait. Did I tell you my Logitech sub-woofer goes postal when I fire that thing?

It does.

Audio and graphics --- no other downloadable full version free FPS PC multiplayer shooter game has a visual and aural design cohesion that's so seamlessly tight as to give it an atmosphere so tangible and immersive as Alien Arena. Throw in Quake-style gameplay and you know you can't go wrong trying this one out.