A Review: Alien Breed: The Horror Continues, DOS 1993
Alien Breed II: The Horror Continues is the second game in the popular Alien Breed series and a direct sequel to the original, featuring new levels, improved visuals, and an updated AI. Released in 1993, this game was available for the Amiga and early DOS computers, with support for both the OCS/ECS and AGA operating systems. The whole game engine was mostly rewritten to allow for the game to be smoother between levels and to accommodate the newer AI and scripting that had come with recent technological advancements in gaming. It was this new code that was eventually used for the title Superfrog, another Team 17 game. This game also addressed some of the complaints from critics, with more levels overall and a harder difficulty curve. This was also the only Alien Breed game that allowed the player to choose one of four characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
I liked this game much more than its predecessor for a variety of reasons. The first and most obvious thing for me was that I felt that this game was much more mature. It felt much more like a completed project than the original did. It was almost like Team 17 had a better handle on what they were doing and decided to show that they weren't just 'another development group'. The gameplay was much more refined, and things made more sense from a mechanics and features perspective. The choice of characters was a lovely touch and one that I would have liked to see carried on to other games, but sadly, it only existed in this game. The levels were indeed improved and made much more sense, rather than being a series of haphazard mazes and corridors. The fact that you could blast doors open if you ran out of keys prevented the ever-present softlocks that were a problem in the first game. The enemies' were more varied and had different attack types, which really helped to diversify the levels and gave a sense that the aliens had different growth stages, which was great for immersion. The difficulty curve was steeper this time around, and I liked that; it gave me a sense of accomplishment for my progress. I did find the lack of a save or checkpoint feature to still be a problem, and I also felt that this was detrimental to my experience towards the end game, especially. The enemy's could sometimes appear in large groups, which would easily swarm and kill the player. Losing progression in this way was very frustrating, and I believe that having a checkpoint or save feature would have really helped with this. I also felt that it was much too hard to find health pickups, and this was a big problem in the later sections of the game. I felt that this took the game in a direction that didn't work, as it spoiled pacing and gameplay flow by having the player take part in an involuntary scavenger hunt. I also found that there weren't enough boss fights; I believe that more would have helped with the pacing between the various chapters. I also found that there was still an issue with some levels breaking and allowing me into areas that I shouldn't have been able to access, and there were also occasional audio breaks that could get annoying. Otherwise, though, I thought that this was a better game than the original, and I enjoyed my playthrough. The run 'n' gun action was on point, and it really did feel like I was a one-man army, alone against the hordes of alien creatures. I have found very few games that have been able to give me the feeling of tension and suspense that this game did.
The visuals for The Horror Continues are also much more attractive than in the first game. The various sections and structures are very nicely detailed, with the floors having stains and different wear patterns drawn onto them. The corridors and facilities were also much more attractive, with more variation from sector to sector, which really gave the player a sense of moving through a series of different structures. It was much better than the rather dull and boring homogenous lumps of the first game. The 'Intex' terminals were much larger, clearer, and obvious this time too and were almost impossible to miss. The maps and interface were clean and minimal, which really helped to keep the player from being overwhelmed by information. The enemies' were very nicely drawn, and their sprites and animations were great. I loved the droids, copters, and spiderlike creatures and felt they added so much more variety to the things that you could blast on. The sequences between chapters were okay; I would have liked maybe a FMV or two, but I could still get by with what was on offer. One thing I really loved was the directions painted onto the floor; those saved my heinie more than once and were a great way to help keep players oriented. Much like the gameplay, I found the graphics for this game to be more mature and refined, with more effort put into them, which is always worth noting.
Overall, this game was much better than the first and proved that Team 17 could really deliver when they tried.
6/10 – Good Fun!
Signed Off – Leonardo – PSJ
I liked this game much more than its predecessor for a variety of reasons. The first and most obvious thing for me was that I felt that this game was much more mature. It felt much more like a completed project than the original did. It was almost like Team 17 had a better handle on what they were doing and decided to show that they weren't just 'another development group'. The gameplay was much more refined, and things made more sense from a mechanics and features perspective. The choice of characters was a lovely touch and one that I would have liked to see carried on to other games, but sadly, it only existed in this game. The levels were indeed improved and made much more sense, rather than being a series of haphazard mazes and corridors. The fact that you could blast doors open if you ran out of keys prevented the ever-present softlocks that were a problem in the first game. The enemies' were more varied and had different attack types, which really helped to diversify the levels and gave a sense that the aliens had different growth stages, which was great for immersion. The difficulty curve was steeper this time around, and I liked that; it gave me a sense of accomplishment for my progress. I did find the lack of a save or checkpoint feature to still be a problem, and I also felt that this was detrimental to my experience towards the end game, especially. The enemy's could sometimes appear in large groups, which would easily swarm and kill the player. Losing progression in this way was very frustrating, and I believe that having a checkpoint or save feature would have really helped with this. I also felt that it was much too hard to find health pickups, and this was a big problem in the later sections of the game. I felt that this took the game in a direction that didn't work, as it spoiled pacing and gameplay flow by having the player take part in an involuntary scavenger hunt. I also found that there weren't enough boss fights; I believe that more would have helped with the pacing between the various chapters. I also found that there was still an issue with some levels breaking and allowing me into areas that I shouldn't have been able to access, and there were also occasional audio breaks that could get annoying. Otherwise, though, I thought that this was a better game than the original, and I enjoyed my playthrough. The run 'n' gun action was on point, and it really did feel like I was a one-man army, alone against the hordes of alien creatures. I have found very few games that have been able to give me the feeling of tension and suspense that this game did.
The visuals for The Horror Continues are also much more attractive than in the first game. The various sections and structures are very nicely detailed, with the floors having stains and different wear patterns drawn onto them. The corridors and facilities were also much more attractive, with more variation from sector to sector, which really gave the player a sense of moving through a series of different structures. It was much better than the rather dull and boring homogenous lumps of the first game. The 'Intex' terminals were much larger, clearer, and obvious this time too and were almost impossible to miss. The maps and interface were clean and minimal, which really helped to keep the player from being overwhelmed by information. The enemies' were very nicely drawn, and their sprites and animations were great. I loved the droids, copters, and spiderlike creatures and felt they added so much more variety to the things that you could blast on. The sequences between chapters were okay; I would have liked maybe a FMV or two, but I could still get by with what was on offer. One thing I really loved was the directions painted onto the floor; those saved my heinie more than once and were a great way to help keep players oriented. Much like the gameplay, I found the graphics for this game to be more mature and refined, with more effort put into them, which is always worth noting.
Overall, this game was much better than the first and proved that Team 17 could really deliver when they tried.
6/10 – Good Fun!
Signed Off – Leonardo – PSJ
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