Reviews// Alien Hominid

The luminescent presentation is a big part of Alien Hominid’s appeal, although much of it is rough around the edges in a very budget way. The cut-scenes, for instance, could have been created by a single (talented) artist during a particularly distracting tea-break. There are no voice-overs, no clearly discernable plotline; but what’s more, we don’t care. There‘s no need for a plot when you’re just running rightwards jumping and firing and getting into vehicles and jumping and firing some more. And, if you really do need to know, the story’s a brief one. AH is flying over Earth in his UFO and gets shot down by the FBI, who steal his space-craft. He kills the FBI and takes back the space-craft. On escaping, he gets shot down by some Russians, who steal his space-craft. He kills the Russians and takes back the space-craft. On escaping, he gets shot down by something at Roswell. So he kills all the animals in the desert and some more aliens. Then he wins.

And that sums up Alien Hominid in a nutshell: short, sharp, simple action. Indeed, so straight-forward and tightly-formed is it, that you’ll be able to tell if you want to buy it just from looking at the box. If you like that kind of thing, this is as good as it gets; and if you don’t, it’s just as pointless, short-lived and boring as all those other traditional 2D games. And for the more appreciative, it’s got a great co-op two-player mode that rivals the Metal Slug games in its frenetic nature, and it’s even got a healthy smattering of mini-games. Although these extras aren’t all that exciting, on top of the main game they're more than welcome.

SPOnG Rating: A-

Alien Hominid is delightfully vibrant and light-hearted gaming goodness at its most honest, and it’s a truly excellent title for fans of the traditional scrolling shoot ‘em up platformer. It won't change the face of gaming, but it can hold its head up in the company of the Metal Slug and Viewtiful Joe series. And with its very cheap hat, that's quite remarkable