Frozenbyte and Meridian4 have quietly created a one-two punch of
all-out action and bloody carnage with the Shadowgrounds series. In it,
players assume the role of one of the several random personnel who have
survived the initial attack of aliens as they struggle to survive and escape
the situation in which they find themselves. Oh sure, this is nothing new
here, if you have played games for any amount of time, the alien
invasion/slaughter is probably the most-used vehicle in which to plot a game.
The problem is, some of the best reviewed games and biggest money makers
involve this well-used formula (Halflife, HALO, Quake, Gears of War) and
therefore developers believe that the well has yet to run dry. Well, in this
case the well is still producing water, for while Shadowgrounds (which is
distributed through Steam, part of the Valve
powerhouse and Sierra companies) is not going
to move the bar forward, I think does a decent job of aiming for it.
Played from an almost top-down,
slightly-angled view, you assume the role of three distinct characters trapped
amongst the rubble of an alien invasion on New Atlantis, a sort of
city/military outpost located on Ganymede, one of the moons of Jupiter. In the
original game you played as a disgruntled former marine-turned-mechanic given
an opportunity to reveal his true heroic colors. In Survivor, there’s no
shortage of heroics as you get the chance to not only try and save some NPCs,
but you spread out the heroics by playing as three different characters. But
don’t get me wrong, this game is all about smearing aliens up and down the
landscape, shooting, shooting, shooting and running, but mostly shooting as
you will kill thousands, yes thousands of aliens by the time you are done with
this title. Oh, it’s not a one-trick pony; the game actually has a leveling
system where you accumulate skill points that allow you to purchase increased
abilities, like "auto" med kit or additional hit points or even quick reload.
By picking up mechanical pieces you can upgrade your weapons as well;
additional power, large clip capacity or hotter flame are only some of the
upgrades you can work with. So there is a slight RPG feel to the game, but
this is pretty much where it ends, you can’t rename the characters or tweak
their strength, endurance, stamina, etc.
"Still need that mop."
Look, going into this game you
have to have certain expectations; for one, you can check your brain at the
door, but that’s Ok – there are pseudo puzzles, like fixing all of the
terminals in the room while aliens try and eat you, but none of them are
particularly taxing to figure out. The challenge lies in the sheer number of
aliens that can attack at any unexpected time. This is one of those games
where you run into a room and see ammo laying around everywhere you can expect
to never let your finger off of the fire button. It is very much like the
previous title aptly named Shadowgrounds, where you run around shadowy
locations using your flashlight sometimes to illuminate the action.
I suppose the game was originally
thought that it may be a creepy, "make you jump" type title, but it isn’t.
Yes, the creatures you face are straight out of a nightmare and the liberal
use of spider-like creatures will probably give those who are arachnophobic
the heebie-jeebies, but any sort sheer terror that the developers may have
hoped for went out the window by sheer volume. Running around a desolate
moon base in the partial dark is normally a good way to get you scared, but
since there is rarely a lull in the appearance of aliens, no sense of dread
ever comes up. Now the aliens do look fantastic. And some of them clearly are
inspired by different types of insects, however, the aliens also feature some
senior level management as some of them are armed themselves with
bio-mechanical weapons and begin shooting you from distances. The levels are a
bit more varied this time with some snow and other elements playing a role in
the visual play. Now I said the aliens look good, but they also move very
smoothly and confidently, often pausing like insects do, as if to try and get
a better bead on you. Their movements are quick and oftentimes you will walk
into an area and almost be surrounded instantly. This combined with some
pretty lighting effects, smooth framerate and a really nice finished look to
it, the game more than passes the graphics test. Now mind you, this is a
budget title, but looks better than some full-priced games.
The audio too, does more than an
ample job of keeping you entertained. As each level progresses, there are
voice-overs during breaks in the action and some dialogue between characters.
The voice work is done with great aplomb and even some of the character’s
accents seem to jive with the tempo of the game. I wished there was some more
noises coming out of the aliens and how cool would it have been if they began
attempting to speak English as if to psyche your character out. Hmmmm. The
explosions and other sound effect come across pretty lean and mean, I would
have thought that grenades were louder sounding (and caused more damage) but
hey, it’s the future and maybe they have been dumbed down.
"I would have thought Uranium rods would
have caused more of a sunburn?"
The action found in Shadowgrounds
Survivor is borderline arcade speed; this isn’t the kind of game that requires
great strategy, but it does provide a certain satisfaction to the average
gamer who wants to be able to hop in, kill a bunch of aliens and then hop out
20 minutes later. Yes, I have been playing this title fairly regularly since I
got it, and while I am still surprised at all the things I missed (the game
has secret areas) I am not surprised that the game is addictive. Yes, there
are plenty of things to shoot and the ability to upgrade yourself and weapons
is nice, but the controls really seemed to gel with me. In the game, you can
set how you want to move by assigning keys; I like the arrows, then by using
the mouse, you place a targeting reticule in the direction you want to fire.
You can also spin the camera’s top down view around as well since it is at a
slight angle, doing so helps with blind corners and other areas of the map.
Survivor also features a sort of
"no way out mode" where you see how long you can last against a never-ending
alien horde. There is no beating this portion of the game, the idea is just to
see how long you can last as aliens bear down on you relentlessly. Is it fun?
Well, it would have been better if this was online capable and you were
competing against others to see who could last the longest. Also, I think the
game could have benefitted from a co-op style of gameplay. What with the three
different characters, there could have been some sort of online
competition/gaming.
Lastly, the nice thing about this
title, is that you don’t have to go to a store to get it, you can go to
www.steampowered.com and buy it online, $19.95 baby!
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Gameplay: 8.0
It is easy to control after re-mapping the keys to your liking. Some weapons
have secondary fire and there is lots and lots of action. This is the
non-thinking man’s action title.
Graphics: 8.2
Surprisingly, the game looks way
better then the original; I know that’s not uncommon (duh), but for a value
title, the spit and polish rivals that of other full-priced games.
Sound: 7.0
I liked the voiceovers the characters had, and the ambient music does
provide the right feel for the game, but some sound effects are lacking.
Difficulty: Medium
You can set the difficulty to your
liking; I like things easy, my wife thinks differently.
Concept: 7.0
A well-used idea, wrapped neatly
in a simple game that is surprisingly fun and entertaining.
Overall: 7.7
Next to the Orange Box, this is actually a sweet value title. You
must like killing aliens, lots of action and the kind of game where it pays to
go looking down deserted dark corridors.
