Alien Breed
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Alien Breed is the first in a series of science fiction computer games played in the form of a top-down shooter. It was released in 1991 by Team17 for Amiga and later by MicroLeague for DOS.
Gameplay
The game was based heavily, and unofficially, on the Alien films, specificially Aliens, and also on Spectrum games Laser Squad and Paradroid [link] (although the game bares some gameplay similarities with Gauntlet). Alien Breed consisted of the player or players having to find the lift down to the next level, occasionally setting the self destruct sequence to blow up the level above them. The players collected a variety of weapons from the space station's computer terminals. Credits found on the ground would have to be saved for those weapons and other enhancements, each giving the players an edge over the gradually more and more powerful Alien forces. In advanced levels, players were occasionally trapped in enclosed spaces with huge "boss" aliens, reminiscent of the Alien Queen.Alien Breed was in many ways a 2D precursor to the popular 1993 FPS Doom. In both games the gameplay invariably consisted of clearing each level by rampaging from point A to point B. (The third game in the series, , introduced non-linear gameplay: some levels did not require to be completed before exiting, and the game could be completed in several different ways).
Alien Breed was released to critical acclaim. CU Amiga awarded it 90%, noting that 'Team17 have come up with a winner'. Alien Breed also stands, to this day, as one of the best cooperative two-player games made, providing an excellent level of tension, desperation and furious action.
Team17 also made an "Intro disk" available, containing a short animated introductory sequence with on-screen narration which follows events leading into the start of the game. After the introduction is finished, the player is prompted for Disk One of the game, effectively making the Introduction disk "Disk Zero". Team17 produced a similar Introduction disk for SuperFrog, animated by Eric W. Schwartz, although this was included with the retail edition of the game.
Alien Breed Special Edition '92 was an expanded version, sold at budget price, and was hugely popular, staying in the British software charts for more than a year. It also featured a movie trailer style advert for Team17's upcoming Superfrog, which was unusual at the time. As well as being released on the Amiga, this version of the game was also released on the Amiga CD32 in a double-pack with Qwak, a platformer puzzle game developed by Jamie Woodhouse.
Both the original and the Special Edition did well enough to merit further sequels, almost all of which have been commercial and critical successes.
The player characters in this game and its sequel were named Johnson and Stone. By the third sequel () the player characters were named Jordan and Nash. In keeping with the Aliens theme, a female voiceover (the voice of Lynette Reade) provided warnings and other messages to the players.
See also
External links
- [Legal downloads of many of Team17's Amiga games, including the Alien Breed franchise]
- [Alien Breed Retro Remake]
- [An Alien Breed fan site]
- [Alien Breed Remake]
- [Alien Breed entry at Dream17 - The Team17 Fansite]
- [MobyGames Alien Breed series pages]
- [Alien Breed] at the Hall of Light
| Alien Breed series |
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| Alien Breed | | | Alien Breed 3D | | Alien Breed 2004 |
| Lists |
| Aliens | Characters | Locations | Organisations | Weapons |
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