Alien Syndrome is set 100 years after its predecessor. Communication has been lost with one of the stations on a distant planet and Aileen Harding is sent to look into the problem. Low and behold Alien Syndrome is the problem and you need to stop it. The story isn't exactly memorable but it's simple enough and quickly takes a backseat once the game gets going. Before you can go blasting alien scum you'll need to select a character class. The character class essentially dictates the weapon you'll begin with and you'll get assigned stats based on the character class. These RPG elements are basic, but an interesting idea and as you progress your stats will improve.
Defeat the green blurry blogs of mediocrity.
It all sounds rather promising doesn't it? Well, it could have been. But, rather than an enjoyable action/RPG game Alien Syndrome just ends up feeling like a generic shooter that does no favours to the legacy of the original game. Astute players will quickly realise that in Alien Syndrome all you really have to do to progress through the game is keep on moving while defeating the occasional enemy. You will come across a few meaningless filler tasks though, which unfortunately only serve to add to the mediocrity of the game.
The real problem with Alien Syndrome comes from the fact that running around shooting enemies and progressing through predictable looking levels just isn't fun anymore. Overall the game never really puts up much of a challenge and after an hour it just ends up feeling like you're doing the same thing, repeatedly. In fact if it wasn't for the boss levels you could quite comfortably skip past the enemies, if you didn't need to improve your stats.
One of the positives of Alien Syndrome is the fact that the controls are rather easy to get used to. Movement is done with the analog stick and you'll aim with the Wii Remote. Shooting with the Wii Remote becomes second nature quite quickly, but the camera often gets in the way. Using melee weapons is more effort than it's worth though as the game sometimes doesn't register your movements.
So apparently this is a Wii game...
If you have a few friends you'd like to team up with and annoy the hell out of then Alien Syndrome is the game you're after. The game includes co-op support which is a decent addition but doesn't make the game any more entertaining. Co-op support can sometimes improve a game but with Alien Syndrome the gameplay still ends up feeling dull, except this time you're playing with three other people who have fists.
Graphically Alien Syndrome has progressed about 15 years since 1987. That is a game that looks like an average PlayStation 2 title. It's extremely clear that the game has quickly been ported from the PSP and the game only looks minorly better on the Wii than on the PSP. The environments are dull and begin to look the same after awhile and the character models look average. The sound effects are of a negligible quality and the voice overs are passable, so the audio in Alien Syndrome won't blow you away.
If you just love the idea of punishment then there is quite a bit to do in Alien Syndrome. The single player campaign is lengthy enough and as there are several different character classes those who can tolerate the game (or who got it for Christmas from their mum and have to make the best they can of a bad situation) could play through the game again and select a different character class, but all that really changes is the weapon you'll use to defeat the generic looking enemies. The four player co-op mode doesn't add anything to the game either.
Defeat the blue Gyarados clone.
Alien Syndrome could have been a decent game, it's just unfortunate that the game feels very much like a PSP game ported to the Wii. In a busy period for games titles like Alien Syndrome will fall off the radar very quickly and that can only be a good thing. There is nothing in Alien Syndrome that hasn't been seen before and even fans of the previous Alien Syndrome title will find nothing redeeming in this game.
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