i finally did it. what a great game.
it was unfortunate that i had to switch difficulties half way through. i got up to stage 16 on hard mode, but was sick of dying and having to go all the way back, so i switched to 'so-called' easy mode (there is no 'normal'), which was still hard, but gave me unlimited continues. so i just wanted to see the rest of the amazing bosses really.
it's such a good game though. anything by treasure is immaculately detailed and well-made. i still find it difficult to get into their games though, and for some reason alien soldier let me in. maybe i can go back to gunstar heroes and ikaruga now. although i'm never going to play sin & punishment again; i find it really awkward to play and it has such muddy graphics.
i do think AS is a love it/hate it kind of game though. it's old-school, it's painfully difficult, and complex to learn but if you die, it's completely your fault; you can't blame the computer. it relies on your reaction times, your ability to adapt to the rhythms of each monster, and how quickly you master the controls.
it's strange.. the time limit on the game is 32 minutes, and you need to complete it in under that time. my time was 16 minutes, but i've been playing it for weeks, so it seems like a lot longer. but once you know how to beat the bosses, you can whizz through it so easily. it rewards patience and alertness more than anything. it's good - it keeps you on your toes and heightnes your awareness.
i hate bosses that are cheap, or ridiculously punishing, or ones that just have too many hit points. in AS, if you're quick enough and choose the right approach or weapons, you can beat the monsters in a matter of seconds. some times on youtube are amazing; such talented players out there.
games are more than just entertainment; they flirt with being work, but use it to deepen the entertainment experience. well, the good ones do anyway.
alien soldier; relentless horizontal power... a concentrated line of destruction.
Comments
i'm just interested in how the game made me think... i thought it was odd when you said you played games to make you think about stuff, because the majority of games rely on player instinct and reaction (not the intellect, or stuff outside the game), or else task the player with purely in-game logic. there were some boss battles in this that made me think though.. like in the screen shot above with the purple robotic bird; the composition of the scene makes it look as if the player is pushing, with all the might of planet earth, into the robot's face, and the kinetic verticallity of the gameplay heightens this feeling. it's still an 'in-game' feeling, (within the space of the game), but it's definately metaphorical.
This seems like my kind of game!
it might be a bit of a obvious point... but nontheless a relevent one that i don't hear many other players talk about.
with 3D, people often complain about it not being like 2D; not being as 'tight' or 'secure'. and for certain genres like platformers it's true. i think platforming is best in two dimensions. surely the third dimension is about analog movement, and in this light, all the 'free-roaming' sandbox popularity makes sense.
if you draw, straight lines and angles have no physical build-up of energy or tension, but curves do. for me, and most people, it's a lot harder to draw figures using curves, because they travel at faster speeds and they don't tend to stop. this is why most manga is drawn in straight lines, because it's faster and easier.
2D gives structure, and most importantly, control. curves can be done in 2D as well, but how many 8-bit and 16-bit games have you see that utilize curves for actual gameplay?
Ah...I've been so incredibly busy...I've had no time for Gamespot, and barely any time for games themselves even!
Alien Soldier sounds like an awesome game. Any game you can beat in under 30 minutes, but takes weeks to master has to be a great game. Sonic games are like that too; well, the early ones.
Short and sweet is the best. You can experience the whole game anytime you want. All you need is a few quarters, or in this case, half an hour.
I want it.
I really do.
"with 3D, people often complain about it not being like 2D; not being as 'tight' or 'secure'. and for certain genres like platformers it's true. i think platforming is best in two dimensions. surely the third dimension is about analog movement, and in this light, all the 'free-roaming' sandbox popularity makes sense."
I think you argue this point pretty well - which makes me think of Resident Evil / Silent Hill and how they used still framed shots (3D spaces rendered into 2D) to build tension by withholding what is outside of the frame/screen (the zombie you can hear but not see). Since most 2D games, as sidescrollers, used a ceiling and floor allowing you to narrow your focus to what's to the right (or forward), they are more "secure" in you only worry about what's ahead of you. It's less suspenseful and more action oriented - pushing you into confrontation with lies ahead.
thanks. ;-)
yeah, sidescrollers are kind of like squinting your eyes to latch onto the enemy.
i thought capcom used the pre-rendered backgrounds to create atmosphere and build a story, but you're absolutely right that the main point is that it restricts the player's range of movement, which is actually quite scary in that its isolating and enemies can gang up on you, creating tension.
@evrdayblues:
cheers, man. ;-) hope uni is going well.
i wish i could play alien soldier in the arcades. i wish there was a good arcade near me. i don't have that experience.
just_nonplussed