If you are a fan of hard arcade platformers there may be a new game out now that you need to check out. Super Mutant Alien Assault is just that game that could scratch that itch for you as it tasks you with blasting all kinds of aliens with a huge array of weapons.
The story in Super Mutant Alien Assault is simple in that our planet Earth is under attack by aliens. There are only a few humans left and they all have been put in a deep sleep and evacuated. So who do you play as? A battle droid and you have to make sure to protect the ships the humans are being evacuated on. There are 12 different stages in the game and all of them are randomly generated every time you play. If you kind of want to know a game to compare this too there was a PlayStation Mobile game called Super Crate Box that this game reminded me of. There are differences but I’d say if you played and enjoyed that game then you’ll love how much more robust Super Mutant Alien Assault is.
You can play the game solo with a friend in couch co-op. The action takes place on a single screen so there is no scrolling or anything here. As you play multiple playthroughs you’ll unlock more weapons and items to use against the various different enemies that you’ll be fighting. Don’t let the small amount of things put you off of the game as sticking with it I’m sure you’ll grow to enjoy it more and more. You’ll be armed with a main weapon, a sidearm, an explosive, and things like special abilities and perks. Weapons can range from assault rifles, rocket launchers, swords, SMG’s and many, many more. There are tons and tons of them and my only complaint is that sometimes you get one that isn’t any good or that you don’t like. As you obtain these items from vending machines and you can only use the machines every so often being stuck with a weapon you don’t like can be annoying sometimes. I see that the developer is trying to get the player to adapt their play style though.
There are various enemies in the game from ground enemies to flying ones. Some enemies have special abilities as well so you’ll have to pay attention and learn them as you are playing. As you play through the stages you’ll be given various objectives as well such as killing a certain amount of enemies or picking up and object and transporting it to a certain destination. There are boss stages as well where you’ll be fighting an endless swarm of enemies until you finally take the boss down.
Super Mutant Alien Assault uses a 2D pixel art art style for it’s presentation and overall it looks pretty good. Sound effects and music are done well too but if you hate dub step then you’re probably going to play on mute. The controls are nice and responsive as well which is important in a game like this. Now I want to touch on something about the levels themselves. I said above that the game is randomly generated but I did find instances where the same stage layout was coming up on multiple playthroughs. Also another annoyance I had was that sometimes I felt that the stages were too small. This was most evident while I was playing co-op with someone but less so while playing solo. With the possibility with so many enemies on screen and two players as well myself and my partner found it hard to move sometimes and it lead to us dying unfairly. Again this isn’t always the case but if you play the game co-op don’t be surprised if you feel the same way.
Super Mutant Alien Assault is fun and challenging so if you’re in the mood to blast aliens with lots of different weapons and abilities check this one out. The game is rather inexpensive and it can be fun with a friend. I recommend it.
Final Score: 8/10