Review: Alien Syndrome (Wii)

Alien Syndrome is another title pulled out of the retro pit and brought back to life for the new generation on Nintendo Wii and Sony PSP.   If you visited an arcade in 1987 then it was likely you would have seen the original in action, before reaching a wider audience through various ports.   Little has changed since the original and Gamestyle has to question why this title was reanimated, and why so poorly when Sega has such a rich library of titles to choose from.

The story is threadbare which is to be expected in a title that tries to bring the immediacy of action from the arcade onto the Wii.  Set in the future, you take the role of Aileen Harding  (arguably Sega’s take on Samus), a fiery female with a skill for guns and survival.  Aileen has enjoyed some time off after her last mission ended in disaster, now she’s dispatched by Earth Command to locate and investigate the disappearance of a spacecraft.     This becomes the beginning of a trek across various craft and planets, with plenty of aliens in-between to overcome, as you try to locate the source of the Alien Syndrome. 

It is questionable whether Totally Games wanted to keep the retro feel of the original by combining character sketches with ropey cut sequences to develop the plot.   Arguably the budget is the main cause as Alien Syndrome is another Nintendo Wii release, which feels cobbled together for a budget market with little lasting appeal, albeit lacking that cheap retail pricing.

Taking the form of a traditional top down shooter, Alien Syndrome delivers the restrictions of the genre.  The limited outlook is not extended through the inclusion of three viewing perspectives, which each of the trio being entirely useless.   Shooting enemies off screen soon becomes the norm, as you try to fight off encroaching forces from all sides.   Totally Games have tried to inject some role-playing elements into proceedings, to break up the constant action, thereby attempting what the industry seems to label an ‘action RPG’.   With the storyline being extremely weak and generic, the whole approach relies on those other dynamics.  You can purchase and develop your own armour and weaponry via a mobile store, which is easily accessible.  And that’s about it for the role-playing perspective!

Alien Syndrome boasts a wide range of weaponry but with ammunition sometimes at a premium (or costly through the store), you are often left to deal with opponents through close combat.   This melee combat is the source of much frustration as it forms a major part of the experience.   Performing combos after a while becomes tiresome, not only mentally but also physically.   It’s a cheap option for anyone bringing a title to the Wii, but relying too heavily such physical movements proves to be a major hindrance to any enjoyment.

Visually, Alien Syndrome is frankly awful.  With Super Mario Galaxy confirming what the Nintendo Wii can actually achieve, arguably only ten percentage of its graphical capability is utilised here.  The games are poles apart with the gritty and bland Alien Syndrome harking back to the Mega Drive or Sega Saturn, certainly not what the Wii is capable of.   The levels are unimaginative and for want of a better term these ‘dungeons in space’ become a chore to play through.  Within the few rooms of Alien Syndrome, you’ll have experienced exactly what this limited formula has to offer.  Stretching it to around forty levels with little variety or respite for the player is a recipe for disaster.  Poor textures, a lack of detail and repetition are constant through the whole game that can only be seen as a missed opportunity.

Matters improve slightly through the inclusion of multiplayer and co-operative offerings, which is where Alien Syndrome becomes almost fun, for a few minutes. The control system adopts a point and shoot approach (with those melee combo’s held in reserve) and for the most part this works well with the Wii remote.   The cramp environments and linear routes work against any enjoyment factor.  With everything becoming so predictable, a better approach may have been that of Panzer Dragoon where an on the rails shooter, or at least a certain sections would have broken up the monotony.

Alien Syndrome is another entry in the catalogue of Wii games that fail to grasp the potential of the system.   Simply tacking on a few new controls in a title that could easily have been created twenty years ago is not a winning formula.   On this form, Samus will have to wait a little while longer for any worthwhile competition.

Rating: 3 / 10

Words by Jason Julier