Alien Breed: Impact

GAME REVIEW:16 cert, Team 17, PSN (also PC) ***

Stranded in a space station, a resourceful antihero must fight his way through a hostile, crumbling environment. Sound familiar? As you negotiate the area and fend off aliens you’re given major tasks (disabling a mechanical system, for example) while carrying out minor ones (finding keys for doors).

The Alien Breed franchise feels a lot older than it is: indeed, the aerial-view shooter/exploration games are reminiscent of similar releases on the Playstation 2. Retro gaming is fine, but some of this one’s problems should have been addressed early in production. The in-game menu is user-unfriendly, and simple tasks become onerous chores. The save points could be more frequent, and many of the controls are pernickety (you can walk into a corner and get stuck, for example, unable to turn around). The set-up and premise are pretty good; too bad it’s not more playable and bug-free.