Gadget Reviews, Product News, Electronic Gadgets

I’d forgive anyone for taking one look at the screen shots for Star Warfare:Alien Invasion and thinking it’s not all that interesting. Sure the graphics are nice enough and there are lots of pretty colors, but it looks far too “cute” (for lack of a better descriptor) to be anything more than a passing fancy. Thankfully I’ve had the chance to play it so I can do my part to ensure that people don’t pass this particular fancy. Seriously, it’s really freaking good.

Star Warfare:Alien Invasion is about exactly what the title implies. There are aliens, and they invade. Which leads to war. In the stars or something. There’s not much of a story here, but the exposition is enough to get the ball rolling. Right off the bat players have two choices: Single Player or Co-op. The maps and enemy waves (it’s a wave survival shooter, did I neglect to mention that?) are largely the same for both, save the inclusion of a couple more players, but either choice makes for a good start. After a few matches players can use funds earned to purchase new gear, which in-turn provide various bonuses including increased health or boosted cash drops.

It’s fairly simple-yet-addicting fun in Single Player, what with the constant allure of better stuffs. Waves ramp up nicely, both in terms of difficulty and payout, and it doesn’t take much to start earning the big guns. It also avoids the common pitfall of control problems. I have to say, I’m thoroughly impressed with just how smooth they are. Most action games I’ve played require some for of option-tweaking before I can really get into them, but that wasn’t the case here. Bravo.

The Single Player is just the appetizer, though. The real meat of it all lies in Co-op, where up to three players can take on each level’s challenges for better rewards. The boss fights are even more of a high point, with plenty of challenge to go around (even with a full team) but also massive payoffs. There’s no real way to directly communicate with other players, but the maps are small enough that it’s difficult to get lost or separated. My only real issue is that Mythril (the special money) doesn’t seem like it can be earned in-game, which means certain gear and items are totally off-limits to players who aren’t willing to sink some extra cash into their game. It doesn’t break the experience, but it is rather disappointing. Some of that stuff looks really cool and useful.

Even with the somewhat questionably walled-off content, Star Warfare: Alien Invasion is still an excellent and rewarding game. Seriously, I’m kind of geeking out about it. It took me longer than intended to finish writing this because I got caught up in a “research” match. Yeah…