Game:

Alien Breed 3: Descent (2010)

Category:

Review

Duration: 2:43

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Alien Breed 3 : Descent is a top-down shooter where the enemies come thick and the ammo is scarce, and where death will often send you plummeting back thanks to an unforgiving checkpoint system.

Alien Breed 3: Descent's derivative nature does little to dull the fear this can inspire when playing with the lights out. Steam hisses and strobes dance across the torn metal of the stricken space ship that house the action, while the emergency systems seem to be slipping further and further into dementia.

For this final instalment the action feels fittingly climactic, and its twin-stick gunplay deals well with the escalating number of aliens thrown the player's way. There's an array of weaponry that's satisfying across the board, from a meaty boomstick to a pulse-firing gun that's warmly familiar, although ammo-reserves for all are limited and it's not uncommon to find yourself swatting away at the enemy with the standard pea-shooter in a fit of panic.

It does manage to mix up its action intermittently with some more cinematic moments that wrest the camera control away from the player – as well as a few that escape the confines of the ship - but such moments are rarities and for the most part it employs the same in-your-face perspective that's blighted the last two instalments. Yes, it's good for getting an eyeful of the well-drawn environments, but it's less useful when trying to keep an eye on the action and it's got a knack for heaving on some nasty surprises. Good for a cheap shock in the opening hour, but equally good for inspiring a scream of frustration hours into the game when you're knocked flat unawares.

But its single-player campaign is generous and ultimately entertaining, and the solo player has much to do beyond the story in the riotous arena-based survivor mode. Co-op, however, is again limited and dumbly doesn't play into the campaign, instead relegated to a handful of missions. It's a missed opportunity and is all the more baffling given that the half-hearted implementation of co-op was one of the biggest gripes when Alien Breed 3: Evolution launched last year.

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