Alien Hominid (GameCube) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
421A playthrough of O3 Entertainment's 2004 run-and-gun shooter for the Nintendo GameCube, Alien Hominid.
Played through on the normal difficulty level.
Alien Hominid is a run-and-gun shooter with an unusual story behind it. It was original conceived by two guys, Dan Paladin (the artist) and Tom Fulp (the programmer) as a single-stage flash-based game that appeared on Newgrounds back in 2002. Given that I am playing a full-blown commercial release for the Nintendo GameCube that was built on the foundation laid by that single stage web-browser title, I think that it is safe to say that the original free-to-play game was a massive success.
Alien Hominid takes its cues from classic arcade run-and-gun shooters from the 80s and 90s: it feels a lot like Metal Slug, and by extension, like Contra. You play as the titular spaceman, an adorable, brilliantly yellow biped, that has been stranded on earth and is being hunted down by the FBI. In order to get his ship back and get home, he has to destroy endless numbers of stuffy government agents, giant robots, and communism with an impressive array of moves and weapons.
There are several types of guns and grenades that wield against your enemies, most of which reflect Metal Slug and Contra's weaponry. You get spreadshots, flame throwers, energy beams - all the usual suspects - and they all wreak an impressive level of violence against everyone in your way. And If any hapless evil minions make the mistake of taking you on in close-quarters combat, a simple tap of the B button is all it takes to graphically dismember them with your knife.
It's certainly not a carbon-copy of Metal Slug, through. If traditional weapons aren't your thing, then you can just jump on someone's shoulders and bite his head off! Any enemy that's watching will be so horrified by the sight that they just freeze in fear, waiting to be dispatched. If you aren't hungry, you can throw them instead, but where's the fun in that? Finally, you also get a few useful evasive maneuvers - a tap of one of the triggers makes the alien roll side-to-side, and if the action is just too hot (literally, in most cases) to handle, you can bury yourself in the ground and grab the bad guys as they walk past your hiding spot, blissfully unaware of what's about to happen to them.
Each level is like a love-letter penned to any number of the genre's classic quarter-munchers, but there are a few notable additions to keep things fresh and interesting throughout the game's considerable length. Fun, quirky moments abound throughout - in addition to several vehicle-based segments, you get to use a tractor beam to throw FBI agents into a chipper shredder, ride a super-punching yeti once you've saved him from his captors, and even play a game of Simon in order to blow up a big machine. Most areas have some sort of set pieces for the mini and stage-end bosses, and each has their own specific attack patterns that you'll need to learn to get past them - the game is not a pushover by any stretch of the imagination.
The graphics are absolutely top-notch. While it's nothing too taxing for the GameCube, the 2D animation looks great. The art style feels like it has been lifted straight from the pages of a (brutally violent) comic, and the sheer number of enemy animations really bring the levels to life. Some guys charge at you with their best game faces on, some will flee in terror at the sight of you, and others are too distracted to even notice you until they're falling to the ground in bloody slivers. The sheer amount of imagination on display here is staggering, and it gives the game a sense of personality like no other that I've ever seen in the genre.
I bought this for the GameCube when it was first released. It was a budget release, if you can imagine that! I think I only paid $25 or $30 for it, and I got far more gaming out of that disc than many that I paid double that price for. It actually ended up being one of my favorite games for the system.
And I still love it today. It's old now, and when it was released it was an homage to even older games, but somehow - even in 2018 - nothing about it feels dated. The graphics still hold up because they rely on artistry rather than gimmicky tricks and poor 3D models, and the gameplay is classic, balanced, and refined. This is a game that will still be being celebrated decades from now - and like it does today, it will still feel as edgy and fresh then as it did 14 years ago when it came out.
Personally, I'll take Alien Hominid over Metal Slug any day.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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