Scurge: Hive Introduction - GBA
0"Scurge: Hive" is an isometric action/adventure title developed by Orbital Media and published by SouthPeak Interactive (and OM) for the GBA and DS in 2006. It is perhaps a perfect example of an amazing game inspired by quintessential exploration titles like "Metroid" and "Landstalker" with a few minor RPG elements and original bits brought down by a few glaring annoyances which prevent it from reaching all-time classic status, relegating it to the lower status of receiving positive to lukewarm reception and relative obscurity (though it has its fans), which is unfortunate. From the first few minutes after the game boots up, you know that the game at least looks and sounds amazing for a GBA title (and good for a GBA game ported to DS), and the GBA box doesn't just brag about "epic hardware-pushing encounters" for nothing, as the game really does look great.
In the game, you play as Jenosa Arma, a female bounty hunter (not unlike Samus Aran) tasked with hunting a parasitic lifeforms known as the "Scurge", an alien entity capable of rapidly adapting and infecting biological, mechanical, and digital systems. Presented with a mission by the military, Jenosa and her A.I. comrade, Magellan, are out to rescue any survivors and salvage vital data at the "Confederation Research Lab Number 58" on Planet Inos. While heading to Inos, Jenosa's ship is attacked by the aliens and she makes a hasty escape to the planet's surface, but not before becoming infected by the Scurge. Her special suit, the "Environment Suit", slows down the infection, but can't remove it, and now besides flirting with danger around every corner on a mission she can't possibly turn down now, she has to reach "Decontamination Sick Bays" frequently to prevent her death from the Scurge, racing against time.
Visually, the game is mostly delightful with vibrant colors, mostly fluid character animations (except oddly enough, some of the animations of the protagonist, with a funny shot animation and certain other animations) and great attention-to-detail in the environments. Things like fog are thick and well-defined, and you can even clearly see environmental damage like big claw marks in walls or splashes in water. Regular enemies color-swap too often, but that's about it. Aurally, the game is also great by GBA standards and even has a few basic voice/sound clips from the heroine and aliens, but some of the music is rather repetitive. Overall, the game is one of the best looking and sounding games on the GBA. As far as gameplay, the game takes a very simple approach with a few basic weapons which hurt and/or empower different enemies (in a rock-paper-scissors fashion), a few support abilities which are needed to expand your access within the game world, and numerous puzzles to solve and key cards to find; this is the bulk of the game. As you defeat enemies, you recover a little health and gain experience points to increase health. There are a few annoying or strange aspects to the game however.
First and foremost is the play control. Jenosa moves rather quickly (and doesn't come to an immediate stop, which makes platforming segments tedious at times) and most rooms are designed to hide enemies behind every nook and wall, which usually results in you having to blast the majority before you can progress safely. This wouldn't be such an issue if you didn't have the constant reminder of the "Infection Meter" which, when full, will rapidly drain your health and kill you, and all the obstacles you have to avoid as well. Not only that, but Jenosa is stationary when shooting and has to recharge her power between sessions to shoot, so you'll constantly stand and shoot until you run out of power then jump over/around enemies waiting for it to refill, which gets old pretty fast and wastes time. Yes, the infection system does add a bit of suspense, but seems counter-productive and unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. Another problem is that you never quite know how to line-up your shots due to the perspective and there is no real auto-targeting for anything, which also makes platforming difficult (more so than something like Landstalker as Nigel at least has great response, as Jenosa sometimes glitches up/through platforms).
Still, in spite of its issues, Scurge: Hive is a good game if you're patient and give it a chance. We have an introduction and basic game sample. Enjoy.