Between its long bouts of hibernation, Alien Breed hasn’t exactly disappeared from the gaming scene, even if the newest title in the series arrived 17 years ago. Over the course of these long years, starting from its birth in 1990, the Alien Breed franchise has appeared on various platforms, bringing its Aliens inspired mayhem to players for generations.
Now, after 35 years of blasting horrific aliens into disgusting puddles of goo, the newly formed (or is that reformed?) Commodore International, Antstream Arcade and Team 17 have brought the series once again to modern consoles with a loving retro collection of mayhem.
Across XBOX series machines, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch, gamers can relive the thrill of fighting through dank corridors and abandoned space stations in the simply titled Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection.
Re-emerging from the walls in this collection are:
- Alien Breed (1991)
- Alien Breed: Special Edition ‘92 (1992)
- Alien Breed II: The Horror Continues (1993)
- Alien Breed: Tower Assault (1994)
- Alien Breed 3D (1995)
- Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds (1996)
Sadly, 2009’s Alien Breed: Evolution and its two – three if you count the enhanced edition that came out later – sequels aren’t included in this collection. Commodore International have chosen to focus on the formative years and the original six instalments. All of which released on the wonderful Amiga, Commodore’s series of home computers.
Even with those aforementioned games M.I.A., this is still a pretty stacked collection of titles, featuring my two favourite outliers in the series, Alien Breed 3D I and II. Not to say the original, top-down games aren’t without any sauce. These 2D Aliens and Gauntlet inspired games still have a lot of life, and fun, left in them, especially if you play them as they were clearly intended to be played, in two-player coop mode. Gunning down hordes of nasty critters is fun enough as is, but with another human on the couch next to you, it’s just wonderful.
Old games really understood this dynamic fully, that it’s not just playing with another person, but playing with another person physically beside you. Hey, at least you have someone to blame when things go wrong… However, if you can’t find someone to fill the seat next to you, you can play with someone else online.
The Alien Breed formula is simple and effective. You have to wipe out all traces of xenomorph lifeforms across abandoned levels full of locked doors, keys and copious amounts of ammo laying around. You do have to be careful of which doors you choose to unlock as it can be easy to find yourself out of keys while a room you need to go through remains forever closed. Eventually you have to kill some horrific alien bosses to continue your quest.
The spawning system, which spawns enemies as soon as the camera is no longer focusing on the spawning location, means that there are always nasties to be mowed down, either from the back or the front of you. This, of course, is where the help becomes most appreciated. Sure you can do this on your own, but, honestly, it’s not as much fun as doing it with a friend.
The two Alien Breed 3D titles are the developers attempts at bringing the franchise kicking and screaming into the now popular first-person shooter genre. At its core, these are DOOM clones through and through, for both good and for ill.
You may not be mowing down hordes of demons but the level design, and even some reused assets from the actual DOOM games themselves, can’t dull the comparison. That said, they’re still fun games that I have a soft spot for even if, of all of the games here, they’re the ones that have aged the worst. Specifically Alien Breed 3D whose really low resolution and controls make it a bit of a chore to play now. These are the two games in the collection that I do wish had received more remastering love because the 3D visuals and controls haven’t aged well. You can switch it from its original resolution to a 16:9 widescreen ratio, but that doesn’t help it look any cleaner.
While all of the games support a toggle between their original ratio and 16:9, I feel like the original ratio is still the best way to play them.
Like any modern remaster, developers have to do a bit more than just pop the games into a collection and make them playable.
The Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection includes some great bonuses that have become par for the course for retro collections. From different display resolutions, to CRT filters and artwork-filled borders, the usual suspects are on offer. It’s rounded out by behind-the-scenes info, including video developer interviews, artwork, promotional materials and the ability to listen to various tunes from the games soundtracks. One of my favourite behind the scenes glimpses here is a look at the various cancelled games and merchandising offshoots, from a PSP game to cancelled pinball tables. The games box art are some bittersweet images, reminding you that they don’t do game releases like this anymore.
One aspect of this collection that I adore is in the way you explore the games and their histories. Popping out of the main game menu drops you into a top-down 2D hub in the same visual style as the original games. From here, you can explore your little spaceship that is home to all of these wonderful little Easter Eggs and behind-the-scenes snippets. It’s a great concept that more collections should invest in.
The Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection is a loving ode to Team 17’s classic shooters, and the main games are all nicely wrapped up with their best feature: two player local (or online) co-op. From the wealth of promo material to different versions of some of the games, down to included promotional demos, there’s just about everything you could want from a retro collection here.
Pros:
- Explorable hub to view all the promo material
- Two player local and on-line co-op
- Still offers fun shooting with or without a friend
Cons:
- Alien Breed 3D has not aged well visually
Score: 7/10
Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection was played on Xbox Series S|X using a code provided by the publisher. It is also available on PC, Xbox One, and PS4/5.
