Excellent conversion of Team 17's big 1991 Amiga hit. Alien Breed is a top-down science fiction shooter somewhat inspired by the movie Alien in terms of plot and atmosphere. Gameplay, though, was obviously inspired by the Atari arcade classic Gauntlet.
The game tells a typical sci-fi story of alien invasion. It's up to you, of course, to save the Earth. Viewed from a top-down perspective, the graphics are clear and crisp, with well animated sprites and smoothly-scrolling background graphics. Great lighting effects are used very effectively as you progress through the game, such as the flames from the flamer which lit up in the dark.
Long before Half-Life, Alien Breed uses the setting and "scripted" events to add to the suspense. The best way to describe how atmospheric the game is is perhaps to describe a level. SPOILER ALERT The last level, for instance, sees a power failure and a strict time limit with which to escape from the ship. The tension mounts as the auto-destruction system periodically announces how little time you have left. The corridors are pitch black, and all you can see are the glowing eyes of the aliens as they race to attack you and the explosions as you pepper them with whatever ammunition you have left. Then you see the red lights on the floor guiding you to your escape and you follow them to the lift, on your way out. This entire level is very well-designed, and your heart will pound as you race toward the exit at the end.
Throughout the game, you will come across various bonus items such health, keys, money and ammunition. The money then lets you purchase weapons upgrades and extra ammunition via the console terminals you can log on to when you see one. These terminals also serve as save points giving you a password to jot down if you've got the money. This console-style save system may upset anyone who's used to the ability to save at any time in most PC games, but fortunately there are enough terminals around. Weapons range from your lowly blaster to more powerful machine gun blaster weapons, and from flamer weapons to energy weapons which riccochet off the walls.
Overall, Alien Breed is a great gaming experience that all action fans will enjoy. It's very difficult, though-- newbies be warned. Too bad the only other Alien Breed game converted to the PC was Tower Assault, although Team 17 created a few more sequels for the Amiga. Highly recommended!
Review By HOTUD
Comments and reviews
@kc and CLB66
Interesting how Abandonware decided to "Abandon" any interest in responding to the complaints concerning some games being no longer free on this site and instead y'all took it upon yourselves to speak for Abandonware, considering that if it's true what y'all saying then that would mean Abandonware is falsely advertising free games when in fact some of the games here are NOT free, hmmm???
Yea, that's called "FALSE ADVERTISING" and I imagine that ALONE would cause the shutdown of Abandonware, wouldn't it?
I think y'all should let "ABANDONWARE" speak for Abandonware and NOT Y'ALL!!!
Don't y'all think? :-/
Hey KC and CLB66
I got an idea. If the makers of these games decided to start selling these once free games again, and to avoid frustration from the players coming to this site to get a free game but instead finds it's no longer free, how about removing them from this site so players don't get disappointed...
oh right, there's no money in it, huh?
@clb66 I was just going to ask what is offered besides the game we would of gotten for free, and you answered it nicely. The question is why aren't the other sites worried about getting shut down and just Abandonware? You're saying this site may get shut down for giving away games the makers of these games made available for free, that's what seems strange. But if support is being provided for these games and other help no longer available for these free games then I agree GOG and STEAM are providing a valuable service to the players. I just hope this service is worth the price.
Guys, there's a perfectly good reason that games which were once treated as "abandonware" are now listed as "for sale from this site." It's called NOT GETTING THE SITE SHUT DOWN. Nobody's legal teams will come after the operators of this site with a "cease and desist" order so long as they do as they're doing and remove items from the site which are now legally being sold. But the instant that they refuse to do so, they'll have lawyers putting padlocks on their doors and seizing their servers.
GoG is providing a SERVICE. The games being sold there are tweaked to work nicely on modern systems (usually through pre-built windows compatibility settings, along with a range of patches and tweaks, or with pre-configured DOSBox or ScummVM setups when appropriate). The old games are typically sold for a dollar or two... tiny amounts, less than a cheeseburger would cost you. So it's hard to imagine this being treated as a "bad thing."
I use this site extensively. To get files WHICH ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE. Or to get tweaks, fixes, and so forth. And to collect other info about games I have (or never quite got around to getting and can't get any longer).
But I also pay the pennies involved in getting old games when the rightful owners choose to start selling them again... which is WHAT WE WANT. New releases, with official support.
Whining and sniveling about how "unfair" it is that games currently being SOLD are no longer available for free download here... it's pathetic. Really, really pathetic.
If you want the site to get shut down, permanently, by lawyers representing the people selling these games today... by all means, keep arguing what you're arguing.
If you want to keep this site up, however... providing access to games no longer available anywhere else... then shut the F up. Please.
absolutely tragic you have sold out to GOG and they are charging ridiculous prices
Hay IRONHEAD, the game is for SALE, not for free! If you think a site that has things for sale is so cool, wake up, there are millions of sites out there. Were you born yesterday?
yes it was a good Amiga game indeed
funny how something abandonware ends
up costing when GOG gets hold of it tho
Best game !
Perfect game for the rugged individualist!
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD !! This is where it is at, NOSTALGIA rocks my world.\ and this games oozes so much of it :)
YEEHAW memories!
Loved this game, used to get scared playing it when young
This game looks awesome.I just love myabandonware.com
The Most Awesome Place In The Internet. :D
this is my favourite arcade game.I playing alien breed in 17-18 years ago in amiga.
No comment nor review for this game at the moment.