Triggerhappytel
Member
Alienation
Developer: Housemarque
Publisher: Sony
Platforms: PS4 exclusive
Release date: 26th April 2016 (NA, EU)
Price: $19.99 USD, £15.99 GBP, 19.99 EUR (10% discount for pre-orders)
Players: 1-4 (online only for now - local co-op to follow; drop-in, drop-out co-op supported)
What is Alienation?
Alienation is a top-down twin-stick cooperative shooter where you play as marines in exoskeleton suits driving back an invasion force of alien hordes, known as the Xenos. It is the latest release from Finnish developer Housemarque, and is a spiritual sequel to Dead Nation in a similar way that game was a spiritual successor to Super Stardust HD.
Key features:
- Three classes, each with individual attacks and abilities - the Tank, the Bio-Specialist and the Saboteur
- Online multiplayer: co-op and PvP
- The ability to go rogue and fight against other players in a mode influenced by Dark Souls' invasions
- A brand new loot system; kill enemies for drops, find and upgrade the coolest weapons and gears for a truly custom play style
- RPG-lite progression: gain experience and advance the world state
- Enjoy a full campaign, challenges and procedurally generated levels
- Realistic fluid tech, badass explosions and the biggest, most colourful game world ever made by Housemarque
Meet the classes
Bio-Specialist:
Every game this brutal needs at least one class that heals other players: thats the Bio-Specialist. That said, shes also very competent at creating areas of damage using a poisonous trail, or take control of powerful nanomachines to swarm enemies and chip away their HPs.
Tank:
The Tank is all about protection and splash damage: if youre under heavy fire you want one next to you sharing his shield, or if youre overrun by too many enemies he can blow everything away and give you room to maneuver. Plus, hes the only character able to command a devastating death ray piercing everything in a straight line!
Saboteur:
If you like swift characters youre gonna love the Saboteur. He becomes invisible, and uses his plasma sword to clear the area in front of him with ease. When some help is needed, he can also call in deadly airstrikes to open paths through a sea of Xenos.
Each class has passive abilities that are divided into three tracks: Athlete, Warrior and Survivor. Like the active abilities, each track can be upgraded several times. Each time an Ability point is spent, youll be asked to make a tough decision between two possible upgrade options. For example, do you want the Health orbs to give you back more HP or extend the duration of the Xenoflowers boosts? And if youre worried about specing your character in a way that will bite back during missions down the line, fear not! You can always re-spec your UNX soldier to suit your playstyle.
Media:
@Housemarque
Official forum
Review topic