What the SCARAB can craft at any given time is tied to its robotic sense of whimsy, and never matches up with Aileen’s skill point progression. If Aileen unlocks a new level of armor, or a new level of firearms, it’ll be quite some time before the SCARAB can craft the new items, and the chances of finding them as drops is slim to none. There are multiple levels of the same weapon that do more damage as they progress, and multiple levels of the same type of armor that can soak up more damage, which helps lessen the blow somewhat, but why give the player the opportunity to unlock new weapons if you’re not going to have those weapons available? One of the core driving factors of a good dungeon crawl is seeing that uber-weapon in the merchant’s window and knowing that once you level up a few more times, you can finally wield it. Alien Syndrome has none of this anticipation built into it, so there’s really no reason to keep fighting.
The graphics don’t help sell the game either, as the levels are both poorly lit and muddy in color. Note to level designers: if you’re going for a top down perspective, placing items in the ceiling that obscure both the player and the player’s enemies is a bad thing and should be avoided. Enemies are well designed, however you see so much of the same designs recycled over and over again, just colored differently, that any initial positive reactions quickly sours. Enemies also spawn out of thin air right in front of you, which is not only annoying when you think you’ve finally cleared out a room, but also doesn’t make any sense, as there’s nothing in the story to suggest that one of the symptoms of the Alien Syndrome is random teleportation.
For all of its faults, Alien Syndrome does boast a long playing time with around 40 levels and roughly 15 – 20 hours of gameplay, depending on how often you fight or just run past the enemies to the level exit. Alien Syndrome also offers three difficulty levels, with the ability to import characters from previous saves as well as four-player co-op, again with the ability to import characters. It’s certainly an impressive set of features designed to extend the life of the game, it’s just a shame that the game isn’t one you want extended.
It’s obvious that a lot of time went into this game. The different game modes, the different types of weapons and armor, the character classes and the floating inventory system all speak to a desire to make Alien Syndrome a top notch dungeon crawler. Unfortunately the gameplay is the one area that didn’t get as much attention. Alien Syndrome is a perfect example of good ideas gone bad, and even with the ample length is hard to recommend for the full 50 dollar price tag, especially considering the fall lineup of games for the Wii. Gamers should do their best not to contract this syndrome.
