Recently, there have been more complaints lodged against the game criticism community by developers. Apparently these so-called “journalists” don’t finish games before assessing their quality.

I am about to describe a game after exactly eight minutes of playing it. Because that’s all I was allowed in the time-locked demo of Alien Shooter 2. Though I did have some help from the official site:

This is the unique alloy of arcade action and RPG elements which combines well-established world of classical games and unmatched dynamics of the first part.

Have you ever asked someone a simple question, and in response received an answer that goes into so much terrible detail that the question itself becomes irrelevant to the entire conversation? Sometimes a developer has to know when to leave things alone. In the case of Alien Shooter 2, Sigma Team couldn’t stop talking.

I have to admit they did a great job of darkening things up, and this is a game that actually needed it. As much as I could make excuses for the rudimentary scenery based on the preposterous story, Alien Shooter still looked like a cartoon. Everything was bright and colourful, which is a nice change, but there was no contrast to the levels. If the game was dark at any point, it was because the lights were off and you had to go find a power switch. The setting and scenery in Alien Shooter 2 are painted with the all-too-familiar Aliens brush, but there’s really no other way to do a game of this type. The aliens have been completely redesigned and are a lot more detailed, with a few new ones making their debut.

The game’s arsenal has been increased significantly; the new selection of tools to fend off this new invasion is quite impressive. Probably the best modification to the weapon loadout is the five slot limit. Similar to some FPS, the slots represent classes of weapons: light, machine, heavy and special classes. The farther you got in the original game, the more weapons were available and the threat of running out of ammunition became less apparent. This new system requires the player to prioritize. The addition of an inventory in Alien Shooter 2 allows you to carry weapons to switch out among the available slots as necessary.

This is where things get a little strange. I said inventory, because that’s exactly what it is. Think Diablo, or any action RPG where you spend as much time in the inventory screen making stuff fit than you do in the actual game. But it doesn’t stop there. You get experience points for completing misison objectives and killing aliens. When you gain a level you can upgrade a series of six physical skills (such as improved health, accuracy, strength), or spend points in weapon specializations. At the beginning of the game you can customize your character’s appearance. The money you find strewn about the missions have become the gold coins of any other RPG.

It’s quite obvious that Alien Shooter 2 has been enhanced in every possible way. But instead of trying to figure out if these are good additions, the important question to ask is whether these additions were even necessary in the first place.

Drawing a comparison with the FPS, is it reasonable to expect anything more than a visual upgrade between WorldWarIIShooter 2.0 and 3.0? Squad AI and scripted setpieces aside, do we want to focus on the details of our avatar in the game world, or do we want to keep shooting? Alien Shooter and its sequel pride themselves on overwhelming the player at every possible opportunity. In fact, Alien Shooter 2 often explodes walls or opens holes in the ground behind you so that you’re constantly surrounded. But these aren’t the same as monster closets; at least the isometric view lets you see them coming.

In an arcade shooter, you’re either starting the game or on your way to beating it. Adding these RPG elements into the equation forces an investment of thought into your avatar on screen, and in a game where the only purpose is to survive the onslaught of enemies it seems like an unncessary distraction. Like Shadowgrounds, Alien Shooter 2 tries to be bigger than the genre affords, when there is no need to complicate matters.

This was eight minutes. And unlike last time, I’m not sure I want to play much more than that.