Editorial:Alien Syndrome for PSP - Diablo in Space

From Wikia Gaming

by Sugarcankill

PSP owners are rather few and far between, and there haven't been all that many compelling titles to hit the platform since its launch. I recently picked up Alien Syndrome, and was pleasantly surprised by it. I've played a lot of action RPG games, and on the PSP the picking was pretty slim. Untold Legends and its recent sequel were ok, but didn't have the depth or "fun factor" of a Diablo or Dungeon Siege.

Alien Syndrome, though, was a breath of fresh air. I'm a sucker for a good bug hunt ever since I watched the original Alien, and AS manages to deliver an enjoyable and replayable gaming experience. You're offered several different classes of character, falling within the Melee, Demolitions, Flamethrower and Jack-of-All-Trades categories.

The experience is a bit different for each, but the differences might not be dramatic enough to satisfy RPG games on replay.

Each class is specialized in a certain weapons set, and there is a decent variety of weapons to be had. There are also numerous tiers of armor that become available as you progress through the game.

To add to the game's replayability, there is also a crafting component which allows you to create your own weapons, armor and powerups. These skills increase as you get deeper into the game as well.

For the stats hounds out there, leveling up gives you points that can be applied to a variety of character stats, each of which has an impact on your gameplay.

The enemies are a little repetitive, but there are mini-boss and major boss battles at regular intervals, and the setting (spaceship where something has gone horribly wrong and you are sent to investigate) is cool and nicely realized.

To sum up, Alien Syndrome is a great choice for action RPG fans who want to toss out the flaming swords and shiny platemail and take on hostile alien forces in a game that offers many of the console RPG bells and whistles as well as decent replayability options.