'Alien Breed Evolved' Hands-on Preview

Team 17 just revealed "Alien Breed Evolved" to the world today, showing the Unreal-powered, Aliens-inspired, top-down shooter in all its glory. I actually played the game way back at GDC, but I've had to remain hush all this time. The pain, the anguish!

In a lot of ways, the gameplay of "Alien Breed Evolved" doesn't really differ all that greatly from the ancient Amiga game it's based on. It's still a top-down shooter (albeit from an isometric perspective) wherein you fight a whole bunch of aliens on a ship filled with dead people. Even in its early state months ago, the game still looked very slick, on par with the best-looking downloadable games on XBLA or PSN right now. The engine has a lot to do with this.

Because it's powered by the Unreal engine, the game can do all sorts of whiz-bang tricks, like smoke and fire effects, killer explosions and aliens dissolving into goo. When I took my turn I was plowing through the adventure in co-op, which supports up to two people on the same system or online. Flamethrowers, machine guns and pitiful pistols were found scouring the ship, digging through lockers and boxes. There are also health pick-ups and grenades to help you stay the course.

As you progress through the game, the ship you're exploring will get more and more f'd up, with certain decks bursting into flames. In a lot of ways, "Alien Breed Evolved" recalls "Dead Space," as you're basically in a ship that's been royally screwed by the local denizens.

While my time with the game was brief, it was definitely promising. Now that the game's been announced, I hope to get an updated look. If I do, you'll be the first to know!