Alien Earth
Alien Earth, set in a post-apocalyptic timeline, is an isometric pseudo-3D action-adventure game for Windows. It has RPG elements,[2] including dialogue trees, so it can also be called an action role-playing game, but it uses resource management as puzzles, requiring the player to combine items in order to advance in the game.[3] It was created by Krome Studios Melbourne, in 1998, when they were called Beam Software Pty. Ltd.
Alien Earth | |
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![]() Original box art | |
Developer(s) | Beam Software[1] |
Publisher(s) | Playmates Interactive Entertainment, Inc (US), Funsoft (Germany) |
Platform(s) | IBM PC Compatible |
Release | NA July 21, 1998 |
Genre(s) | Post-apocalyptic, Action role-playing game |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Plot
What remains of Earth and most of its inhabitants after a nuclear holocaust is dominated and enslaved by the insect-like humanoid Raksha, invaders from another planet.[4] Many years later, only the Resistance remains free, in the sewers of a ruined city. The player takes control of Finn, a villager in a jungle that the Raksha use to hunt their slaves as prey. A Raksha hunting lord marks Finn as a troublemaker,[4] and he must outwit the Raksha, and seek aid wherever he can find it, to survive. His nemesis vanquished, Finn searches for answers about the fate of his civilization in a wartorn city, despite the Scavengers hunting through the ruins for scraps of remaining technology...and intruders.
Gameplay
Resource management is a key part of the game; items are collected, as in most games, but also combined; the latter is crucial to completing the game. Combining a wooden pole with a metallic blade forms a Spear, for example, or an empty bottle, petrol and a rag cloth to form a molotov cocktail. Separate NPCs make scavenged Raksha weapons usable and sellable, and level up Finn's psionic abilities. Finn's fighting abilities use a skill levelling system; the more Finn uses a weapon, the better he gets at using it.
List of characters
- Finn: the playable character, and one of the few characters that have psionic abilities.
- Old Jack: Like Finn, once hunted by the Raksha, and from the same village. He aids Finn with his knowledge of the jungle, its inhabitants, and herb lore.
- Charlie: Crazy Charlie may be just crazy, or one of the test subjects the Raksha used to develop Psionic powers. Charlie is devoted to his plastic parrot...until Finn gives him a worn teddy bear.
- Rob: The chief in the village where Finn lived in. Believes the Raksha to be gods.
- Brock: Lives in an old movie theater. Pale and skinny and very frightened about most things, he tells Finn of The Resistance.
- Colonel: He stands guard over a bunker in the ruined city, as his parents did before him.
- Karl: The short tempered but strong willed leader of The Resistance, he gives missions to Finn so he can help The Resistance against the Raksha.
- Roscko: The Resistance weapons specialist. Removes the identity tags from Raksha weapons so that they can be used or sold.
- Harry: A fat junkman that works in the Resistance, and will buy items from Finn.
- Romuko: A young woman with psionic healing abilities that was found by The Resistance starved and weak. Now she works as a medic for The Resistance.
Production Credits |
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Beam Software |
Reception
Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Well-designed and (mostly) well-implemented, it might not be flashy, but the game possesses a depth and quality that marks it as one of the brighter spots in the lineup this month."[6]
Reviews
- PC Zone #65 (1998 July)
- Igromania #5, #8
- Power Unlimited (Jul, 1998)
- PC Player (Aug, 1998)
- PC Games (Aug 05, 1998)
References
- "GameSpy: Beam Software". www.gamespy.com.
- "Alien Earth (1998) Windows release dates". MobyGames.
- "Alien Earth review by Al Giovetti". www.thecomputershow.com.
- "Alien Earth - PC - GameSpy". pc.gamespy.com.
- "Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers.com.
- "Finals". Next Generation. No. 42. Imagine Media. June 1998. pp. 142, 144.