By Alec Meer on January 11th, 2011 at 6:25 pm.
Already my favourite bad game-name of 2011 (yeah, it was released in December, but shuddup, and your mum smells), Team Sigma’s ‘Alien Hallway’ has just popped out a little demo for you to try. No need to make your mind up about buying Extraterrestrial Corridor based on videos alone – the demo offers the first half-dozen or so levels, three units and assorted upgrades. A few thoughts on Spacebeast Passageway below…
It’s another example of what appears to the tower defence heir apparent – the side-scrolling real-time strategy game. Swords and Soldiers was the most recent one we looked at, and this is broadly similar but much, much bigger on progress-via-unlocks. Your shooty men stamp in from the left, various varieties of invading extraterrestrials skulk in from the right.
Aliens. In a hallway. Do you see?
The demo tries its very hardest to tickle you into upgrading to the full version, in that it tells you new stuff is available come levels’ end but then forbids access until you’ve splashed out. In time, it also becomes nigh-on impossible to complete without access to bigger men-with-guns, so you’ll find yourself subject to the twin pulls of Stuff and Completion. Then again, that’s been Team Sigma’s idiom forever – their Zombie/Alien Shooter games are comically mindless exercises in ‘just one more level’, and while this is their first departure into a different style of game, the same ethos absolutely underpins it.
Would I buy it based on this demo? A dangerous question; I’ve known enough demos that haven’t shown exciting enough content to lure punters in, so forgive an aroma of hesistancy when I say “going on the demo levels alone it seems a little too samey and bland.” There are bigger killing tools to come, and they may well redeem it – both in terms of variety and in upping the tactical complexity to something other than speed-clicking grind. I wish this demo allowed just a couple more units, or a one-off snatch of a later level, so it could show off more than its most basic mechanics.
Sigma’s Shooter games have forever been funny buggers – entertainingly stupid all-out carnage, but I’ve always found them curiously unsatisfying, despite pouring far too many hours into them. This, their first move into proper 3D, neither looks nor feels quite as meaty, but I’m happy to see them move out of the familiar territory of waving a cursor around and holding down fire until everything’s dead. Anyone played the full game? Should I crack open the dusty Meerwallet for it?
Oh yes – you’ll find a svelte 50MB of demo right here.
The question is, what comes next? Zombie Hallway? Robo Hallway? Ninja Hallway? Diseased Rhino Hallway? Hungry Mermaid Hallway? This franchise must liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!
11/01/2011 at 18:31 Froibo says:
World of Hallway
11/01/2011 at 18:35 The Hammer says:
Call of Hallway?
11/01/2011 at 19:30 Cooper says:
Hallway: Combat Evolved
11/01/2011 at 21:29 Rakysh says:
Bad Hallway 2
11/01/2011 at 22:25 Dances to Podcasts says:
H4LLW4Y
12/01/2011 at 13:05 Flimgoblin says:
surely the sequel should be “Alien Dining Room”, or “Alien Cupboard”
11/01/2011 at 18:36 The Army of None says:
AAaAaAaaAAAaaAAaaaAAAaAaAA! A Reckless Disregard for Tunnels
11/01/2011 at 19:54 durns says:
Second post wins the game. Bravo sir (/madam), bravo!
11/01/2011 at 18:53 ZIGS says:
Hallways Gentlemen, please!
11/01/2011 at 18:55 Schaulustiger says:
KG nailed it: Orc Corridor!
11/01/2011 at 19:06 mehall says:
Kobold Passage!
11/01/2011 at 20:02 Sarkhan Lol says:
Kobold Tunnel Syndrome.
11/01/2011 at 20:09 Mehall says:
Hallway Fortress 2!
11/01/2011 at 19:36 jonfitt says:
Sam and Max Hit The Hallway.
11/01/2011 at 19:38 Froibo says:
Hallway Manager 2011
11/01/2011 at 19:40 westyfield says:
Batman: Arkham Hallway.
11/01/2011 at 20:22 Flint says:
Corridor Hallway.
11/01/2011 at 20:37 Fumarole says:
Xenos Companionway.
11/01/2011 at 20:59 Matzerath says:
Xenocorridor:Perambulation.
11/01/2011 at 21:15 Nova says:
Deus Ex: Hallway Revolution.
11/01/2011 at 21:24 Evil Timmy says:
Corridorlands: The Secret Hallway of General Knox
11/01/2011 at 21:28 Netkev says:
Mirror’s Hallway
11/01/2011 at 21:30 WildcardUK says:
Men of Hallway: Alien Tide
11/01/2011 at 21:40 The Hammer says:
Sid Meier’s Hallway.
11/01/2011 at 21:48 Cooper says:
C.O.R.R.I.D.O.R.: Clear pathways
11/01/2011 at 21:53 Vitruality says:
Hallout: New Egress
11/01/2011 at 22:38 amandachen says:
Anyone like the game? Looks very bland in the demo. Pity, because I loved Swords and Soldiers.
11/01/2011 at 23:21 Qwentle says:
I found it was a bit basic and boring tbh. You never run out of resources, so you can just spam the units. This likely gets harder as time goes on, but there’s no chance to see this progression of content in the demo. Likewise the only time it gets hard in the demo is when you are stuck using the crummy demo units against hordes that they’re not designed for, at which point it becomes a kinda fun game of attrition and carefully balancing the cooldowns. Likely the full game won’t be like this though as you’ll have access to units that can deal with these threats efficiently. In addition to this, the game cries out for keyboard shortcuts. You can’t scroll with the arrow keys (and if you have two monitors, the mouse will scroll onto your other screen and minimise you if you click), you can’t select units to spawn with arrow keys, and I had an annoying habit of firing my air strike into space because you can’t always tell when it’s ready.
12/01/2011 at 06:50 oatish says:
c-c-c-combo breaker
12/01/2011 at 13:02 trjp says:
What qwentle said really – the demo never gets beyond ‘just spam units’ so there’s no way to know if the game develops into a decent strategy or just remains a ‘make MOAR units’ thing…
The demo levels are, in fact, just slightly more hectic versions of each other – the units you can buy are limited (although you can upgrade units you cannot buy!?) – it feels a BIT thrown together tbh…
11/01/2011 at 23:06 FalseMyrmidon says:
The demo tries to install a toolbar. Really guys?
12/01/2011 at 13:01 trjp says:
It asks if you’d like to – if the idea of having to make a decision is a problem for you, then by all means don’t download it.
I imagine breathing becomes tiresome if you focus on that too…
12/01/2011 at 14:28 FalseMyrmidon says:
If you don’t consider a game demo that tries to install what is essentially malware a problem then you’re probably retarded. This is not a good way to get me to buy your product.
13/01/2011 at 14:01 trjp says:
I refer you, once again, to the option of ticking ‘NO’
I mean you can read, can’t you?? You can form a decision in your head??
It may not be a brilliant idea – but just imagine, for a moment, that Minecraft did it – would you just leave that as well?? :)
11/01/2011 at 23:51 UncleSmoothie says:
The picture and the post title led me to believe that this was a remake of Startopia. I am crushed to find otherwise.
12/01/2011 at 00:20 shitflap says:
I love you guys ^.^
12/01/2011 at 05:46 Sagan says:
Here’s a tip to developers: If you want me to like you, and maybe buy your game, don’t be a jerk to me. Stuff like putting “Buy more games” links onto my desktop that I have to delete or trying to INSTALL A FLIPPING BROWSER BAR are just rude. Like, seriously. I uninstalled the demo without even trying it. Thanks.
12/01/2011 at 13:00 trjp says:
Here’s a tip to attention-deficit idiots – when they ask if you’d like to install their browser-bar in the installer, simply tick “NO”.
Reading things will get you far in the world – just ticking boxes because you’re dying to play the game and then throwing a baby-tantrum afterwards, will not.
12/01/2011 at 14:37 Hypocee says:
Actually it kind of will. On to the next neat thing, at least, with the hope that it will be awesome and not insult me.
17/01/2011 at 10:33 DrazharLn says:
trjp: Your arguments are flawed and you are possibly being a jerk.
The kind men and women of RPS are perfectly capable of ticking no in an installer, however, they don’t expect to have to do so. If you’re trying out a demo of a paid for service/product you don’t expect to have the merchant annoy you by trying to install spyware or ads onto your system.
It’s not expected and it’s stupid as it builds ill will towards the developer. Sigma probably shouldn’t have done it and these commenters are pointing that out through their displeasure.
Stop calling them idiots.
12/01/2011 at 07:46 Blackberries says:
A solid minute of chuckling there. Thanks fellas.
12/01/2011 at 13:07 trjp says:
While Alien Hallway isn’t a brilliant title, gamers should be hardened to games having shit titles because there’s a history going back pretty-much to when they were invented…
I thought “Arsenal of Democracy” was a laughable title until I realised the US Govt used it to describe themselves in WW2 (without an ounce of irony I’m sure) – but it still IS a shit title for a game, as are most of the titles of WW2 based games really…
“Call of Duty” – wtf does that actually mean? Surely it comes from the same school that allowed a certain musically untalented scouser to write “In this ever changing world in which we live in”??? :)
Halo: ODST – as Cliffy’s video highlighted – is a massively, massively retarded name to give a game – it’s like they left Nerds in charge for too long to revert it….
Summary: If we’re taking the piss out of names (esp names created by non-English speakers) we have a LOT of material here…
16/01/2011 at 07:44 Matt says:
“trjp”? What kind of a moronic name is that?
12/01/2011 at 21:42 BeamSplashX says:
Sequel Cashway 2: The Sequel Cashway 1