Where do you go when you’re tired of Metal Slug and you realize Konami will never, ever, release another true Contra? You turn to Alien Hominid.
Originally created in 2002 by Newgrounds owner Tom Flup and digital artist Dan “Synj” Paladin, Alien Hominid quickly gained popularity amongst the online community. So much so that in 2004 the team of Flup, Paladin and their producer John Baez did what few, if any, flash games had done before - they made the jump to consoles.
Two years later, the game is making the leap to consoles again, but this time they’re shucking the expense of disc-based distribution and jumping straight into the online world of the Xbox Live Arcade.
The story, if you can really call it that, is as simple as they come. You’re an Alien, not just any Alien, the Alien, and your ride has just plummeted into an American city and been captured by the FBI. What’s a cute little alien to do? Kill everything in sight!
Game play is frighteningly similar to the classic run and gun style of the aforementioned Metal Slug. You run, you gun; you fight the occasional boss by shooing its weak spot. There really isn’t anything more to be said on the subject.
Its fast, its fun, but in general where game play never really changes it takes something truly special to make it stand out. That something special comes in the form of the fantastic world Synj has created with his wholly original art style.
The Alien is deceptively cute, but is more then happy to zap agents, bite off their heads or slice them in half with his adorable little blade. The feds on the other hand are your standard suits, complete with square jaws, black suits and of course earpieces. As you progress you encounter new and equally stereotypical enemies including Area 51 soldiers, Soviets and monstrous robots.
Article comments
1 - Matt Paprocki
No co-op play in the main story mode via Xbox Live is enough to drop this one down to a four.
2 - Jason "Njiska" Westhaver
Having seen how online Co-op turned out in other XBLA games, most notably Contra, i'm happy to not see online co-op. I'd rather have none then have a twitch shooter burdened with that crap.
Besides mant there's just so much other content in the game. This one lost doesn't change the fact that Alien Hominid is a damn near perfect game.
3 - Ken Edwards
I think an entire star is a bit harsh, Matt.
4 - Andrew Ogier
I agree with Jason, even without online campaign, Alien Hominid is more than worthy of five stars.
It's simply brilliant. Everything from the achievements to the minigames are very well designed and certainly pack enough bang for the 800 points entry fee.
Shame that the hat collector is glitched really... there are 3 hats you can't unlock :( Otherwise I'd have the full 200 on it by now