Attack from Outer Space!: Code RED! Mars has attacked and the destiny of our planet lies in your hands!
You may have seen or heard about this game on the iPhone, and now Kiai Games have ported their code onto the Android platform. Check out our thoughts of this action packed shooter below…
Gameplay: Attack from Outer Space is a 2D scrolling shooter with on screen controls. You play as… (drum roll)… “Sergeant America” and you need to machine gun your way across locations in America to fight off the Martians and save the world. There’s an excellent 2 second tutorial which appears everytime you play the game (just in case you forget what you’re doing), which reminds you that movement will be the slider under your left thumb, and directional shooting will be under your right thumb. That’s the core of the game… so sweet and simple… it’s bliss!
With a game of such straightforwardness, there needs to be time and dedication to hone your blasting and dodging skills. Those abilities are essential because the enemies come in all shapes and sizes… eventually overrunning your screen. Each level is split up into 3 stages, and at the end of each stage you’ll be thrown a barrage of one specific enemy. This is a very purposeful display to introduce a new enemy which can then be hurled at your during the subsequent rounds. When you see an enemy en mass, you’ll instinctively learn their characteristics and know how to respond. At the end of every level, there’s a big boss… pure classic game setup… we like that!
Shoot your heart out: If you’re ever been in that mood where you have a few minutes and just want pure utter mayhem… then this is your game. There are multiple different gun power ups which are a joy for trigger happy shooters. Overall it’s easy to learn and is immense fun in an instant. In truth, we actually think that this is quite a heavy skill based game which is wrapped up nicely so that it’s approachable to all… but basically if you want to three star your rounds or pass to the later levels then you’ll eventually need to practise so you can destroy those Martians efficiently.
Martian madness: In a time when 3D games are becoming the norm, we’re very happy to see 2D classic graphics bursting through. The overall game theming is fantastic: the funny and outright cheesy setup works well. Music and sound effects are all spot on and take you into the warzone shooting experience.
Some downers: There are some niggling problems with the Android version. For some reason we felt like the directional shooting is ever so slightly off… perhaps due to the ridiculously wide variety hardware devices that the developer is trying to account for. Also, it has caused some rather spectacular crashes… but we’re sure these will disappear in subsequent updates. One obvious drawback for old phones is that multi-touch is a must, and if you phone can’t do that, then don’t download this game.
Rating: 4/5 Attack from Outer Space is intense thumb action that’ll test your ability and skill at gunning down Martians. It’s excellent for a short bit of play, but unfortunately we can’t quite find much depth or variant gameplay such as in titles like Train Conductor 2 or Bag It. It’s also a bit unfortunate that there’s no free or lite version for people to try first.
Attack from Outer Space Tips from Android Games Review:
- Remember that your screen is most likely capacitive, and not resistive… so you don’t have to press the screen too hard, and you can let them glide about 😉
- If you want to get further in the game then don’t be too greedy and shoot everything. Focus on survival and shoot the enemies which will cause you the most damage. Some enemies can be dodged and avoided for the duration that they’re on the screen.
- Initially, the most problematic enemies are actually the fat Martians who drop plasma charges frequently. Plasma charges can’t be destroyed and must be dodged, thus forcing you into corners where you must take damage.
- Although the gun powerups look cool, they have limited ammo, and they all seem to do the same amount of damage. You must control yourself when you get these and maximise their potential to survive. A shot from one of these guns is equivalent to several from your unlimited ammo standard gun. So use the special guns in small bursts and shoot only enough to destroy the enemy.
- To reach the upper echelons of ranks, you’ll need to be an uber gamer. Part of this involves realising that Sergeant America doesn’t need to swing his gun round – that’s only in your head. He can actually instantaneously turn to shoot the other way when required. So get used to pressing the exact direction you want to shoot instead of rotating around on the d-pad.
Attack from Outer Space QR Code
(Click on the image or scan with your Android phone to goto Google Play)
Developers: Kiai Games
