Alien Chaos 3D (Nintendo 3DS) Review

There are differences in Alien Chaos 3D though, to shake up what might be considered a fairly shallow concept from the synopsis. The protagonist of Alien Chaos 3D, appropriately christened "The Shooter," works in the scrap metal business with his mother. One day during an arduous slog, an armada of aliens swarm the city and nab the poor mother and it's down to the player to suit up and rescue before these extra-terrestrials get their mitts on her goods. Perhaps she holds the key to mass worldwide takeover, maybe they wish to extract her cleaning secrets or, better still, she might be the totty they wish to toy with. Whatever the case, it's down to you to work through five chapters, each broken down into smaller levels, and save the day.

The storyline feeds into the game mechanics nicely. Instead of just relentlessly pummelling the enemy, the shooter has to clean up both the explosions left on the wall plus sweep up alien debris. Giving the walls a scrub can only be done when standing still and not shooting, so takes decent timing to slip in-between waves. Doing so builds up a special meter that can be unleashed when maxxed out for a quick release of energy that zaps nearby foes. Sweeping, on the other hand, provides a different role. The left-behinds from bullet shells and enemy bits can be bundled up and churned into designated recycling chutes. Once full, these release new weapons or ammo, so it needs to be continually done to keep well equipped. The mechanics are certainly unique; giving that extra layer of depth to what would be a fairly straightforward challenge. It also keeps people on their toes and restricts camping to a degree.

Alien Chaos 3D does essentially what it says on the tin; an arcade flavour and various different environments to contend with. From the outset the challenge and uniqueness is there, but after a handful of levels things begin to become far too repetitive. Enemies aren't the typical slimy critters; instead there are bouncing robot kangaroos, hedgehogs and other mechanical Aussie aliens to turn into scrap metal. From the fourth or fifth level you will wish to never see these creatures again, aiming for a more powerful gun to try and speed things up. The platform elements are a little to sparse too; fair given the nature of an enclosed space but perhaps could have been better implemented to give some variety later on in the campaign.

Graphically the experience isn't anything stellar, but it doesn't need to be. Alien Chaos 3D fits the theme well, blending in more 90s-esque inspiration; urban environments on Earth become infested with a lick of alien paint as the goal of saving mother grows closer. The use of 3D offers layering between background and the foreground action, but does tend to be fairly jarring on the eyes - a game like this is likely suited for the more traditional 2D output instead. The musical score is a little more adventurous, inviting rock guitar and synth riffs that too are reminiscent of the classic shooters, in particular the original Duke Nukem 2D games.

Once the campaign is done and dusted, there are a range of different challenges to tackle and StreetPass options to exchange those high scores with the anonymous public.