Review: Alien Swarm

Based on the Unreal Tournament 2004 mod of the same name and developed by the same group of guys, who were lucky enough to get picked up by Valve, Alien Swarm is a brand new Steam game in which you and three other players team up and fight through hordes of aliens as you try to complete objectives. That's cool and all, but the coolest thing about Alien Swarm is that it's 100% free.

Future downloadable content will likely cost you money, but as of right now you get one campaign, four classes, and a persistent leveling system that allows you to unlock new weapons and gear for your character. The rewards system, as well as over 60 Steam achievements, give you incentive to play, and the fun, teamwork-oriented gameplay will keep you hooked.

The four classes mentioned earlier include a medic, a technician, an officer and a special weapons guy. The medic has a health pack that he can throw out, creating a health-giving field that teammates can stand in to regain their health. The medic is crucial to the survival of your team. Without one, you won't make it halfway through the level. The technician has the ability to build turrets that automatically attack enemies, and he can activate panels that open doors or otherwise move you forward. The officer is a basic soldier class and the special weapons guy is a heavy gunner of sorts.

Alien Swarm is certainly a good looking game. The lighting is great and the art style is strangely charming. Unfortunately, the amount of action happening on-screen means that lesser computers, like mine, have problems running the game, and at times the frame-rate dips so low that the game is literally unplayable. If your computer is capable of running Left 4 Dead, then it will have no problem with Alien Swarm, but if your computer wasn't built with gaming in mind then the game will definitely chug.

In conclusion, Alien Swarm is a welcome surprise from Valve. In a world where companies like Activision are king, it's nice to see developers like Valve, who give their fans great stuff like this for free. And if you're into modding, then you'll be happy to know that Valve has also released a software development kit, which includes buildable source code. This is definitely one to download. Even if you don't like it, you won't lose anything but a few minutes of your time by giving it a try.

Why a new Metal Arms game should totally happen

Remember Metal Arms? Probably not. But that's okay, because if you don't then you're part of the majority. Metal Arms was a third-person shooter that was released back in 2003 for the XBOX, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. It was somewhat of an obscure game, but it was an insanely fun one nonetheless. The game stars a mining robot named Glitch who ventures through over 40 levels with over seventeen weapons. That's a lot of content. And in case that wasn't enough, the game also included a cool local multiplayer mode.

But times have changed. Online multiplayer and HD visuals have become the norm, and although Metal Arms still looks and plays great, I'd say it's time for a new one. There was a planned sequel, but it was canned after the developer, Swingin' Ape Studios, was bought by Blizzard Entertainment. Here are a few reasons why a new game needs to happen.

The gameplay still holds up

The gameplay in Metal Arms is a lot like many modern games. You control Glitch, a robot with a huge arsenal of upgradeable weapons, and you use an aiming reticule in the center of the screen to blast at enemies. The formula is still used by almost every shooter today, and Metal Arms does it well. With some fine tuning and the addition of some more modern mechanics, the gameplay could very well be fixed up to please today's gamers. The best part is, because the gameplay of the original is still so much fun, the developer wouldn't need to totally redo the game to make it modern.

The art style would shine through in HD

Metal Arms has an awesome art style. Everyone in the game is a robot, and all of the environments are very industrial. If you look at a screenshot you'll no doubt notice that the game looks great, but in high definition, the graphics could really shine. And with new textures, animations, and an improved frame-rate, Metal Arms 2 could potentially be one of the best looking games of its kind.

The online multiplayer could be the next big thing

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of first-person shooters that all follow the same pattern: war setting, so-called "realism" and down-the-sights aiming. Metal Arms' fun multiplayer gameplay could translate extremely well to online play, and it would be a nice break from all the gritty war shooters out there. With some more character and weapon customization and more game modes, the multiplayer could be huge, and it would add a ton of replay value to the game.

There's always room for more humor

Metal Arms is a funny game. It's got humor that will appeal to teens and adults, and it manages to be funny without trying to be "edgy" or gratuitous. In fact, the humor in the game is almost subtle, and that's a good thing. In today's market, where most popular games are gritty and violent, Metal Arms could do gamers proud by combining fun shooter mechanics with a sense of humor.

What do you guys think? Should there be another Metal Arms, or should the series be left to rust?