Alien Earth

This article is about the video game. For the novel, see Alien Earth (novel).

Alien Earth
Box art
Developer(s)	Beam Software
Publisher(s)	NA: Playmates Interactive GER: Funsoft GmbH
Platform(s)	IBM PC compatible
Release	NA July 21, 1998
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Alien Earth is an isometric pseudo-3D action-adventure game with role-playing elements. It was released for Windows. It was developed by Krome Studios Melbourne, (known as Beam Software at the time) and released in 1998.

Plot

What remains of Earth and most of its inhabitants after a nuclear holocaust is dominated and enslaved by the insect-like humanoid Raksha, invaders from another planet. Many years later, only the Resistance remains free, in the sewers of a ruined city. The player takes control of Finn, a villager in a jungle that the Raksha use to hunt their slaves as prey. A Raksha hunting lord marks Finn as a troublemaker, and he must outwit the Raksha, and seek aid wherever he can find it, to survive. His nemesis vanquished, Finn searches for answers about the fate of his civilization in a wartorn city, despite the Scavengers hunting through the ruins for scraps of remaining technology and intruders.

Gameplay

Resource management is a key part of the game; items are collected, as in most games, but also combined; the latter is crucial to completing the game. Combining a wooden pole with a metallic blade forms a Spear, for example, or an empty bottle, petrol and a rag cloth to form a molotov cocktail. Separate NPCs make scavenged Raksha weapons usable and sellable, and level up Finn's psionic abilities. Finn's fighting abilities use a skill levelling system; the more Finn uses a weapon, the better he gets at using it.

Development

The game was showcased at E3 1997.

Reception

Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Well-designed and (mostly) well-implemented, it might not be flashy, but the game possesses a depth and quality that marks it as one of the brighter spots in the lineup this month." PC Action gave the game a rating of 53% and said the game had a good idea but implemented it half-heartedly. PC Zone gave a rating of 60% and said "the storyline is mildly enthralling, but nothing makes you sit up and take notice."

Reviews

• PC Player
• PC Games
• Power Play
• Igromania #5, #8
• Power Unlimited (Jul, 1998)
• PC Player (Aug, 1998)
• PC Games (Aug 05, 1998)