Alien Front Online Preview
We have impressions of Sega's online deathmatch game. Get the full info.
First shown at least year's E3 with little fanfare, Alien Front Online was a pleasant surprise. Now, a little more than a year and a half later, the game is coming home. Developed by Wow Entertainment, AFO is an arcade deathmatch game that offers real-time voice chat during gameplay and online play. Once slated for the arcades as well as the home market, the game even promised online play between arcade units and Dreamcasts. Unfortunately, times have changed rather dramatically since last year, so the game will see release only on the DC. Fortunately, the arcade's loss is definitely a gamer's gain, as AFO looks to be coming with style, thanks to accessible gameplay and some cool options.
The game's rather thin plot goes something like this: Aliens are invading the earth, so you need to stop them. While not exactly Star Wars, the premise is serviceable enough. You'll be able to play as either the humans defending the planet or the aliens trying to conquer it. Aliens and humans each have three vehicles to select from, with craft on both sides sharing the same basic traits. The smallest vehicle for both sides is fast but weak on armor; the medium vehicle is well rounded, offering stronger armor but is slightly slower; and the largest vehicle is the slowest but is the most heavily armored.
Like its premise, Alien Front's structure is simple: pick a side, pick a vehicle, and then go kill. You'll find three modes to choose from: arcade, tactics, and online. Arcade is basically a timed deathmatch in which you must defeat a certain number of enemies to progress to the next stage. As you destroy enemies, you gain more time. Tactics is a campaign mode in which you play through a branching selection of missions for either the army or alien sides. If you're skilled enough to make it through, you'll be rewarded by a cinema at the end of each of the branches--five for each side. Online is obviously the game's online multiplayer component--here, you'll be able to select from a variety of game types (deathmatch, capture the flag, and so on) and play with teams of up to eight players.
Control takes a bit of getting used to, but after a few minutes of playtime or a quick run through the early tactics stages, which function as a tutorial, you'll be blowing up baddies like a pro. You'll move your tank forward and back via the analog stick. Strafing is handled by the L and R triggers. The A button fires your main weapon, which has unlimited ammo. The B button is used to shoot off any special weapons you've picked up during the game, but unfortunately, these extremely powerful weapons can be used only a few times. The X button toggles between the game's two camera angles. Finally, the Y button activates the game's voice chat when you're playing online. By using the Dreamcast microphone, you'll be able to chat with members of your own team during online battles. It functions basically like a walkie-talkie--you can hold down a button to speak and release it to listen. The sound is a bit tinny but very clear nonetheless. For those unhappy with the default setup, AFO offers six other presets for you to try out, and a seventh even supports the Dreamcast steering controller, although it's hard to imagine trying to use voice chat while playing with a wheel.
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- GameSpot Score7.6good
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Alien Front Online Review
This tank-based action game offers up a solid dose of good old-fashioned gameplay wrapped up in slick graphics and an innovative use of technology.
- Aug 8, 2001
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