PAX East Spotlight: Alien Hominid Invasion

By Lowfat

Alien Hominid Invasion is the long-awaited fifth game from The Behemoth (Castle Crashers, BattleBlock Theather, Pit People). It’s a co-op shoot ’em up sidescroller for up to four players locally or online. If you enjoyed the original Alien Hominid released back in 2004, you are old! Also, you will be shocked at how much difference two and a half decades make! The chaos has been polished to a shine, and everything looks and plays spectacularly. Collect the intel, defeat the target, get the loot, and escape back to the mothership with your life!

The graphics were the most immediately recognizable overhaul. Old allies and enemies are back but with serious facelifts and animations. Each player is able to customize their alien with hundreds of unique weapons, hats, glasses, and other items, many of which can dramatically affect playstyle. Some of these playstyles can get wild: I customized my stock blaster into a close-range, high-impact shotgun. I found a special hat that granted me more grenades. At one point, I jumped onto an agent and rode him like an unwilling horse! His eye bugged out and he flailed helplessly as I clung to his charging form.

Controls are similarly responsive, which is important considering how easy it is for the game to descend into a bullet hell if the enemies aren’t properly managed. Thankfully, the three difficulties and co-op help ensure folks of all capabilities (or lack thereof, in my case) can enjoy the wild ride!

I was able to play early builds of the game on Xbox One and Switch, and I noticed no difference in framerate or responsiveness. Both platforms looked crisp and ran smooth as butter. I ran through dozens of neighborhoods, each one randomly generated from hand-drawn city blocks for multiple unique, non-linear experiences.

Alien Hominid Invasion will be released “when it’s ready” onNintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Steam.