Developer: Triangle Studios
Publisher: All in! Games, Triangle Studios
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch
Tested on: PS4
It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains – Review
Co-op top-down shooters have always been popular to play with friends, especially those that would have a lot of character upgrades, customization possibilities and more. It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains is one of those top-down shooters that will provide you with several different weapons that you can upgrade with cash along the way, to blast aliens to pieces. Combining this with a four-player local co-op mode, this is a perfect game for an evening of casual gaming with some friends on your couch.
Story
Well, aside from the aliens that are constantly spawning and are clearly invading your planet, there’s no story to be found in this game. The sole purpose of this game is blasting aliens, be it alone, or with some friends to tag along with you. When starting the game, you can choose to play the campaign mode or the survival mode. In the campaign mode, you’ll have a path to follow and when reaching the end of that path, you will continue to the next level. In survival mode, you’ll be spawned in an arena where you need to survive as long as you can while hordes of aliens will come at you. When you’ve reached the end of a level in the campaign mode and progress to the next level, you will start with nothing but your pistol, which means that all the previously purchased weapons and upgrades will have vanished into thin air.
Graphics
For the visual part of this game, the developers have chosen to use voxel-based graphics to shape the characters and aliens. The playable characters are in a neon blue color, while the enemy aliens are always colored in pink with a bright neon red light where their faces should be. Each level will be very dark, with not that much of light to see enemies approaching. Each character has a flashlight that shines in the direction you’re aiming your weapons at. It’s easy to miss enemies coming up behind you when they’re coming from below or from the sides as you won’t see their faces that have the bright red color, which indicates they are enemies. The colors in this game have a high contrast level due to the dark areas and the many neon colors used to create the characters, enemies and neon signs on buildings, which are the main sources of light in each level.
Sound
It’s obvious, that because of the alien invasion, the world is in an uproar. Therefore, the police forces seem to be very active as you will constantly hear police sirens in the background. The music used in this game has a bit of a dark nature to it, with some beats and drums to accompany it. The music isn’t all that progressive, so more tension due to more aliens coming at you won’t be accompanied by progressive music. Most of the time, you won’t hear the music and sirens in the background because you will only hear the sounds of your weapons blasting those pesky aliens to pieces. When picking up cash bonuses after destroying boxes, you’ll hear a magnificent ‘ka-ching’ sound that always brings joy to your face.
Gameplay
It came from space and ate our brains is a top-down twin-stick shooter that can be played solo, or with up to three other players in a local co-op mode. While there’s not much of a story to be found in this game, this game can be quite fun to play on a lazy evening with a couple of friends on your own couch.
As said before, this game has two different game modes to play. The Campaign mode will let you traverse through different levels while you’ll be constantly attacked by aliens. To defend yourself, you will have a range of different firearms at your disposal to get rid of those pesky aliens. When you start the campaign, you will start with a standard pistol, but you will quickly earn enough money to buy a new weapon or an upgrade to your pistol as each kill will earn you money. Scattered around each level, you will find boxes that will grant you healing items, shields, turrets, temporary upgrades and money. These boxes can be opened by shooting them to pieces. Unfortunately, not every box will have something inside it, so there’s a bit of luck needed to get something good out of it.
Your pistol will have a slow fire rate and a medium damage output, while the submachine gun will have a much higher fire rate while not dealing that much damage. The unlocked weapon upgrades will massively improve the versatility of each weapon by increasing the fire rate and damage. Each weapon can be upgraded three times, leading to acquiring the Mk. 4 versions of each weapon. These last weapon versions are really strong and very fun to play with. For example, the submachine gun in its last form has a devastatingly high fire rate and a reasonable damage output that will easily get you to the end of each level. Some weapons, like the rocket launcher, will keep having a slow fire rate making them not entirely ideal for a full playthrough of a level, but the damage output of this weapon certainly is massive.
While you have guns to protect yourself, the aliens fully rely on melee attacks. If you can keep them at a distance, you’ll have no problems clearing a level, but like in most games, as you progress, the game gets harder. Well, that’s also the case in this game, as the number of enemies coming at you will constantly keep increasing. The longer you take, the more enemies will spawn and come running at you. When in locations where enemies come from different directions, this could be very problematic at some points, which makes the game offer quite a challenge at some points.
Conclusion
It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains is quite a fun top-down twin-stick shooter that definitely earns a place in the category of games you can play with friends on one console. The controls are pretty easy with typical controls for a twin-stick shooter. The upgraded versions of the weapons are very fun to use with their massive power and fire rate. The game will offer a great challenge at some points where you’ll be ambushed from different directions, so playing with a friend will definitely lead to the most fun experience.
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