Alien Hominid Invasion is an exciting evolution of the classic sidescroller’s concept that takes everything to the next level in a satisfying way. It’s easy to lose track of time as you dominate city blocks again and again while buffing your alien in all sorts of goofy ways that fit the original game’s sense of humor.
Alien Hominid Invasion
Developer: The Behemoth
Price: $20
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PS5 code for review.
I recently reviewed Alien Hominid HD and felt warped back in time to an era of Newgrounds Flash games and comedic shorts. Right after that, I’ve got the chance to review the successor to Alien Hominid, Alien Hominid Invasion. I previewed it way back at PAX, but it’s come to PlayStation and I’ve finally had the chance to play the full release, and honestly, it’s fantastic.
The premise of Alien Hominid Invasion has you coming to Earth to, as the title implies, invade. You make your alien and choose a city block from a map to start with. From there, you’re given goals to accomplish while running and gunning, such as killing enemies to obtain documents or saving a certain number of children. The objectives can get a bit repetitive since there don’t seem to be too many of them, but they’re quick and easy to do, at least.
The major goal is to dominate blocks in a row until you reach the enemy HQ, where you’ll fight a big boss to end the run. You get the occasional little story tidbit between successful runs, too, which adds some funny moments to the game. It’s an interesting progression of the very simplistic style of Alien Hominid HD, though it never loses the straightforward DNA of its predecessor. There’s a lot of replayability to be had thanks to the somewhat random nature of these runs, especially as you build up different loadouts to use.
“The classic Flash sense of humor is present in Alien Hominid Invasion.“
Shooting and jumping in Alien Hominid Invasion feels great, as your alien is light and small. As hordes of enemies come onto the screen, it’s easy to bob and weave between them while blasting projectiles every which way. There’s a plethora of different weapons with all sorts of stats and buffs to use, making each run through the city unique. The guns all feel different, from blazing flamethrowers to bisecting laser guns, and there’s a solid variety of them to use, all with different stats.
At hideouts on the map and between successful runs. You can unlock new cosmetics, weapons, buffs, and attacks to take with you on your next run. I like that the system of unlocking these is linked to the previous game’s “fat kids,” who gave you powerups in the original game. It’s funny to see that the kids established a whole underground operation between the games, and it serves as a neat link between the two titles.
The classic Flash sense of humor is present in Alien Hominid Invasion, whether it comes from your alien’s appearance, the comical agent expressions and death animations, the settings, or the small bits of story you get. It’s a bit less in-your-face than it was 20 years ago, but I chuckled a fair bit at the game.
Alien Hominid Invasion has a delightful visual style.
I love the visual style of Alien Hominid Invasion, which is like a more modernized and cleaner version of the Newgrounds-esque Flash art style. The aliens are comical and colorful, the agent enemies get mutilated in the most ridiculous ways, and the amount of customization you get to make your avatar look silly is impressive. It’s a very distinct style of cartoony violence that’s been brought to its peak here, which warped me back in time a bit.
The Final Word
Alien Hominid Invasion is a blast of a side-scroller that looks great and plays in a very satisfying way. There’s a huge amount of replayability with all the different cosmetics and weapons, the art style is charming and nostalgic, and the gameplay feels great all around.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
