The Land Of the Free (Part 2)

Gameplay - 9/10

Storyline - 8/10

Graphics - 9/10

Game Score : 26/30

Waaasssuuuuuppppppppp????, lol god that never gets old. Anywhore; welcome to another video game review here on Zalgo_Cometh. I bring for your pleasure and entertainment another free game as promised for the month of August. As you should have realized by now today we will be looking at Alien Swarm. So sit back relax and as Deadpool would say "Feeeeeel the love...".

Alien Swarm is a freeware top-down shoot-em-up video game by Valve Corporation. It is a remake of the Alien Swarm mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, and it was developed by the original team, who were hired by Valve during the course of the development process. Four players can join a single co-operative game, the aim of which is to progress through science fiction-themed levels while eliminating waves of aliens. Players can choose from 40 different pieces of equipment. The game includes persistent statistics, unlockable equipment, and achievements. All this alongside the fact that its free and we can definitely say we have a winner on our hands ladies and gentlemen. The only official campaign in the game thus far, is called Jacob's Rest, and centers around a swarm of invasive aliens having taken over a colonized planet in December 2052. Marines deployed by a drop ship named "The Bloodhound" arrive to search for survivors and if need be, to destroy the colony to prevent the spread of the aliens.

The game is class-based, with players choosing from the roles of Officer, Special Weapons, Medic, and Tech. Each class has two selectable characters, with differences in abilities.

Officer 

Grants a passive bonus to damage and damage resistance to nearby allies. He has access to the Vindicator, a class-restricted shotgun with an incendiary grenade launcher and has general all-around abilities. They are also capable of throwing extra amounts of explosive ordnance, and may find class-restricted ammo caches on the field for his Vindicator shotgun. The two playable characters are Sarge and Jaeger.

Special Weapons 

Brings raw damage to the table and starts out with a customized autogun with superior parameters, high magazine capacity, and auto-aiming ability. The Special Weapons gains access to a powerful minigun at a high enough level, and can pick up class-restricted ammo caches on the field. The two playable characters are Wildcat and Wolfe.

Medic 

Is the only class able to equip and deploy temporary healing beacons, and at a high enough level can use a medigun to selectively heal teammates and themselves. The two playable characters are Faith and Bastille.

Tech 

Carries a motion sensor, sets up sentry guns faster, welds doors faster, and is the only class capable of unlocking certain door panels or completing certain objectives by means of a hacking minigame. They also have access to a prototype assault rifle with auto-aiming capabilities and the ability to fire stun grenades. The two playable characters are Crash and Vegas.

The game has a very well rounded and detailed experience system which keeps track of the players progress as you levels up. Leveling up is integral in this game as it is how you unlock a wider range of more powerful weapons and equipment. Though the characters, classes and their skills are fixed, players can earn Experience Points for their account by completing missions and earning Achievements. Each Achievement is worth 50 experience points, and experience from missions is based on several factors. Players still earn experience even if their marine dies during the course of a mission - but your income will probably be lower than that of your surviving squadmates unless you died near the end of the mission. Upon reaching the maximum level (27) you have the option to trade in all your accumulated experience points and revert back to level 1. For this you get what is called a promotion and a shiny new emblem/badge to go on your account so people can see how far you have gone playing the game. This system is similar to that of the Call of Duty franchise except less beneficial to the player directly. Well that about covers my little foray into Alien Swarm so be sure to check it out for free on STEAM and if you can't then recommend it to someone and watch my play-through.