Alien Syndrome for PSP Reviews by Gamers

I really liked this game. While there is an onslaught of various bad aliens coming after you to kill, there is also lots of decision making and exploration to keep you entertained. You determine what armor you wear, what weapons to carry, and how to apply experience points to improve your character. Similar of other games like Crusader (pre-PSP) and Killzone, this game will take a long time to complete. Progressively harder as you go along, I just wish I could have some cheats to get the big weapons earlier to finish off the more difficult aliens without so many failed attempts. Movie/story is a bit lame, but that's normal for most games.

In a way, this is a typical dungeon crawl - start a level, kill everything, pick up loot. The difference is that you are on an alien-filled spaceship and your only companion is an indestructible floating robot that can shoot the creatures and (depending on what attachments you put on it) shoot them better, heal you or recharge your shield batteries. It can also destroy loot you don't want and manufacture stuff you do. (To replace the fact you can't go to the store to sell off stuff and buy more.)

There are 5 classes to choose from - 3 ranged (explosives, lasers, or fire) and 2 melee. All classes can wear basic armor and use basic melee skills. As you level up, you can choose to broaden your armor, melee, or ranged skills; self-heal or self-charge your batteries; increase your carrying capacity; or build your resistance to the 4 types of damage (fire, electricity, infection, or radiation). You receive 1 skill point per level, but as you get more points in a skill, the cost to raise that skill becomes higher, meaning you may need to save your skill points from level to level. You also receive 2 points per level to put into strength (increases melee damage and carrying capacity), dexterity (increases movement rate), accuracy (increases chance of critical hits and critical multiplier), and endurance (raises hit points as well as resistance to damage).

The early part of the game is great, but once you get towards the end, it becomes very annoying. Ammo becomes a major issue, but there is no way to conserve ammo. (You can only produce so much before production goes into a "cooldown.") If you die, the game restarts at the last save point, meaning you have to fight the same monsters over and over in the hopes of beating them. (There is no option to go back to the checkpoint - minus ammo and healing spent - but with all killed monsters dead.)

I tried to get through the game, honest. But in the end, it was too frustrating.