Alien Hominid Invasion: Interview & Impressions
In August 2002, Alien Hominid would be released to the world. For many, this release would mark the real beginning of the flash game era. Garnering a cult following and subsequently releasing on Playstation 2 and Xbox two years later, Alien Hominid also marked the beginnings of The Behemoth. Now, after twenty-one years and multiple projects the studio has decided to revisit the IP with Alien Hominid Invasion. During my first day at PAX East 2023, I was able to go hands-on with the new project and speak with developer, Ian Moreno, on how the team at The Behemoth managed to bring the iconic invader to a modern audience.
Ian was very clear that even though Alien Hominid Invasion is, in fact, a direct continuation of the original game, it is in no way a sequel. The game was pitched to me like this: The attack on the original alien’s ship back in ‘02 that incited the events of the first game made it back to the mothership. With retaliation in mind the mothership has spent the past twenty-one years traveling to get to Earth. Now that it’s here, it’s an all out invasion. According to Ian, one of the main questions asked by Dan Paladin and the team was “How would we make this game if we made it today?” This led to the implementation of modern sensibilities such as redone movement, cosmetics, stat aspects and taking what seemed to me like every aspect of what gave the original its identity and bringing into 2023.
Departing from the classic side scrolling, linear experience, the game is now structured with an over world to monitor. Separated into city blocks that act as levels which are comprised of randomly assembled and hand crafted city chunks. Ian was adamant that though no two levels will be the same, the game itself is not procedural, and that everything we saw was made by their level designer. Each level will see players complete a random list of four tasks in order to exit the stage and progress. Completing these tasks and blasting enemies will garner an overall score. However, you can choose to remain in the level even after completing your tasks to continue to rack up your score, experience, and currency. The only catch is that the longer you stay in a level, the more aggressive and numerous enemies become - putting everything you’ve worked to get at risk. With all the classic Behemoth comedy still in tact and gameplay feeling as frenetic as it did back in the golden days of flash games, Alien Hominid Invasion still feels so familiar while managing to be something completely new.
Within the time I was able to spend speaking with Ian, he explained that there’s a huge emphasis on player choice this time around. With the ability to customize your alien’s color, clothing, hair styles, weapons and abilities this was made very clear. Cosmetics can be bought at shops or unlocked and have stats that can both buff and debuff players depending on the item. This is a give and take type of situation that ultimately depends on the type of build you’re going for. You can interchange these cosmetics to align with mutations you’ll be able to apply to your alien at the end of missions as well. These mutations can range from speed increases, flight, healing, and even vampiric powers. I was also told to expect many more other than what Ian told me about. This excited me further when I considered the possibility of co-op team compositions, which I eagerly asked about. Ian mentioned that co-op is always in mind and that there absolutely could be team symbiosis, giving the example of one player being built to inflict extra robot damage while having another built like a healer. Though, with the chaotic nature of the game’s moment to moment gameplay, and also randomized enemies and objectives, there will always be a level of challenge to your invasions. Unless, of course, you choose to have a more casual experience.
For anyone who played the original, Alien Hominid’s difficulty was no secret. With one-hit deaths was as close to players as the nearest energy bolt. Alien Hominid Invasion wanted to stay true to this legacy, however, with player choice at the forefront, this led the team to expand on difficulty - implementing difficulty levels that can be changed at any time. There’s still a one hit kill mode for those seeking what I’ll call the “legacy difficulty,” however, every other mode, including the base difficulty, implements a health bar. Ian also mentioned three other levels of difficulty. A “permakeep” mode where you keep all of your items and upgrades upon death, a “mastery” mode where if you die you hard restart the entire level, and a “permadeath” mode where if you die you hard restart the level and lose everything about that character's build. The names of the modes themselves are not finalized but it’s apparent that the real punishment outside of the legacy difficulty comes in the form of the retention, or lack thereof, of items and abilities.
Alien Hominid Invasion is currently available to wishlist on Steam and is set to release later this year on Steam, Xbox One, Xbox series S/X, and Nintendo Switch. If my time with the game, Ian, and the reps at the booth have told me anything, it’s that The Behemoth is more on top of their game than they’ve ever been, and this is sure to not just be the new game from them that fans have been waiting for, but the revitalization of an IP we didn’t even know we needed.
Written by Justin Hyde