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The mechanics of the game Are Aliens are extremely simple, and it only takes a few seconds to get started. The player controls a large high-tech pinball moving at high speed in the desert, and the game rhythm changes mainly from the kinetic energy obtained by the different strong and weak gravity of the pinball: it decreases in strong gravity to increase speed, and when it is weak gravity, it makes it fly at high speed.
You can also keep the pinball spherical, which rolls better on the ground, or flatten it into a disc, which makes it easier to glide at high altitude.
This game doesn't bother with tutorials. Instead, the developers wanted to get players up and running quickly with the sheer fun and free experience of galloping through these scenarios. This design proved to be very successful.
"Alien Visitor" gives people the feeling of being quite polished. As you increase the gravity, the pinball drops vertically, as if the bowling ball is thrown into the U-shaped field, rolling unstoppable; when you use inertia to fly into the air, you can feel the wind whistling around the pinball, and the surrounding scenery unfolds and extends infinitely in front of your eyes.
If you fly high enough, the speed of your next descent may even exceed the speed of sound, and the speed of the pinball exceeds its own sonic boom. The physics of Alien Is designed to be quite tolerant, and the player will never feel that they are prone to losing control, but at the same time it is also designed realistically enough that people can't help but want to reach higher speeds and maintain a more perfect momentum.
Every world you travel through is so spectacular, and each planet has a unique design style that is breathtakingly beautiful. From endless deserts to huge cliffs, from rough oceans to cold and icy peaks, this transition is full of dramatic expression. The sun is almost always low in the sky, and huge storms frequently rage through every ecology, with thick clouds waiting for visitors to cross it. The level of Alien Alien feels like it's taken off the cover of a paperback science fiction novel, and it pays more attention to tone and look than any real-life ecological environment.
Unfortunately, although the scenery of the planets has always been beautiful, the process of crossing them is not very interesting. This was accompanied by many new challenges, such as crossing huge mountains or drawing energy from thunderstorms, but none of them were well designed. Moving around an almost completely submerged planet is particularly tedious and exciting, and the presence of an asteroid belt only hinders the progress of the game.
More than once, I've hoped to be able to return to the first planet and relive the experience of crossing the vast dunes, a simple and unpretentious design that best fits the structure of a pinball. Speaking of which, I have to say that the experience of the last level was particularly disappointing. While the visuals are stunning, they largely abandon my favorite physical mechanics.
Still, the fast pace of Alien means that there are no levels in the game, and each level can be completed in a matter of minutes, and it took me about two hours to get through the whole process. However, this simple design also means that the game's plot (conveyed primarily through short flashback clips and sporadic dialogue) is difficult to impress the player.
Interestingly, I was once struck by lightning in a thunderstorm and caught a glimpse of a picture that was clearly Earth at that moment. But this vague narrative means that I've never substituted emotions the way I thought I would, not that it's badly designed, it just makes people feel like they're on the sidelines of the journey.
In the end, however, these complaints pale in comparison to the passionate pleasures of galloping and soaring on every beautiful planet. Alien isn't a game with deep mechanics or a compelling narrative approach, but either way, I foresee returning to it many times in the future. The game fulfills a fantasy I've only ever seen in a dream: to leave all the worldly troubles behind and wander through the magnificent alien world.
Compile 丨 Zoe
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