Alienation (video game)

Alienation is an action role-playing shooter for the PlayStation 4, developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Released worldwide in April 2016, the game is an isometric twin-stick shooter where one to four players fight off an alien invasion on Earth across increasingly difficult levels. Players select from three character classes—Bio-Specialist, Saboteur, and Tank—each with unique abilities. Weapons can be upgraded using collectible upgrade cores.

The game’s development was first hinted at in early January 2014 and officially announced at the 2014 Sony Gamescom convention. In 2015, Housemarque released details on gameplay, classes, and the first trailer. Sony initially planned a 2015 release, but the game was delayed to March 2, 2016, then pushed back another three weeks, finally launching on April 26 as part of a Sony promotion that released six games over seven weeks. After launch, Housemarque added free and paid expansions, including a local co-op mode that critics had noted was missing at release. Reviewers generally praised the twin-stick controls and cooperative multiplayer, but criticized the limited variety in weapons and ammunition.

Set in a future where aliens have killed or mutated most of Earth’s population, the story follows four soldiers from the military group UNX. Players can play solo, locally with others, or online with up to four people. Each class levels up to thirty, with the Bio-Specialist healing teammates and leaving poison trails, the Tank creating shields and clearing space, and the Saboteur turning invisible and calling airstrikes. Players fight through hordes of aliens, reviving each other in multiplayer and using checkpoints to respawn. New weapons appear as random drops, and many have slots for upgrade cores that alter fire rate, clip size, or damage. Items drop in rarities from stock to legendary; unwanted items can be turned into metal to re-roll a weapon’s stats. Aiming uses a blue laser, and players can dash and melee to knock down enemies. Experience points let players level up and spend points on three active and three passive abilities from a trio of skill trees, each with cooldown timers. Points can be reassigned freely. Dying resets the experience multiplier.