Alien Breed 3D
A first-person shooter for the Amiga, often called the best Doom clone.
Alien Breed 3D, a first-person shooter developed and published by Team17 (with Ocean Software distributing in some regions), hit the Amiga in 1995. It marks the third main game in the Alien Breed series and its first shift to a first-person view. The story places Captain J. T. Reynolds on the fictional planet Osiris, where he enters a military base overrun by genetically engineered aliens that escaped a lab, killing everyone except him. As he moves through the base searching for an escape, he must fight off the aliens alone, using a variety of weapons.
The game’s origins began with a planned MS-DOS version, but Team17 scrapped that idea after id Software’s Doom appeared. It came together when Andy Clitheroe, a mathematics student at the University of York, showed off a demo of his own 3D engine running on an Amiga. Clitheroe became the sole programmer, with no one from the earlier Alien Breed games joining him. Only composer Bjørn Lynne had prior experience with a Team17 project.
Reception was generally favorable, with some critics calling it the best Doom clone for the Amiga, though fans had mixed feelings about the series’ change in style. Reviewers praised the atmosphere and level design, especially the multi-story layouts and underwater areas, but criticized the pixelated graphics and the lack of an automap. The two-player deathmatch mode received mixed reviews. A sequel, Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds, followed in 1996.
In gameplay, the player fights through 16 levels of a base infested with aliens—red doglike creatures, gunned aliens, hovering ones, and tree creatures that spawn flying eyeballs—to reach a shuttle and escape. The player starts with a pulse rifle and must find four other weapons: a double-barrelled pump-action shotgun, a plasma gun, a grenade launcher, and a rocket launcher, along with ammunition. Health kits heal damage. Levels feature platforms and floors at different heights, something the Doom engine couldn’t do. Players can switch between full-screen and a one-third screen view by pressing Numpad 0, which removes UI elements. A null modem mode lets two Amiga or CD32 machines connect via serial port for deathmatch, using the same levels but with all doors unlocked and no monsters.
The plot begins with Captain Reynolds contacting General R.E.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Alien Breed 3D
- Developer
- Team17
- Publisher
- Ocean Software
- Series
- Alien Breed
- Director
- Martyn Brown
- Producer
- Kenny Grant
- Programmer
- Andy Clitheroe
- Composer
- Bjørn Lynne
- Released
- EU · October 1995
- Genre
- First-person shooter
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Platforms
- Amiga, CD32
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Alien Breed 3D was conceived after Team17 initially considered a 3D Alien Breed game for MS-DOS but abandoned the idea following the release of id Software's Doom. The project was revived when Andy Clitheroe, a mathematics student at the University of York, demonstrated a demo of his 3D engine running on an Amiga computer. Clitheroe became the sole programmer, and he brought in Charles 'Chas' Blessing, a friend from university, to assist with art and level design, while Mike Green, already a Team17 employee, also contributed to art and level design. Notably, no one involved in previous Alien Breed games worked on this title, and only composer Bjørn Lynne had prior involvement with a Team17 project.
The game's plot follows Captain J. T. Reynolds on the fictional planet Osiris, where a secret project to clone alien eggs has gone wrong, unleashing the Breed.
Reader's Guide
Alien Breed 3D holds significance as a landmark title for the Amiga platform, demonstrating that a first-person shooter comparable to Doom could be achieved on the hardware. Its development story—from a student's engine demo to a commercial release after id Software's John Carmack doubted the Amiga's capability—underscores the ingenuity of the Amiga development community. The game received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising its atmosphere, level architecture, and inclusion of multi-story maps and underwater areas, though graphics were criticized for pixelation and the lack of an automap. Commercially, it was a success, becoming the second-best-selling full-price Amiga game in its first month and the best-selling Amiga 1200 game for four consecutive months. Its legacy includes a sequel, Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds, released in 1996, and the release of its source code on a cover CD in 1997, allowing hobbyists to study and modify the engine.
Did You Know?
- The game's engine was created by Andy Clitheroe, a mathematics student at the University of York, who sought to impress his girlfriend by making a Doom-like game.
- Team17's creative director Martyn Brown contacted id Software's John Carmack for licensing rights to Doom for the Amiga, but Carmack said it could not be done.
- The CD-ROM version's box claimed it contained more levels than the disk version, but no evidence supports this statement.
- To deter piracy, the game included a copy protection codebook printed with black varnish on black paper, though codes were reportedly easier to read after photocopying.
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