Infestation

STORY / GAMEPLAY
You are Kal Solar and your mission is to land on planet Xelos where the Alpha II station crew was massacred by a mysterious alien force. The Aliens are multiplying like galactic rabbits, stealthily spreading their eggs around the base (in places like ventilation ducts). The only way to stop them is to seal them inside their incubation areas and inject a deadly dose of cyanide gas. But you need also to seek and destroy the base's power generator that is tapping power from the moon's core, in order to make sure none of the eggs survives. Then you have to escape! The actual complex is a huge area with a number of dangers and hazards to overcome. Apart from the evil aliens, there are plenty of other nasties to worry about, such as protector Droids that are completely out of control and will kill anything that moves. Exploring Xelos can be done either by walking around in your spacesuit or flying over it with a Manned Maneuver Unit (MMU). There are a number of items to collect and objects to identify before you are able to sort out the aliens. Kal needs to use all of his equipment to safely explore the alien lair. Discarded items can be found all over the complex and can be handy at some point. You need to always check your vital information (oxygen, temperature and radiation levels) in order to survive, and all the indicators (along with a compass and many others) are seen on the heads up display (HUD) of Kal's helmet. Infestation is pretty playable but also a quite tough game. Remembering where you are going and what you have already seen is critical as there is very little time (and oxygen!) at your disposal to complete the mission.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
As expected, the graphics are pretty good, though not exceptional. They are not as super fast as Starglider 2 but they are very detailed and there is a hell lot of vectors on-screen at any time, moving quickly enough. The screen combines a nicely bitmap drawn console with solid and flicker-free 3D to perform a tense and claustrophobic game. The Amiga version has more than 32 colors on-screen! The opening scene is superb, a classic Psygnosis intro, in which an astronaut jets through space in a fast, realistic perspective before landing to Xelos. The eerie effects and intro music cap off the game perfectly, producing a really atmospheric interactive sci-fi story.