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Alien Earth

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Alien Earth
Original box art
Developer(s)Beam Software[1]
Publisher(s)Playmates Interactive Entertainment, Inc (US), Funsoft (Germany)
Platform(s)IBM PC Compatible
ReleaseNA July 21, 1998
Genre(s)Post-apocalyptic, Action role-playing game
Mode(s)Single-player

Alien Earth, set in a post-apocalyptic timeline, is an isometric pseudo-3D action-adventure game for Windows. It has RPG elements,[3] including dialogue trees, so it can also be called an action role-playing game, but it uses resource management as puzzles, requiring the player to combine items in order to advance in the game.[4] It was created by Krome Studios Melbourne, in 1998, when they were called Beam Software Pty. Ltd.

Plot

What remains of Earth and most of its inhabitants after a nuclear holocaust is dominated and enslaved by the insect-like humanoid Raksha, invaders from another planet.[5] Many years later, only the Resistance remains free, in the sewers of a ruined city. The player takes control of Finn, a villager in a jungle that the Raksha use to hunt their slaves as prey. A Raksha hunting lord marks Finn as a troublemaker,[5] and he must outwit the Raksha, and seek aid wherever he can find it, to survive. His nemesis vanquished, Finn searches for answers about the fate of his civilization in a wartorn city, despite the Scavengers hunting through the ruins for scraps of remaining technology...and intruders.


Gameplay

Resource management is a key part of the game; items are collected, as in most games, but also combined; the latter is crucial to completing the game. Combining a wooden pole with a metallic blade forms a Spear, for example, or a empty bottle, petrol and a rag cloth to form a molotov cocktail. Separate NPCs make scavenged Raksha weapons usable and sellable, and level up Finn's psionic abilities. Finn's fighting abilities use a skill levelling system; the more Finn uses a weapon, the better he gets at using it.

List of characters

  • Finn: the playable character, and one of the few characters that have psionic abilities.
  • Old Jack: Like Finn, once hunted by the Raksha, and from the same village. He aids Finn with his knowledge of the jungle, its inhabitants, and herb lore.
  • Charlie: Crazy Charlie may be just crazy, or one of the test subjects the Raksha used to develop Psionic powers. Charlie is devoted to his plastic parrot...until Finn gives him a worn teddy bear.
  • Rob: The chief in the village where Finn lived in. Believes the Raksha to be gods.
  • Brock: Lives in an old movie theater. Pale and skinny and very frightened about most things, he tells Finn of The Resistance.
  • Colonel: He stands guard over a bunker in the ruined city, as his parents did before him.
  • Karl: The short tempered but strong willed leader of The Resistance, he gives missions to Finn so he can help The Resistance against the Raksha.
  • Roscko: The Resistance weapons specialist. Removes the identity tags from Raksha weapons so that they can be used or sold.
  • Harry: A fat junkman that works in the Resistance, and will buy items from Finn.
  • Romuko: A young woman with psionic healing abilities that was found by The Resistance starved and weak. Now she works as a medic for The Resistance.
Production Credits

Beam Software
Executive Producer: David Giles; Producers: Andrew Buttery, Michael Scott; Technical Director: Philip Mitchell; Design: Ian Malcolm; Based on Original Concept by: Adam Lancman; Lead Programmers: Darren Bremner, Stephen McNamara; Programmers: Adam Blanch, Aidan Doyle, Brian Post, Frank C. Prete, Eddit Retelj, Wayne Simmons, Ian Tran, Dan Walker; FMV Player: Adrian Thewlis; Motion Capture Coordinator: Gordon Lescinsky; Lead Artist: Holger Liebnitz; Key Artists: Heston Barber, Jeremy Kupsch, Adam Ryan; Artists: Grant Arthur, Damien Borg, Chris Jones, Russell Murchie, Dan Tonkin; Lead FMV/CG Sequence Artist: Chris Jones; FMV/CG Sequence Artists: Damien Borg, Simon Hart, Adam Ryan; Art Assistants: Nick Evans, Angie Kindred, Ciri Thompson; Renderfarm Coordinator: Tim Bos; Voice Talent: Michael Bishop, Don Bridges, Edwina Exton, Peter Farago, Andrew Goodun, Matt King, Kirsten O'Leary; Additional Voices: Shane Collier, Lucinda McKnight, Adam Ryan; Music: Gavin Parker, Marshall Parker; Lead Tester: Gary Ireland; Testers: Richard Allen, Richard Au, Tamzin Barber, Shane Collier, Asher Doig, Vito Trifilo; Hardware and Network Support: Gavan Anderson, Ryan Bessemer; Marketing: Kirsten Beamish; Internet Support: Adrian Giles
Playmates Interactive Entertainment
VP Business Affairs and Product Development: Gary Rosenfeld; Co-Producers: Chris Archer, Andy Brown; Sr. VP of Sales: Bill Beebe; Marketing: Tom McClure; Packaging: Kathy Sison; Lead Tester: David Arranaga; Consumer Service: David Oniveros
[6]

References

  1. ^ "Gamespy Company Bio: Beam Software". Gamespy.
  2. ^ AE on UV list
  3. ^ AE on Moby Games
  4. ^ Al Giovetti, Computer Show
  5. ^ a b Plot summary on Gamespy
  6. ^ AE on Answers