Alien Breed 3D 2: The Killing Grounds
| Developer: Team 17 | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Team 17 | Sound: |
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| Year: 1996 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: First person shooter | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 2 simultaneous | Rating: |
8/10 | |
Behind this excessively long title lies yet another attempt to rival Doom on the Amiga! Of course, by the same year, PC players were already enjoying Quake, but let’s be charitable.
Technically, Alien Breed 3D 2 pushes beyond the limits of what the Amiga can deliver, but the developers aimed too high—or perhaps they simply ran out of time. Either way, very few people could fully experience it at launch, as it required an exceptionally high-end machine. A questionable commercial strategy, considering that if you were going to spend that much upgrading your hardware to handle 3D gaming in 1996, why not just get a PC instead?
Unsurprisingly, its reception was lukewarm. Critics pointed out glaring optimisation issues that severely impacted fluidity. It was released in two versions: a “light” 2Mb version for less powerful systems and a “full” 4Mb edition. Unfortunately, the former was graphically hideous and still stuttered in certain levels.
Nowadays, emulators remove all the performance issues (you can simulate a “battle-hardened” Amiga 4000). Without slowdown, there’s not much left to criticise. Drab, repetitive textures, perhaps? Levels so large you spend more time wandering around lost than blasting aliens? Sure, but honestly, I feel the same way playing Quake, so…
Now, let’s talk positives. The “alone in a dark maze full of monsters” vibe works brilliantly. Ammo is scarce, forcing players to seek out hidden weapon caches. Nice lighting effects add a touch of realism, and the protagonist occasionally drops a quippy comment at the bottom of the screen, enhancing immersion.
There’s a decent variety of weapons (special shout-out to the mines you can place strategically to trap enemies). It also finally includes an automatic map (press “Tab”). You can jump, look up and down, or use a jet pack—all innovations compared to Doom (which came out three years earlier). And let’s not forget the two-player mode and level editor.
If you’re struggling with the menus, I recommend disabling the joystick in the emulator’s settings (as shown here). During the game, press “M” to switch to mouse control and “Enter” (numeric keypad) for fullscreen mode. If it still feels sluggish, enable the “JIT” option—it’s located here in FS-UAE.
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