N-Philes

Scurge: Hive

Posted February 13th 2007 by Terry Harjanto.

Aliens. They're ugly. They're deadly. They like to overrun research stations for the heck of it. They're also a hell of a lot of fun to blow up. I usually do my alien exterminating on the PC or TV console systems which tend to do a better job of enhancing the immersion, but Scurge: Hive for the Nintendo DS still caught my interest. After all, it had been a while since I've wiped some secret military facility clean of alien scum and it looks as if the next Metroid game is still a while away.

So then, apparently some research lab on a planet called Inos has been overrun by a highly infectious alien entity called Scurge. You play as Jenosa Arma, a female bounty hunter who sports a robotic suit and is favored by the military authorities. Your mission: retrieve as much experimental technology from the lab as possible and eliminate the source of the alien entity.

Yes, we've all heard this before. But don't go off claiming Scurge: Hive to be a simple rip-off of Metroid just yet. Within the first twenty minutes of the game you'll realize that this game is a different experience from the portable Metroid games, aside from the obvious differences brought on by the game's isometric view. When Samus Aran walks into a room, the first thing that comes across her mind is "Hmm, now what do I do and where do I go from here?" Jenosa Arma's reaction to entering nearly every room is usually something along the lines of "Oh cocks, they're coming out of the goddamn walls!" Because Jenosa depends more on her reflexes than her intellect to survive, Metroid feels like a Rubik's cube in comparison.

Running around and shooting peeps is the meat and potatoes of action games, and this game is a pretty standard Irish meal. There's an endless supply of constantly re-spawning aliens and robots to destroy and the interesting boss battles exert increasing levels of pressure on you with their multiple forms. There are puzzles within the game, but nearly all of them are easy to solve after you've gotten use to the mechanics of the game. Once you figure out how movable objects and floor switches interact with one another you shouldn't have too much trouble getting around.

Other than combat, the real challenge is in time-limited puzzles and figuring out how some of the rooms connect to one another in three-dimensional space so that you can reach security cards to open locked doors. Since trying to solve puzzles isn't really possible when aliens are trying to absorb you into their slimy and/or pure energy-based bodies, puzzle-solving as a priority is ranked below fighting off the aliens.

Thankfully, the game does have a few features that spice things up a bit. First of all, Jenosa's biosuit can only repel the Scurge infection for a certain amount of time before its defenses break down and Jenosa starts taking HP damage. To keep herself healthy Jenosa has to stop by decontamination platforms to clean out the filters. These platforms also acts as save points and are generously strewn about the game world so that you usually don't have to worry about succumbing to the Scurge infection.

Jenosa will also acquire a few different weapons and some of them react differently against specific enemy types. For instance, the research facility has a large complement of robots which have apparently been reprogrammed by HAL 9000. The EMP weapon is great for destroying the robots that are rising up against their meatbag human oppressors but it will end up strengthening energy-based enemies instead. Because of this you'll need to pay attention to what you're firing with and what you're firing at. The need to switch weapons, however, can get really annoying when there are many different enemy types attacking you.

Scurge: Hive is also kept interesting with its overall presentation. The game is visually clean and impressive. The environments are clear and given a great amount of detail. Jenosa herself is well animated but how her long red ponytail moves about might make you wonder if it's a separate life-form itself. There's a modest variety in enemy types but very few of them have interesting looking attacks. Killing the more fleshy and slimy enemies will create a guts-splattering-on-the-screen effect but these are annoying since they have a pixelated look to them.

The music in the game is very entertaining and features adrenaline pumping sci-fi tunes. The aural stimulation isn't always fast-paced though as calmer but creepier musical pieces are used in enemy-less areas. However, it doesn't seem as if the same amount of effort was put into the sound effects which aren't anything special. Very few of Jenosa's weapons sound like death being delivered in the form of a projectile. Aliens make typical snarling noises and the robots have a rusty or pneumatic sound set to them.

The game looks and sounds great overall and has some slick menu designs, but you'll quickly realize that it was intended for the Game Boy Advance. When you slide in the DS cart and turn on the power, the first thing you'll see is a filler image on the touch screen. In-game, however, it's used to display a map during gameplay which alone makes the DS version better than the GBA version.

Actually moving around in the game is difficult due to the combination of the game's isometric view and the D-pad. The isometric view results in a lot of diagonal movement but it's difficult to press two directions simultaneously on the D-pad. You'll have to press down with your entire thumb instead of just the tip which can get uncomfortable and makes jumping onto moving platforms and ledges more difficult than it has to be. Also annoying is how the camera moves towards the direction Jenosa is facing. The problem is that the aliens and robots will come at you from all sides which force you to constantly be on the move. This causes the camera to move around in a chaotic manner which resulted in me going cross-eyed every once in a while. The game also has unlockable hard and insane modes but there's nothing interesting about them other than the difficulty.

Steady Beat - You can't resist a distress signal coming from a ruined research facility.

Samus Aran is the strong silent type, but if you prefer heroines that go in guns blazing then Jenova Arma is your girl. Scurge: Hive doesn't feel original because it takes a tired story and mixes it with simple and standard gameplay, but it's still an enjoyable experience that harkens back to a simpler time. Though the game takes a modest seven to eight hours to beat the first time it's still worth a try considering its excellent production value. If you're looking for a good action game then you should definitely grab a biosuit and join Jenosa on her mission.

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