Released in arcades back in 1978, Space Invaders introduced to the world what the shooting game genre was capable of. Developed by Taito, the game is widely considered one of the most influential games, if not the most influential game, ever made. Thirty-two years later and the franchise is still popular enough to warrant receiving a much needed face-lift along with another opportunity to wow the masses. Space Invaders: Infinity Gene, published by Square Enix, is being crowned the next evolution of the venerable series.
Infinity Gene, released last year for the Iphone, transitions through different phases of evolution every time a level is completed. These evolutions affect not only your ship’s mobility and interaction with the world, but also the game world itself with new dynamic music and more sophisticated enemies than the eight-bit Martians we all grew up with. With each successful evolution, the game gradually becomes less Space invaders and more an abstract 3-D vertical shooter where split-second reflexes and decision making keep you competitive. Basic shapes become large alien strike forces with light cannons and intricate bug-like ships become the norm. The motherships from the original Space Invaders remain intact. They serve as carriers of powerful molecules that, once touched by your ship, upgrade your weapon systems and augment your movement.
Killing aliens in quick succession causes your score to skyrocket. Your high score can then be uploaded via the internet so you can see just how well you stack up against the best of the best in real-time (spoiler: you will not place very high). The demo only allows you to start the game with the classic laser cannon, but the locked weapons revealed a plethora of intriguing possibilities such as a homing lasers and gravity bombs just to name a few. Another locked feature includes the music mode which takes music from your PS3’s hard drive, reads the information and generates a brand new, unique level to play through. Nothing says “replay value” quite like an endless back catalog of your favorite songs. Even without the music mode, Infinity Gene contains over one-hundred and forty levels with the promise of new levels to come in the form of DLC. The full version of Space Invaders: Infinity Gene is available now for download on the PSN network for $9.99.
