Alien Swarm has got to be one of the best things going for owners of a Steam Account. Valve issued this free game to anyone with a PC and you better believed I jumped on it after receiving a tip from my buddy Krys on Facebook. Expecting a cheesy momentary distraction, I had no clue that I was installing an addictive kickback to games like Smash TV, Ikari Warriors and Gauntlet. Alien Swarm is a kickback to many older games but it comes with a twist! We can level up our avatars from continuous gameplay thus unlocking better weapons for even more gameplay! What a twist!

The basic story of Alien Swarm is that there is an infestation of a facility by… you guessed it, Aliens and 4 marines are dropped in to clear them out. The game allows you to choose from four marines of varying bonuses and abilities and they are paired into  4 classes of Officer (run and gun), Tech (hacks), Medic (self-explanatory) and Special Weapons Expert (bullet hell). The game is meant to be played online but allows you to practice solo with the classes and weapons before logging in and subjecting yourself to embarrassment when you go shooting your teammate. Yes you can shoot your teammate.

Playing online is the same as always, there are tons of pickup groups but being that Alien Swarm is a game of teamwork, one lazy medic or clueless tech can cost you the game just as easily as one badass Weapons Expert can lock down an army of aliens while you take a smoke. Get yourself a team of friends and invite them to the party and you may find that this game is a walk in the park on a hot sunny day. So far we are given about 8 stages to run through, each taking anywhere from 5 minute to 15 minutes to clear depending on the knowledge of the players. The last 2 stages introduce you to the face-huggers from Aliens that are dubbed “parasites” for this game which can only be removed via a shock suit, or a medic. It also has a countdown, exploding eggs and all sorts of nuclear cool sh-t on top of it all.

You would think that with only 4 classes and 8 stages on a free game that it would get old fast but you are out of your mind if you believe that. Alien Swarm will have you logging hours upon end blasting at the slimy bad guys and listening to people nerd rage over the microphone about others either shooting them or not healing fast enough (sorry you can’t nerf crybabies). All-in-all, if this game was a $15 purchase you would not hear me bitching about it, seriously Valve, can you put this thing on X-Box Live and PSN please? If you have a Steam account and want an awesome new and free game to play, pick up Alien Swarm. If you don’t have a Steam account, then get one, it’s free too! Either way, do not miss out on this, I am having a blast and you can too. Just leave me Vegas or Sarge to use when we team up and sit back and watch papa Dragon dance!

GOD KING GRADE: (B)   ★★★★★