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Alien Swarm Can Be Played As a Terrifying FPS

Posted by timothy on from the sounds-icky dept.

AndrewGOO9 writes "With a few simple commands from the developer console, Alien Swarm can go from being played as an isometric top-down shooter to a first-person perspective. Surprisingly easy, it does make the game, which was released for free via Steam earlier this week, a lot more terrifying. But, anyone who is at home playing games like Modern Warfare or Halo should have no problem slaughtering their way through wave after wave of creatures. In fact, it poses the potential to make the game easier for people who would've otherwise struggled with the overhead view."

13 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Or.. by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not everyone likes 3rd person view for all games. I think it sucks for when you control a walking/running character and need to aim. That's the job of 1st person view.

  2. the kids seem to like top down by superid · · Score: 5, Funny

    My son is playing AS right now with a few of his friends. I yelled over "hey did you know that AS can be...." "yeah yeah, played as a FPS.. it sucks"

    1. Re:the kids seem to like top down by morari · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And it does suck. The aliens spawn too far out to react to your increased visibility, the hacking screens don't seem to respond, and the graphics are low-poly and blurry when viewed up close. The game is very atmospheric with the overhead view. The controls do take a few minutes to become comfortable with, but they work well enough. There's no need to turn the game into something it's not. There are already enough FPS on the market, leave Alien Swarm alone. :P

      --
      "He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
  3. Terrifying?? Try System Shock 2, Doom 3, Undying by Xaximus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All of which were 100 times more terrifying than what I saw in the video.

  4. Front page news? by MintOreo · · Score: 5, Informative

    An inordinate amount of attention for simple game.

    In other headline news, Starcraft 2 can be played as anything, thanks to a gnarly editor.

  5. Next up... by russotto · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...Space Invaders as a first person shooter. The original alien swarm.

    1. Re:Next up... by Nadaka · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not abstract enough...

      http://firstpersontetris.com/

    2. Re:Next up... by Degro · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thanks, now I'm sea sick.

    3. Re:Next up... by Culture20 · · Score: 5, Funny

      ...Space Invaders as a first person shooter. The original alien swarm.

      Space Invaders FPS FAQ:

      Why is the screen blank?
      The Space invaders are 2 Dimensional, and you're viewing them from the side. Good Luck.

      I keep dying. What's going on?
      We already covered that. The Space Invaders are essentially invisible now. Only elite space defenders can win this game from muscle memory learned in the early 80's. You're not one of them.

  6. Re:Terrifying?? Try System Shock 2, Doom 3, Undyin by Nadaka · · Score: 4, Informative

    This story has shown me a terrifying game.

    But not the one it indicated.

    http://thumb-culture.com/2010/07/22/xbla-review-limbo/

    What the hell?

  7. Why not script it? by atomic-penguin · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why not script it? I guess you just have to do everything yourself.

    // povtoggle.cfg
    alias "povtoggle" "normalcam"
    alias "normalcam" "asw_hide_marine 0; asw_controls 1; thirdperson; alias povtoggle fpscam"
    alias "fpscam" "asw_hide_marine 1; firstperson; asw_controls 0; alias povtoggle normalcam"
    bind "p" "povtoggle"
    normalcam
     
    // autoexec.cfg
    exec fovtoggle.cfg

    Just bind p for a handy point-of-view toggle.

    --
    /^([Ss]ame [Bb]at (time, |channel.)){2}$/
  8. Re:Or.. by pclminion · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ahh, yes. That's why they released the source code. To make sure that nobody could ever modify it. And that's why they added a developer's console along with a command to switch to first-person view. To make sure that nobody could ever possibly activate that. And that's why the first person perspective was implemented in the first place. Because developers have nothing better to do than waste their time on features they hate and never want anyone to use.

  9. Re:How is this news? by dangitman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Seriously? Could we get something remotely interesting for a change? I've not even downloaded the game and I could tell you exactly how to do this, its really, really not even remotely difficult or complicated in any way. I will very shortly be removing slashdot from my RSS feeds.

    Your post is hilarious when read out in a posh and pretentious English schoolgirl's voice.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.