Developed by Triangle Studios and published by All in! Games, It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains is a top-down alien shooter where your survival is not guaranteed. The world has been taken over by aliens who love eating brains and it is up to you and your friends to save your brains and stop the alien invasion. This is our review of It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains and we played the PS4 version of the game for our review.
It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains comes with two modes to jump in. You have the main campaign of the game where you get six unique missions set in different locations where you complete different objectives and progress in the mission to reach the end and unlock the next mission. The second game mode is Survival mode which comes with a good 12 maps for you to explore and slaughter every last alien that you can find. Unlike the campaign mode, there are no objectives in Survival. All you need to do is survive until you can and try to set new records for lasting the longest in the game. The major component missing from the title is online co-op as you will only find local co-op in the game.
The gameplay is pretty simple as you use the left joystick to move around while the right joystick is used for aiming and shooting at the same time. There is no third button involved in moving around and aiming and shooting. All of this is handled by the two joysticks. Apart from shooting and moving around, you have a dedicated button for using the item in your inventory. These items are found randomly in the world by breaking different objects. You can randomly get cash, health kits and even turrets which help you out taking out enemies.
For all your alien slaughtering needs, the game offers you a variety of weapons and each of these weapons can be upgraded to make them more powerful as well. Each you continue killing the aliens, you will continue to earn cash as well. You then use this cash to upgrade or purchase new weapons. The purchases weapons and upgrades only last until you survive or complete the mission or reach a checkpoint. If you die or start a new mission, you will have to purchase the weapons and upgrades again.
With both weapons and upgrades costing you money, you will need to think before spending the money because both weapons and upgrades are expensive. Smart spending will ensure that you survive the later waves because if you keep changing weapons and do not upgrade the current ones, you will not survive in the later waves. It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains is the type of game where the enemies do not spawn in the form of waves. As you spend more time in a level, the enemy activity continues to increase and you will face endless hordes attacking you in late game.
For me, the most suitable method was to simply choose a main weapon and then continue to upgrade it. During my initial runs, I tried all of the weapons in different scenarios. Some of the weapons such as shotguns and rifles are extremely good at damage control and will easily kill waves of enemies. With these weapons, accuracy is also not much of a problem. You can easily kill enemies even if they are not in your immediate sight. However, with heavy weapons you will need accuracy. These weapons deal massive damage but require more precise
shots and are not very effective when it comes to area-of-effect damage.
Understanding weapons is a crucial aspect of playing It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains. Each weapon comes with its unique upgrades along with strengths and weaknesses. Not every weapon is suitable for all situations so sometimes you need to switch between your weapons as well. It all boils down actually to your own gameplay style. I prefer sticking to a single weapon as it allows me to upgrade it fully. After purchasing upgrades, there is a massive increase in damage and later upgrades might be a little expensive but they are definitely worth saving for.
Normally, senseless shooters like It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains come with a little bit of story behind the game but here you will not notice any story. You just complete the missions and unlock the next ones. The aliens never stop coming in the game which means that you are always shooting. Traditional titles give you a little space and breathing spaces but here you get no break from alien attacks. You will be always shooting in order to survive in the game until you reach the very end of the level and defeat the final boss or complete the last objective.
One of the toughest aspects of It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains are the aliens. They are literally never-ending. After starting a stage, the aliens start attacking you and as you progress in the level, they continue to increase. Not just their numbers but also their sizes. You will come across different bigger aliens as well which are extremely difficult to take down and they quite some beating before they die. You will need to complete small objectives along the path such as clearing blockades, killing mini bosses and more. The main goal is to reach the end of the level but the paths are not marked in any way so getting lost on the stage is pretty common.
It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains is a great co-op shooter if you’ve got some friends over. True that it offers solo gameplay but the main show is co-op and only in co-op, you will be able to easily complete the missions. Not only is the game fun in co-op but it is also easier when you have a friend watching over your back. Your torch allows you limited visibility in levels so having even a single friend with you gives you a massive advantage in the game because the aliens attack from all directions. Having a buddy along also means that both of you will be there to revive each other when one of you falls in combat.
Final Verdict:
It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains is a solid couch co-op shooter. It looks pretty cool and the enemy waves are relentless. You will need everything you’ve got to throw at the aliens otherwise you will not survive in the game. I would have preferred if the game also came with online co-op but having local, couch co-op is also fun and more engaging if you have some local friends or family to shoot some aliens with. The campaign missions might be less however the Survival mode offers plenty of different maps to slaughter endless waves of aliens. The top-down view might not be for every player out there but if you manage to get a hold of controls, It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains offers plenty of senseless alien shooting either alone or with your friends.
Final Score: 8.5/10
