Coming out in September 2004 is Sega’s update of its Alien Front series onto the N-Gage. Coming from the doomed Dreamcast, the title already has experience in a multi player environment. So the N-Gage, with both Bluetooth and WAN access (through the N-Gage Arena) seems a perfect fit.

If you’ve never heard of Alien Front, it doesn’t matter. The scenario is pretty standard fare (Aliens invade Earth, crack deadly unit with limited forces to defend the entire planet, and you’re in control), that sort of thing.

It boils down to a Tank Simulator, where you can choose to play in human tanks (recognisable American and Russian tanks) or in strange Alien biological walkers and floaters.

The look of the game is very old school, we’re talking more Castle Wolfenstein, single level mazes full of right angles and not much else. Your opponents are portrayed as basic sprites, which always face you. While the title has good presentation before and after the game, the beta versions that Gaming Headlines have seen seem to be missing any sort of excitement or addiction in the game play.

Hopefully these problems will be cured before release, because Alien Front shows a lot of promise. But it also shows all the signs of a typical console application – where the idea is brilliant but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The N-Gage can do so much more than simple Java games – Alien Front doesn’t show off the platform in a good light. ES