PixlBit

1978. When I began a new game in Space Invaders Infinity Gene, my score ranking was 1978. Coincidence? Hardly. 1978 is the year Space Invaders, by Taito, originally made its way into arcades, bars, and any other locations that could store a classic arcade title. Space Invaders Infinity Gene is based upon the evolution of a genre first solidified in 1978, and any chance the opportunity presents itself, the game makes sure its player knows this.

In the beginning, there were five rows of invaders, one tiny ship, four bunkers, and skill. In Space Invaders Infinity Gene’s beginning, the bunkers are left out, but the ship, the rows of invaders from space, and the skill quickly become apparent. See, the game stylistically begins with a throwback to the original title, with ships firing down, moving left and right across the screen, and changing direction when a wall is reached.

Quickly, though, the game begins to change, and adapt into something entirely different. Remember how in Space Invaders, the ship could only move left and right? Well, quickly enough, the ability to move freely around the stage is evolved, via a system similar to “leveling up.” Score counts as experience, and as more and more evolutions are unlocked, it takes many more points to reach subsequent evolutions.

Initially, these evolutions unlock abilities to entirely transform the way Space Invaders Infinity Gene is played, but quickly enough, most of the evolution unlocks are oriented around bonus stages and background music. Similarly, scoring sees an evolution. In the original Space Invaders, different enemy ships are worth different point values, and the same concept is executed in Infinity Gene, but with a twist. Each ship or bullet shot consecutively, within a short span of time adds to a combo, and as the number of the combo rises, so does the point reward of each Invader target.

Additionally, there’s an even more advanced and tricky combo system added into the game: The Nagoya Combo. Each enemy shot has a brief period of time, right after being fired, where it does no damage. If the player flies through the bullet, a few points might be added to the Nagoya combo, which results in massive additions to the player’s score. With both combo systems active at the same time, only the best shoot-‘em-up players will ever be able to master Infinity Gene and make it to the top of the leader boards, showing, in a sense, that players need to evolve, too, to play this Space Invaders evolution.

The best types of evolution present in the game, or at least my favorite, involve new ship weapons. While the game initially only allows one ship choice, rapid-fire, a few extra, more practical types are evolved, including “wave,” a shot that expands in size as it travels forward, and “lock-on,” a shot that locks on to targets directly in front and behind the ship. The game packs a total of ten unique weapon types, with the latter half being much more versatile and useful than the former five or so, perhaps with an exception to the very last evolution, which I won’t spoil here. In addition to a variety of methods to attack, some weapons can attack nearly every enemy bullet type, while others seem nearly incapable of fending off enemy fire, adding a layer of depth to weapon selection beyond what is initially apparent.

While the versatility means there’s essentially ten ways to play the game, and each weapon type creates a new experience, unfortunately, at least for the purpose of completion, one or two weapon types stand out above all others. The leader boards confirm such thoughts, with the top hundred or more high scores available being based primarily on the “field” type of weapon. See, field shoots every single attackable enemy and bullet as soon as the enemy enters a visible, on-screen circle. While it doesn’t destroy many opposing bullets, and has an issue with strength against some bosses and large enemies, the weapon type hands-down has the most range and the fewest limitations.

Don’t misunderstand, the weapon doesn’t ruin gameplay at all; the game is, without a doubt, an incredible shoot-em-up experience, but it’s unfortunate that one single weapon appears to be particularly unbalanced in comparison to the others. I found that for the best experience, I had to fend off my natural inclination to choose the weapon that would grant me the highest score, and instead choose one of the other weapons, many of which are very creative or could be considered homage to other shooters out there, like Gradius.

The sheer volume of stages available in Infinity Gene is incredible. The main mode consists of approximately thirty unique stages, each one seeming slightly more difficult than the last. About twenty or twenty four stages in, the game even begins to utilize perspective changes to create a different feel to many of the bosses and stages without truly even modifying any aspect of the gameplay, but maintaining a perpetuating desire to reach the end, solely to see where Infinity Gene takes one next.

While many bosses from early stages are reused with modification, in later stages, the bosses are unique and very difficult, requiring quick skill and dexterity to defeat. Beyond even this, Infinity Gene has twelve inherent bonus stages that unlock through the evolution level-up system, as well as a challenge mode, with ninety-nine more stages. While the main mode’s stages and the bonus mode’s stages seem inspired and purposeful, presenting new ideas, enemies, bosses, and patterns into the game’s basic concepts, the challenge mode, regretfully felt more or less pointless, except to challenge to see how far one can play without continuing, or for those interested in obtaining the highest score possible.

Beyond this, there’s even more stages available in the game’s music based mode. One picks a CD or a piece of downloaded music, installs it on his or her PS3, and then plays a stage created from the song. The stage is roughly about the length of the song, though each stage I tried out was just a little longer, not including whatever boss might have popped up, and each stage seemed to be unique from the ten or so songs I tried. While the mode was fairly forgettable for the large majority of the songs I played, I can say there was a certain thrill to playing Infinity Gene to Ride of the Valkyries and Beethoven’s Fifth. (Hey, I’ve stated my interest in music is a little different compared to most.) As for how the process of how the stage is generated by one’s own music, I’ve no idea. The point is, it works, and provides a bit of an alternative for those growing a little weary of the game’s techno or sci-fi based music offerings.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene is a complete shoot-‘em-up experience. It’s got style, it’s got combos, it’s got ships, and it’s got stages. It isn’t missing much, and there isn’t anything holding the game back, either. While it can be a bit repetitive, and since there could definitely be a bit more balance between various ship weapons, overall, especially for $9.99 or 800 Microsoft points, the game is a must-buy for anyone who loves a shoot-‘em-up and is looking to challenge his or her self.