Alien Nations

Alien Nations is a strange game, but is none the worse for it. Aimed at the younger gamer, the content is highly inoffensive and the whole game is bathed in a rosy, Disney-style, glow. More cynical gamers should go back to their shoot 'em ups, this one is for the nice gamer next door.The style is similar to Age of Empires in that the user has to build up a city from scratch. There are many different sorts of inhabitants in this town and older users will have great fun building police stations and sending home-grown policemen out to club robbers over their heads. Even so these miscreants always seem to "come quietly", without any sign of violent resistance.Other amusing features are weird building types such as a house of ill repute, which may or may not seem strange to gamers until they realise that the clientele are all wasps! A very odd game, but strangely enthralling. --Paul Munford