Alien Rampage

For the film, see Alien Factor 2: Alien Rampage.
Alien Rampage
Developer(s)Inner Circle Creations[2][1]
Publisher(s)Softdisk[2]
Designer(s)
  • Christopher Simms
  • James Simms[3]
Platform(s)MS-DOS
ReleaseDecember 30, 1996[1]
Genre(s)Run and gun
Mode(s)Single-player

Alien Rampage is a 1996 run and gun video game developed by Inner Circle Creations and published by Softdisk for MS-DOS.

Gameplay

The game was noted for its high level of violence.[4][5]

The protagonist is an alien named Krupok whose spaceship was destroyed by Untharian scavengers and has crash-landed on the surface of a planet. The objective is to locate the Untharian base and repair the spaceship.[6][7][8]

Alien Rampage is a side-scrolling run and gun game. There are 21 levels featuring parallax scrolling. The levels are divided into three "episodes", each containing seven levels. The shareware version includes the first episode.[9] The game features seven weapons (assault rifle being the starting weapon) which can be bought from an arms dealer as the player progresses in the game.[10][8]

Development and release

Alien Rampage was developed by Inner Circle Creations, a game developer founded in early 1995 by brothers Christopher and James Simms who lived in Louisiana at the time, the same state Softdisk was based in.[3] The game was originally developed by Apogee Software as Ravager until it was cancelled, sold to Inner Circle Creations, and renamed to Alien Rampage.[11][12][13][14] The shareware version was released on October 11, 1996.[7] The full version was released on December 30, 1996.[1] The game was available as a download and CD-ROM.[15]

Piko Interactive released an emulated version for Linux, macOS, and Windows in 2017.[16][17] The release uses the DOSBox emulator.[18] In 2024, the game was released on the Antstream Arcade streaming platform.[19]

Reception

In a preview, PC Top Player called the graphics attractive, the controls were compared to Prince of Persia. The game's appearance was said to be similar to Opera Soft's Sol Negro (1988).[22]

Hacker called the game imaginative but occasionally frustratingly difficult. The game was praised for its technical performance, for running smoothly on lower hardware specifications.[10] Computer Games Strategy Plus summarized: "this is solid, classic gaming, with fierce action, fun and diverse levels, and good control." The save system was remarked as annoying.[4] Next Generation called it a fun side-scrolling action game with excellent parallax scrolling, although they noted the game as somewhat outdated.[23] MikroBitti liked the graphics and the low system requirements but said the level design is too straightforward.[8] CD Expert said the graphics are conventional but are sufficient for portraying the game's scenery. The player character was noted for looking similar to the Predator alien from the film series.[24] PC Collector called it a fun platform game.[25] PC Team said the game's most unique feature is the high level of gore and violence. They noted the sound effects for enhancing the action effectively.[5]

In December 1997, the game ranked among the top ten most popular titles at Softdisk's online store.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Full Version of Top-Rated PC Game "Alien Rampage" is Released". Alien Rampage. Shreveport, Louisiana: Softdisk. 30 December 1996. Archived from the original on 4 May 1998. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b Inner Circle Creations (1996). Alien Rampage (MS-DOS). Softdisk. Level/area: Intro credits. A GAME BY: Inner Circle Creations, PUBLISHED BY: Softdisk Publishing
  3. ^ a b Simms, James; Simms, Christopher (31 December 1996). "About Inner Circle Creations". Alien Rampage. Softdisk. Archived from the original on 4 May 1998. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  4. ^ a b c D'Aprile, Jason (1997). "Action Review - Alien Rampage [online]". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on 5 June 1997. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Sélection DP - Alien rampage". PC Team (in French). No. 22. Posse Press. March 1997. p. 81. ISSN 1264-935X.
  6. ^ Inner Circle Creations (1996). Alien Rampage (MS-DOS). Softdisk. Level/area: Intro story screen.
  7. ^ a b "Shareware Version Of Ultimate Side-Scroll Action Game Is Now Available For Free Download From The Web". Alien Rampage. Shreveport, Louisiana: Softdisk. 11 October 1996. Archived from the original on 4 May 1998. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Kauppinen, Jukka O. (December 1996). "MBnet Pelit - Alien Rampage". MikroBitti (in Finnish). No. 12/96. Helsinki Media. p. 99. ISSN 0781-2078.
  9. ^ "Alien Rampage". DownloadStore.com. Softdisk. Archived from the original on 15 January 1998. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  10. ^ a b c Lauš, Krešimir (June 1997). "Igre: Alien Rampage". Hacker (in Croatian). No. 27. Janus Lingua d.o.o. p. 66. ISSN 1330-7126.
  11. ^ Stoddard, Samuel (30 September 2005). "The "Official" Apogee FAQ". 3D Realms. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  12. ^ Miller, Scott (30 January 2023). "Ravager was a game/team Apogee originally funded in 1994 but eventually decided to walk from". Twitter. X Corp. Archived from the original on 9 July 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025. The team finished it and released as Alien Rampage
  13. ^ Miller, Scott (30 January 2023). "One the of the two boxes that Apogee shipped games in". Twitter. X Corp. Archived from the original on 9 July 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025. [...] a platformer we later cancelled, called Ravager.
  14. ^ Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. University of Wisconsin–Madison. 21 November 1995. p. TM 259. SN 74-647,746 APOGEE SOFTWARE, LTD., GARLAND, TX. FILED 3-16-1995. RAVAGER. FOR COMPUTER GAME SOFTWARE (U.S. CLS. 22, 23, 38 AND 50).
  15. ^ "The full version of Alien Rampage is NOW AVAILABLE!". Alien Rampage. Softdisk. 26 November 1997. Archived from the original on 4 May 1998. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  16. ^ "Release: Alien Rampage". GOG.com. CD Projekt. 3 August 2017. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  17. ^ Estrada, Marcus (11 October 2017). "Alien Rampage Returns to PC After Twenty Years". Hardcore Gamer. Valnet. Archived from the original on 17 July 2025. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  18. ^ "Alien Rampage". GOG.com. CD Projekt. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2025. This game is powered by DOSBox.
  19. ^ Hutchinson, Diane (11 July 2024). "New To Antstream This Week: Alien Rampage & BurgerTime". Antstream. Archived from the original on 17 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  20. ^ D'Aprile, Jason (April 1997). "Action Reviews - Alien Rampage [print]". Computer Games Strategy Plus. No. 77. Strategy Plus, Inc. p. 76. ISSN 0955-4424.
  21. ^ "Softdisk PC Game 'Alien Rampage' Receives 4-Star Review by Computer Life". Alien Rampage. Shreveport, Louisiana: Softdisk. 23 June 1997. Archived from the original on 4 May 1998. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  22. ^ Novillo, A.J. (July 1996). "Share - Ravager". PC Top Player (in Spanish). Vol. 2, no. 12. Tower Communications. p. 68. ISSN 1135-3759.
  23. ^ "Alien Rampage". Next Generation. Imagine Media. 1996. Archived from the original on 26 October 1996. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  24. ^ "Bônus Expert - Alien Rampage". CD Expert (in Portuguese). Vol. 1, no. 7. p. 68. ISSN 1413-3466.
  25. ^ "Le plein de démos - Rampage". PC Collector (in French). No. 6. Cyber Press Publishing. January 1997. p. 25. ISSN 1270-4873.
  26. ^ "DownloadStore.com's Top Ten". DownloadStore.com. Softdisk. Archived from the original on 21 December 1997. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
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