Alien Virus falls into the catagory of "Good idea, poor execution." The game could have really came together, but instead a shallow story, and too tedious command steps left me looking elsewhere. This title pits you as a space pilot who just came out of 'sleep mode,' only to find a lifeless spacestation populated by only one powerless robot. A mystery unravels as you power up the robot, and find out what happened. The graphics were clean, although a little lacking in animation for the quality. The sound was not anything spectacular, and could have used a little more upbeat, or dramatic score. Although no one single point dragged this title down, a combination of pitfalls should leave it on the shelf.
The basic system requirements on this title were a little refreshing -- only a 486 with 4MB ram, and a video card capable of 640x480x256. However, we were unsuccessful in getting the game to run under OS/2, or a Windows95 Dos box. Dropping Windows95 to Single tasking mode, or booting Dos solved the problem. No other real "hitches" were encountered.
Alien Virus could have been an excellent title. However, it just didn't have the overall captivating pull that it needs. The biggest pitfalls were the slow/too sensitive control interface, which can make things you want to happen almost impossible at times.
Graphics : 17/25
The rendered graphics were very clean, and appropriate to the mood of the game. However, there were too many still shots, and not enough animation.
Gameplay : 09/25
Here is where the game fell apart. The control interface allowed you to do many functions, however, it was almost impossible to get many of them to work. A small contact area on the action spots made many scenes frustrating.
Longetivity : 15/25
If you can get used to the control interface, the story line is mildly amusing. Enough to sit through.
Compatibility : 19/25
With the exception of not working under OS/2, this title seemed to be fairly generous on the systems that it works with.
Graphics : 17/25