Picture this: you are a scientist working in a massive laboratory. Due to an experiment gone terribly wrong, a rogue shapeshifting alien is infecting your colleagues and turning them into aliens one-by-one. You must figure out how to survive and escape.
No, this isn’t the plot of a new sci-fi movie; this is the Roblox game Incursion, created by Secondhand Studios!
Incursion is a game of aliens versus humans, and it’s the perfect blend between the classic survival genre and modern gameplay mechanics. Instead of just following a simple “good guys vs. bad guys” formula, you have sleep, hunger, and thirst bars you must replenish at various locations around the map. At the end of each round, the remaining survivors need to get to a specific point in-game to be rescued if they want to win. And if that wasn’t enough, certain aliens can also shape-shift into humans, making it an intense guessing game of who to trust!
Upon joining the game, you are placed in a futuristic metal and neon lobby area. You can check out the various stats billboards around the lobby, such as the highest scores in kills, wins, damage, and points. One of my favorite features in Incursion is the option to join a game-in-progress as a weaker alien, instead of having to wait for a new round to start. Once a fresh round begins, you spawn as a human unless you’re chosen as the alien. The alien’s job is to infect humans one-by-one while avoiding getting killed. The humans’ job is to survive and be rescued without getting taken over by the growing horde of aliens.
Is this a disguised alien or a human? You can never tell!
My first round playing, I spawn as a human in a cafeteria with two other scientists. Surrounded by food, I’m able to keep my hunger level up. Step…step…step… someone is approaching. We point our weapons at the large metal door as it whirrs open. It’s another human. My thirst level alarmingly low, I hunt the map in search of a water cooler or drinking fountain. Through the labyrinth of metal corridors and pristine laboratory equipment, I find myself in an office room with a water tank! I step over to the cooler to refill my thirst. Bang! Bang! Bang! I hear the sound of weapons and then silence… I turn around to a group of three aliens running towards me. As soon as I’m able to equip my handgun, they infect me. My screen turns a tint of hazy green as my avatar becomes an alien. Before I get the chance to find humans to infect, the round is over. “Aliens win! Better luck next time” flashes on my screen.
This sort of unpredictability is what keeps me wanting to play round after round. Maybe next time I’ll survive long enough to be rescued or spawn as an alien disguised as a human to fool the scientists! The possibilities of gameplay vary each time, but the intense fun of the game is consistent no matter which side you’re playing on.
Does this green complement my eyes?
All in all, Incursion is a thrilling genre-defying game that deserves every one of its current three million visits! You can check out the game below, and be sure to follow the lead programmer on Twitter @Haggie125 as well!