Alien Swarm

 PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 457 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 331 out of 457
  2. Mixed: 106 out of 457
  3. Negative: 20 out of 457

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  1. Ciocolici
    Jul 31, 2023
    7
    Alien Swarm is an excellent game with loads of potential, but I must highlight that there is an even better and newer version available named Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop. It is also free and accessible on Steam. While both games are essentially the same, Reactive Drop offers numerous improvements, including additional campaigns, updates, PVP mode, and continued support. If you are a fan ofAlien Swarm is an excellent game with loads of potential, but I must highlight that there is an even better and newer version available named Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop. It is also free and accessible on Steam. While both games are essentially the same, Reactive Drop offers numerous improvements, including additional campaigns, updates, PVP mode, and continued support. If you are a fan of Alien Swarm, I highly recommend giving Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop a try.

    Now, returning to the original Alien Swarm, it's a prime example of how a fantastic game can be left to decay over time. Despite this, it still provides a pure, enjoyable experience, especially when playing with friends. Although there is only one official campaign, the community has created numerous fan-made campaigns that enhance the game's replayability.

    However, it's essential to note that the player population in Alien Swarm might be relatively low. This is due to the significant draw towards Reactive Drop, which offers more content and features, leading players to migrate to the newer version, which as I said, is pretty much the same game.

    In summary, Alien Swarm is undeniably fun, and I encourage trying it out, particularly for the official campaign and the fan-made content. But if you're seeking a more updated and enriched experience, don't hesitate to give Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop a shot, as it builds upon the foundation of the original game and provides a superior gameplay experience.    … Expand
  2. xalugg2
    May 5, 2023
    6
    O jogo e bem legal e a ideia e interessante mas a Valve poderia criar um segundo jogo
  3. Gliphy
    Mar 13, 2023
    8
    Интересная, но репетативная игра с видом сверху, которая очень напоминает Left 4 Dead, где приходится больше думать.
  4. xalugg
    Nov 30, 2022
    6
    O jogo e bem legal e a ideia e interessante mas a Valve poderia criar um segundo jogo
  5. Demon2017
    Jun 18, 2022
    5
    Довольно неплохая кооперативная мочиловка, но очень короткая и однообразная. Компания очень короткая, а пользовательские карты очень плохие.
  6. KevLooney
    Apr 29, 2022
    6
    The game has a very limited field of vision. It makes it difficult to know what is going on at any given moment. Added with friendly fire and the reliance on teammates the game can't get past a 6/10.
  7. Black_S
    Feb 28, 2022
    0
    Another success of Valve! Game which must be in every user library because it is so amazing. Well, NO thanks #GabeNewellMore. Valve "charity" isn't what I wanted, want now or ever will want. Ugly PR tricks from GabeNewellTurd and Valve, which without Steam will be closed an dead.

    #FreeGameIndustry #StopSteam
  8. TEG_17
    Feb 5, 2022
    7
    Красивый интересный кооп, поиграли с другов кайф.
  9. Artomer
    Jul 9, 2021
    8
    Very good and fun game that you can play with friends. Highly suggest you to try.
  10. matdimond
    Aug 10, 2019
    7
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  11. Termin8ter
    Apr 28, 2018
    7
    This game first caught my interest when I found out one of the devs of Narbacular Drop, the spiritual predecessor to the Portal franchise, worked on this game. So I looked into it. Basically, this game is Left 4 Dead except top-down, and has solid graphics thanks to Valve's Source engine. It's a good amount of fun, and is just as polished and well done as Valve's previous games. ItThis game first caught my interest when I found out one of the devs of Narbacular Drop, the spiritual predecessor to the Portal franchise, worked on this game. So I looked into it. Basically, this game is Left 4 Dead except top-down, and has solid graphics thanks to Valve's Source engine. It's a good amount of fun, and is just as polished and well done as Valve's previous games. It doesn't have an investing story or complex alternate approaches for every match like BF does, but it's still well done, polished, and fun. Give Alien Swarm a shot.… Expand
  12. SilentHightimes
    Jul 9, 2017
    6
    A fun short campaign all for free put it on hardcore with some friendly fire and play with a friend, makes it just right, a selection of different classes to use but always forced to use a tech class no matter what is a dumb idea.
  13. DebelaPrasica
    Jul 12, 2015
    10
    I have never played this game, however it is free. From what i have read it is an isometric shooter with alien bugs, which is amazing. Hopefully this review is helpful to those in need of such a great review. Thank you. Notice I have no misspelled words.
  14. debigman
    May 16, 2014
    6
    This game has a good back story, it is fun, challenging, and exciting for hours and hours. Unfortunately, the sound is awful and there is no single player,
  15. TheWhiteRose000
    May 15, 2014
    7
    A really fun game that is truly enjoyable in a multiplayer setting although I do hope they fix the Microphone issue soon that truly is annoying to play with friends and only get static.
  16. indirazzi
    Jan 28, 2014
    10
    The game shows you HD resolutioned graphics with online and offline co-op game mods.The game is wide view thirdperson but you can use firstperson using some console commands.Also On Steam Greenlit "Alien Swarm First Person now available to release. The Game supports customizable GUI like other Valve games (maps, huds etc).You should not spend your time reading more comments about game.The game shows you HD resolutioned graphics with online and offline co-op game mods.The game is wide view thirdperson but you can use firstperson using some console commands.Also On Steam Greenlit "Alien Swarm First Person now available to release. The Game supports customizable GUI like other Valve games (maps, huds etc).You should not spend your time reading more comments about game. Download it and play game!… Expand
  17. Meatoburrito
    Sep 19, 2013
    8
    I was recently introduced to this game with some friends, and its a blast.

    You can play though fine on lower difficulty with new people and has enough of a challenge for veterans. While a simple and small game, the controls are tight and the graphics vivid leaving me non butt-frustrated except when I goofed up. I would recommend this game to anyone with a couple of friends that    I was recently introduced to this game with some friends, and its a blast.

    You can play though fine on lower difficulty with new people and has enough of a challenge for veterans.

    While a simple and small game, the controls are tight and the graphics vivid leaving me non butt-frustrated except when I goofed up.

    I would recommend this game to anyone with a couple of friends that want a co-op experience.    … Expand
  18. NicePixel
    Aug 20, 2013
    7
    Alien Swarm is a great game, and I enjoy it. One this I don't like is that most enemies that you will see are the same. That's the only bad thing about this game that i saw.
  19. Grouchygaming
    Mar 9, 2013
    9
    A very good game the perspective from which you view your characters is great. Although, there aren't very many players playing this game you can easily play with 3 of your friends on your own dedicated server
  20. igor-qwe
    Feb 20, 2013
    10
    I remember "Alien Swarm" being announced the day before it's release. "Where is the next Half-life" question still makes gamers nervous, but back then it seemed like a big joke to release a game that nobody was expecting. Yet Valve never disappointed me, this time was not an exclusion. "Alien Swarm" is 3rd person action shooter that may be called a clone of "Alien Breed". Frankly speaking,I remember "Alien Swarm" being announced the day before it's release. "Where is the next Half-life" question still makes gamers nervous, but back then it seemed like a big joke to release a game that nobody was expecting. Yet Valve never disappointed me, this time was not an exclusion. "Alien Swarm" is 3rd person action shooter that may be called a clone of "Alien Breed". Frankly speaking, I would never pick up a game like that if it was not a product of such company as Valve. But it would worth any dollar.
    All levels of the game could be completed in less than an hour. But co-op experience and dynamic generating of alien hordes make each try a unique experience. Smart achievements, all of them I managed to unlock, added some more sense in replaying "Alien Swarm"
    The fact that the game is free of charge, makes me love it even more Needless to say, after release there were couple updates and that was all. The game was not supported any further by Valve, even developers never remembered it in any interview (it seems, everybody's mind is kept on HL, CS, TF, L4D and Portal). Try it, it is worth spending an evening on it.    … Expand
  21. t0bssu
    Jan 7, 2013
    8
    One of the best free games in Steam. Seriously worth loading and getting achievements to this is really fun. Valve should use some time for updates to this game because it's not bad at all. And quite many people play it.
  22. Rihfok
    Jul 17, 2012
    9
    A wonderful, fast-paced action shooter. Spent a total of 45 hours playing the game, sure, the number of missions is small, but their fun, and can be played over and over. Don't bother with easy difficulty - real men start with normal right away, and eventually climb to Insane, and those who have the guts - Brutal (which I passed only once from start to finish. Something of the negativeA wonderful, fast-paced action shooter. Spent a total of 45 hours playing the game, sure, the number of missions is small, but their fun, and can be played over and over. Don't bother with easy difficulty - real men start with normal right away, and eventually climb to Insane, and those who have the guts - Brutal (which I passed only once from start to finish. Something of the negative - flamethrower is the most viable weapon on higher difficulties, often incompetent team members, and the fact that so few people want to play medic that I'm probably one of the best medics around in the game now. Regardless, the game is free, and and you should make the most of it. You will not be disappointed.… Expand
  23. Cinetyk
    Jun 18, 2012
    9
    This is a very good and fun game to play with your friends! Heavily inspired by the 2nd Aliens movie, it takes all the best from that sci-fi Aliens-like lore. The execution of the game's storyline is nice and of the gameplay elements just brilliant, powered by the Source engine. It plays as a top-down view 4-player co-op tactical shooter. There are 4 well designed classes of marines, eachThis is a very good and fun game to play with your friends! Heavily inspired by the 2nd Aliens movie, it takes all the best from that sci-fi Aliens-like lore. The execution of the game's storyline is nice and of the gameplay elements just brilliant, powered by the Source engine. It plays as a top-down view 4-player co-op tactical shooter. There are 4 well designed classes of marines, each with its strengths and weaknesses: Sarge, Weapons Specialist, Tech and Medic. You'll need each of them, so the game inuitively encourages the co-op of 4 friends and is at its best in that. As you play and work together you will feel engaged and rewarded for cooperating and coordinating with each other. The campaign has a good pace with multiple missions and a nice variety of objectives and situations, like those you would expect from the Aliens series. Before each mission there's a briefing screen when you can review the map and objectives and select the best gear for it. There's also lots of weapons and items to unlock as you level up. There are some really nice touches, like being able to draw on the mission map with your mouse, either in the briefing or during missions, to help plan and coordinate strategies, or reviewing your performance after a mission with different charts and an animation of the teams progress on the map. Connecting your friends together in the same game is effortless via the main menu. It lets you create public or friend-only games and lists friends playing and friend-created games available, which you can join with a click - no dedicated servers needed nor ip details. The only downsides I found are that the in-game voice chat support had some noise and that there is only one official campaign. But you can always use skype for voice chat and there are more fantastic fan-made maps and campaigns, like for instance the MapPack 1.2 which you can easily find. All in all, an amazing free to play game with lots of fun to be had especially in a group of 4 friends.… Expand
  24. vicente
    May 25, 2012
    5
    Alien Swarm. Alien swarm started as a mod for unreal tournament 2004, until Valve hired those guys who created the mod and turned it to a full game (just like what Valve almost always does when making games - - most of them start out as mods). While I understand that Valve's games other than Half-Life are all but "fillers", or games for us play with while they make HL3, they really shouldAlien Swarm. Alien swarm started as a mod for unreal tournament 2004, until Valve hired those guys who created the mod and turned it to a full game (just like what Valve almost always does when making games - - most of them start out as mods). While I understand that Valve's games other than Half-Life are all but "fillers", or games for us play with while they make HL3, they really should be adding more support for them (yes, I made a conspiracy). I mean, why would you wait for a game that's really cool while playing a game with a lack of content and repetitive gameplay?
    Uh, yes, you could play Valve's other multiplayer games. They're good too.

    Alien Swarm can be quite fun at the start, but after that, that's just it! There's barely any customization (you can change your weapons, new weapons are given when a certain level is reached or when promoted), but after playing each class and level, you're done! That's just it! Do player-created maps help? Not really. There is no big alien variety, which is a HUGE disappointment. The lack of customization is a big downside, too. The playable characters/classes have bland personalities.
    The action intended in this game quite misses its goal. I've almost always felt bored playing this game.
    The theme and atmosphere is quite dull. I've never had the feeling of fear or sadness despite the game being dark and the occasional sight of body piles. (PDA's showing logs or journals of now-dead survivors didn't help either) They could've worked harder on that, it would make this game quite better.
    Why didn't this game get a lower score? Well, for a free game, the content here is fairly sufficient, and will be fun for.. well, not that long.
    Flaws aside, the leveling system is quite easy and fun, and there are quite interesting weapons like the Tesla cannon, the mining laser and others. Overall, this is not the best nor the worst around, and is best fun online and with friends, and the fact that this is a free game, it quite makes up for most of the flaws.    … Expand
  25. ScottReid
    Apr 28, 2012
    10
    Again, fantastic visuals from Valve. The gameplay is very, very fun (even more so with real players)

    It's free. So you can't complain. Infact, I don't see why you'd complain at all. I see nothing wrong with Alien Swarm (well, other than when you join a match you get the usual high-level snob with their remarks on how low your level is, so therefore you must be a bad player) That's not    Again, fantastic visuals from Valve. The gameplay is very, very fun (even more so with real players)

    It's free. So you can't complain. Infact, I don't see why you'd complain at all. I see nothing wrong with Alien Swarm (well, other than when you join a match you get the usual high-level snob with their remarks on how low your level is, so therefore you must be a bad player)

    That's not Valve's fault.    … Expand
  26. JamesHead
    Apr 26, 2012
    7
    It is a short but yet very good game to play with your friends. The only thing that made me wonder is why would you use a level up system to unlock stuff when the only way to gain level is to repeat the only campaign over and over again? The game is pretty solid, the animations are smooth and the gunplay is awesome. The content that can be unlocked is also pretty nice considering thatIt is a short but yet very good game to play with your friends. The only thing that made me wonder is why would you use a level up system to unlock stuff when the only way to gain level is to repeat the only campaign over and over again? The game is pretty solid, the animations are smooth and the gunplay is awesome. The content that can be unlocked is also pretty nice considering that Alien Swarm can be downloaded for free. So you should give it a shot, if it doesn't bug you that there is only one campaign...… Expand
  27. ChoicestGames
    Mar 3, 2012
    8
    A nice, little sci-fi co-op shooter game compliments of Steam - too bad it only comes with one campaign which you can finish in under an hour, but you can't complain about the price!
  28. Mushe
    Jan 17, 2012
    9
    This game has beautiful graphics / sounds pretty good and flashy (Use the Source Engine), promotes the game to continue playing with a system of rewards (Exp, Lev, Weapons, etc.) and Steam achievements. At the same time also to encourage replayability of these maps have a system that changes the location of the items and the spawn of vermin or other factors, to make each game differentThis game has beautiful graphics / sounds pretty good and flashy (Use the Source Engine), promotes the game to continue playing with a system of rewards (Exp, Lev, Weapons, etc.) and Steam achievements. At the same time also to encourage replayability of these maps have a system that changes the location of the items and the spawn of vermin or other factors, to make each game different from above. This very well optimized for the online and singleplayer. The CO-OP of the game is very good and very well done this is really interesting as they all depend on everyone. The only downside is that not much variety of maps (only 6 missions in a campaign), but the good thing is that you can add other mods using. And not forgetting the most important thing of this game, which is free, therefore it is extremely advisable to play it.… Expand
  29. Gerivaz
    Jan 4, 2012
    8
    When I found out about a free source-powered game with aliens, I immediately felt like giving it a try, since I love the whole half-life continuum and alien-themed games in general. The game wasnâ
  30. Firebad
    Dec 25, 2011
    9
    I liked the game, it was a long enough game to really sink some time into, while at the same time there was enough content in the game to unlock to keep it fresh, as well as give you goals to look for. the unlock-able content helped to make the game worth multiple playthroughs, and hey, even if it was awful, which it wasn't, you can't beat free.
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Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Best PC Game of 2010
32
#32 Most Discussed PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. MEGamers
    85
    Addictive. Fun. Community driven. Free. Where can it go wrong?
    Read full review
  2. Gameplanet
    85
    Simply put, anyone with a capable PC should download this and try it.
    Read full review
  3. Destructoid
    75
    Despite the issues of repetition and somewhat contrary design choices, Alien Swarm is an enjoyable shooter at an absolute steal of a non-price.
    Read full review
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