iPhone App: Alien Abuse
= 3 stars
The classic action game Abuse comes to the iPhone. Move an armored soldier through a subterranean maze and battle scary aliens with a variety of weapons in this sci-fi action shooter.
The Good
- Since the aliens resemble the baddies from the Alien movies, the game promises spooky thrills and largely delivers. Increasingly difficult level design creates a feeling of claustrophobia packed with tense moments and scary surprises.
- The default controls with a d-pad on the left and a fire button on the right are a bit iffy, but thankfully there’s a setting for two d-pad controls — movement on the left and firing on the right, allowing you to fire behind while running forward. This is a better simulation of the original game where the mouse was used for targeting.
- “Extras” provides some shorter levels where you can get right into the killing and not so much the progressive, maze exploration aspect.
The Bad
- Can’t return to the main menu from a game in progress.
- Sometimes frustrating controls — this is one of those games where it’s difficult to center yourself beneath a ladder to climb, or you get “stuck” in a certain place and have to jump randomly to escape.
- Some serious lag issues when tons of aliens appear on the screen.
Conclusion
Despite my complaints, I’ve enjoyed playing Alien Abuse, mostly because of the low price: 99 cents. Here’s hoping there will be an update to tweak the controls, because there’s a solid game beneath.
iTunes App Store Link: 
The PC classic action game Abuse comes to the iPhone. Move an armored soldier through a subterranean maze and battle scary aliens with a variety of weapons. The baddies resemble aliens from the Alien movies.…
help, im stuck on level 14, in a pit… How do i get out?
Hi there,
I am the producer of the original Abuse game, and Alien Abuse did not license the Abuse trademark, the sound effects, nor the registered levels (all after level 5). We kept those rights, because based on the shareware model, that is the only way we get paid. We have not seen a penny from the sales of Alien Abuse so far, and this has been very distressing to me and to the other original authors.
Alien Abuse has finally been taken down from the US App Store, but we understand it is still available on the international App Stores.
We’ve now released the official version, Abuse Classic, on the US App Store:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/…
I understand if you have already purchased Alien Abuse why you might not want to purchase Abuse Classic, as it’s a very similar version, both being essentially ports of the original, but I certainly speak on behalf of the whole team in saying that we would really appreciate your support.
Thanks!
I purchased Abuse Classic, and I did want to purchase Alien Abuse as well. Where can I get Alien Abuse now that it has been removed from the app store? I understand why it was removed. I am just a big Abuse fan.