Abduction Action!

Does anyone here remember the game Defender? 1980 arcade game, you're in a ship, you shoot aliens so they don't abduct your friends on the ground...you know, that one? I do, and I hated it. Looked like it'd be so much more fun to just capture Earthlings and blow stuff up than try to save the day. After playing Abduction Action, I can stand by my previous statement and provide proof in the form of said game.

Abduction Action, as you may have guessed, is a game where you're an alien and are sent to abduct humans and cows for the purpose of experimentation and probing. Well, you don't get to see that part, but hey you know it happens. Your objectives vary from stage to stage, ranging from abducting so many cows to dropping hostile locals from a few hundred feet up to defeating a fire-breathing mascot that looks like Tony the Tiger. Everything you do revolves around using a tractor beam to either capture the harmless or hold objects with the purpose of dropping them from a larger height.

I'm getting used to indie games not looking like their more expensive XBLA brothers, and so grading this one on the curve I'd put the visuals right smack dab in the middle. The humans are pretty tiny and, because of that, you really can't make them look all that detailed. Most of the time you're either looking at your UFO and maybe a rock or crate underneath it that's about to fall on a human or a tank. It should be noted, however, that I didn't find an ounce of slowdown anywhere, even while getting shot at by a platoon of farmers and a hick-filled pickup truck, and when you're having fun that's really what matters. The audio has a certain charm to it, filling your ears with cow moos and random dialogue from the Earthlings while you're tormenting them. After a couple hours of playtime, I still didn't feel annoyed with what they said, even though I'd heard a few select lines at least 50 times. Somehow, it didn't grate on my nerves like most repeated dialogue does, and that design deserves some applause. It should also be mentioned that your (the alien's) brother-in-law makes crap out of you the entire game in the form of giving you your tasks, and it's actually kinda funny. Developers take note: this little bit of presentation goes a long way toward making a game an enjoyable experience.

The game has a huge arcade feel to it, and luckily the controls work well to go along with that. Once you're used to the UFO's speed, you're dodging bullets or using objects to block them like a pro within no time. Picking things takes a little bit of time but is simple and not too long so that you feel helpless while trying, and since your entire game revolves around flying, picking up some humans and dropping objects on others, the controls do well.

The game only lasts four missions (plus a tutorial), though there's a challenging one-life-only Score Attack mode and some Awardments to go for while playing. You'll probably be done with the main campaign within 30 minutes, possibly earlier, and aside from said Awardments there's not much to get you back into the campaign. Score Attack is actually pretty addicting with its challenge, pushing you against each stage's boss (one at a time) along with all the little locals to kill or abduct.

All in all, I'd say you'd spend roughly two to three hours playing this before a good portion of the charm wears off. That said, it's definitely an entertaining time and well worth the 80 MS Points for those few hours of arcade-y fun, and I could see a lot of people enjoying the Score Attack mode even longer than that.