"It's the only way to be sure."

I finally booted up Alien Swarm and started a run through the single player game. It's a blast.

It was harder than I thought to control, though I did get used to it pretty quickly. The sound is good, and the gameplay is spot-on. Everything about this thing evokes Aliens for me, which is a good thing.

In addition to the shoot-em-up action, you have to balance your resources. You are given eight marines at the start of the campaign - two of each class. As they gain experience, they will get more capable, but if they get wounded or die...

The game awards medals based on marine performance, as well as special bonuses for certain achievements. For example, If a marine kills 50 bugs without the assistance of any targetting devices, they get an automatic Accuracy skill increase.

The variety of weapons and equipment is good, and the weapon effects are a lot of fun. Aiming via the crosshair is excellent - if you put the crosshair over something that is above the marine, they will fire up to hit it, etc. I also enjoyed the 'Flashlight' attachment for the weapons. When the marine takes the flashlight, it is assumed to be attached to thier weapon - always pointed at the right place. (Doom 3, take note)

The marine AI is pretty good. They will stand thier ground and effectively engade targets that appear, and they will follow the player marine when ordered. The alien swarm AI is simplistic - charge! They have no ranged attack, so they basically, uh, swarm you. The only downside is that events seem to be heavily scripted. During the second mission, the fire team had bunkered up in a room with their sentry gun - mowing down bugs as they tried to 'get some'. Unfortunately, ammo is limited, and we were running out. I had three marines stand their ground, while I ran the fourth through the gauntlet looking for the exit. I found it, without any opposition. So I ordered the other three to follow the path. Of course, we were dogpiled as we ran along the same corridors. So I'm not sure scouting like that is going to be useful.

Oh, another cool touch? Friendly fire is always on. That right, make sure you set up those marines right, or the autocannon gunner either won't fire for fear of hitting his team leader, or he will fire, doing more damage than the bugs.

I can't wait to try the co-op multiplayer - eight marines under two commanders should be twice the mayhem.