Introduction
Prepare for a battle of a life-time. Alien Crusader is an action packed, vertical scrolling, space shooter game, similar to classic coin-up arcade and shoot'em up games, but with improved gameplay, graphics and sound. It is free-to-play and features online high-scores and game statistics. Play to become a hero as you fight your way into the high-scores.
Mission
The galaxy is under attack! You are a human pilot that has gained access to a secret prototype alien fighter! You are up against a whole fleet of evil alien invaders and have to visit different planets, solarsystems and asteroid fields, to ultimately fight and defeat the aliens, free the galaxy, save planet earth and the entire human race. Sounds easy?! Rest assured it won't be!!

Alien Crusader contains 25+ beautiful levels. Travel through interstellar spacescapes, fight your way through asteroid fields, defeat the secret alien bases and shoot down the alien motherships, to finally reach the aliens planetary ground base. Through the game you collect Spacecoins that you can use to buy weapon and technology upgrades between missions. New weapons are unlocked as you play and improve your skill level.
How To Play
You control your spaceship using either a connected game controller or keyboard.

Controller: Use the analog or digital controls to move your spaceship. Use Button A to Shoot, button B to Bomb, button X to fire Rockets, and button Y to activate Platinum Elite options.

Keyboard: Use the Left Ctrl key to Shoot, Spacebar to drop Bombs and the Shift key fire Rockets (or alternatively Z, X, C). Right Ctrl or alternatively the V key, activates Platinum Elite options.




Main Menu
When starting the game, the first screen you are presented with is the Main Menu. Selecting Start Game displays a stage selection menu for choosing your mission. You can also view your Profile, which will show all statistics for your played games, your current weapon upgrades, etc. To upgrade your weapons, or to buy add-ons, you can enter the Shop. From the Main Menu you can also view the online High-scores, and tweak graphics and sound options in the Options menu. Finally, Quit will close and exit the game. While the mouse cannot be used in-game, it can be used to navigate the menus.


In-Game On-Screen-Display
When playing the game, the on-screen-display changes to show gameplay information. The upper right corner always shows the current high-score, so you can monitor if you are close to beating it.


The top-left most corner shows your current status, including your current Score, your Steam Username, the total amount of Spacecoins in your possession, and the number of Lives you have left:

The bottom-left corner shows weapon information. Here you can see how many upgrades you currently have for each weapon type: Vulcan, Cannon and Rocket, as well as the number of Bombs you have left. When starting out and playing for the first time, your ship is only equipped with the Vulcan Laser. Special attention should be paid to the Weapon Gauge meter, which will decrease whenever you shoot Vulcan/Cannon or fire Rockets. When fully depleted, you have to stop shooting for the gauge to recover. If you shoot regardless, your firepower will be limited. Once recovered, a sound alert will be played and you can start shooting again.

Power-Ups
Throughout the game you can customize your ship with weapon upgrades that you collect. Choose between the Vulcan Laser (V), the Pulse Cannon (C), Heat Seeking Rockets (R). If you die, you loose the weapon upgrades you have collected. The weapon can overheat, so make sure that you release your trigger finger when the Weapon Gauge reaches zero to let it recharge. You can also collect extra Plasma Smart Bombs (B). These bombs are handy to clear the screen from enemies when you get cornered. By default you start our with only 3 bombs, so use them wisely.


Vulcan(V): Vulcan is a forward shooting laser blaster fired using the default Shoot button. It automatically targets enemies and obstacles in front of the ship, both in space and at ground level. Every Vulcan Upgrade adds two extra blasters to the ship, but also lowers the load on the Weapon Gauge. In addition, Platinum Vulcan upgrades boosts their firing frequency as well as their damaging power.

Cannon(C): The Pulse Cannon is an auto-aiming laser blaster, fired using the default Shoot button. It automatically seeks out and shoots nearby enemies, rockets and obstacles. Upgrading the Cannon boosts the firing frequency, as well as its damaging power.

Rocket(R): Rockets are smart, auto-aiming and heat seeking rockets, fired using the Rocket button. While slower than laser blasters, they offer much heavier impact damage. Upgrading the rockets boosts their damage and lowers the load on the Weapon Gauge, so you can fire more rockets before depletion.

Bomb(B): Bombs are extremely powerful Plasma-Smart-Bombs that should be used sparingly. Triggering a Bomb will issue a Plasma Megablast that in most cases will clear the screen from smaller enimies and obstacles, and inflict major damage to larger enemy spacecrafts. Triggering a bomb also fully recharges the Weapon Gauge. Bombs are in limited supply, so it is a good idea to have some handy for when things get rough.

Scoring, Spacecoins and Profile
The aliens attack in formations of 3 to 4 fighters. When you shoot an entire formation, you gain a Chain Kill. This gives you more points and also spawns items you can collect. On some stages you will meet a Boss: A larger alien ship that has special powers and will do everything it can to destroy you. You have to defeat the Boss to complete the stage. Once a boss appears, the on-screen-display will show its energy bar. Killing a boss is difficult and you will have to target and shoot individual parts of the boss, before it takes damage.

The high-score leaderboard enables you to compete against your friends all over the world. You can always practice the higher stages once they have been reached by selecting them in the Start Game menu, but only games started from Stage 1 can result in a high-score entry. The game collects statistics about your games, so check your profile to see your total number of kills, boss kills, chain kills, etc. Here you can also see your overall skill level and your weapon upgrades. Items in the shop will unlock as your skill level increases.

When playing the game, you collect Spacecoins. The more chain kills and boss kills you make the more coins you collect. Between games the coins can be used to permanently upgrade your spaceship with more weapons and technology in the Shop, so it is important to collect as many as possible.

After each stage you are rewarded a bonus which is calculated from the percent of the stage that was cleared, number of enemies killed, number of option kills, number of chain kills, number of bombs left, and number of boss kills. Achieving a good bonus is key to getting a good score.

For accurate scoring and game progress, the game needs to be connected to the Internet at all time.


Premium Upgrade and Platinum Power-Ups
Upgrading to Premium membership gives full access to all 25+ stages, rewards you with an extra 100.000 (100K) Spacecoins and unlocks Infinite continues and the Two-Player Co-Op mode, allows access to extra Platinum Elite Options and lets you keep all high-score achievements. You can upgrade to Premium inside the Shop.

The Platinum Power-Ups options are only available In-Game, but they can be previewed in the Shop. There is one for both Vulcan, Cannon, and Rocket that each modify their behaviour so your weapons become even more powerful. Shoot faster, give more damage, and/or targets the enemies faster. Be careful though. If you die, the collected Platinum upgrades are lost and you need to collect them again.

Upgrading to Premium also unlocks the Shops Platinum Elite Options. These are extremely powerful weapon and spaceship upgrades that appear in-game from time to time, and once collected can be triggered at will. The Elite Options include Shield(S), Invisibility (I), Hologram (H), Quad Damage (Q), and Time Warp (W). Once collected, you can trigger and have several Elite Options active at the same time. The Options time out after use.


Shield(S): Places a deflection orb around your spaceship, so you esentially become invinsible.

Invisibility(I): Makes your ship undetectable by the enemies. Be careful though, as the enemies can still get a good idea of where you are when you fire shots.

Hologram(H): Produces a hologram spaceship for twice the firepower! The hologram is mirrored in the x direction, but otherwise moves, shoots and gives damage to enemies just like you do.

Quad Damage(Q): All weapons gives four times damage (4x) for complete carnage.

Time Warp(W): Warps space and time, so that when you don't move, time goes slower. When you do move however, time returns to normal pace. Awesome for dodging bullets.

Shop and Skill Level
Inside the Shop you can preview and upgrade you spaceship with new weapons and technology. An upgrade is purchased using your collected Spacecoins, and is permanent so you will have it on all future missions.

Weapons are unlocked in the Shop as your progress in the game and improve your skill level. The more you play, the more enemies you kill, the higher the stage you reach, the more coins you collect, etc., the higher your skill level becomes. Whenever you complete a mission, or end up getting killed, you will be notified when you skill level increases. This usually means that the next time you visit the Shop, new weapons upgrades will be available.

Playing Alien Crusader is completely free for Standard membership. You can reach all stages and practice up to stage 10, although with limited continues. At any time you wish, you can upgrade to a Premium membership. Upgrading to Premium is a permanent, one-time action that is done inside the Shop. There you can also purchase extra Spacecoins in bundles of 20K, 50K, or 100K.

Two-Player Co-Op
A Two-Player Co-Op mode is available for Premium members, so you can enjoy the game with a friend. Simply plugin and extra controller, and click the 2 Player button in the lower right corner of the screen in the Start Game menu. Player 2 will always start with the same weapon configuration as Player 1.

Although not recommended (due to keyboard hardware jamming/ghosting issues), a two-player game can also be played with the keyboard. In that case the key configuration changes: Player 1 is Arrows and keys H,J,K and L. Player 2 is WASD and keys 1,2,3 and 4.

Graphics and Options
The game is targeted for 60Hz, and should run fine on a PC with a decent CPU and graphics card. However, if the game is running too slowly on your system, try lowering the graphics quality in the option menu. Here you can also change the sound and the music level. The game support both 720p and 1080p in either Windowed and Fullscreen mode (All VSynced). Steams Big Picture mode is also supported, of course with Full Game-Controller support.
Screenshots



Features Overview
  • Arcade-style Space shoot 'em up action.
  • 25+ Beautiful Levels.
  • Online Top-100 High-Score Leaderboard.
  • Full Game-Controller support.
  • 720p and 1080p Windowed, Fullscreen and Steam Big Picture mode support.
  • VSync for a smooth, consistent 60Hz framerate.
  • High Quality Graphics with Lensflares, Postfilters and Antialiasing.
  • Skill Level advances with updated online Stats and Profile.
  • Customize your weapons and upgrades to fit your play style.
  • Laser, Cannon and Rocket shooting modes.
  • End-of-level Big Bosses with shootable parts.
  • Chain-Kills that are rewarded with Spacecoins and Power-Ups.
  • In-Game only Platinum Power-Ups for boosting firepower.
  • End-of-level Stats and Bonuses.
  • Alien Mothership with shootable energy orbs.
  • Asteroid fields with destructable rocks.
  • Free Level selection for both Practice and High-Score Runs.
  • New Weapons are unlocked as skill level increases.
  • Dual Rocket, Dual Cannon, Spacecoin Magnet, Spaceship upgrade and More.
  • Smart Bombs for when cornered.
  • Non-bullet-hell, Consistently Hard, One Difficulty Level.
  • Accompanied by high-energy electronic music.
  • Separate Sound and Music volume controls.
  • Always-Online ensures accurate scoring and game progress.
  • Free-To-Play with Premium upgrade option.
  • Elite Power-Ups: Shield, Invisibility, Hologram, Quad Damage and Time-Warp. Premium
  • Hologram introduces a mirrored ghost ship for twice the firepower. Premium
  • Time-Warp slows down time for dodging bullets. Premium
  • Play 1 Player or 2 Player Local Co-Op. Premium
  • Infinite continues. Premium
Development
Alien Crusader is developed by Zydrone, an indie game company that specializes in games & entertainment for personal computers, game consoles and handheld devices. To learn more, please visit our website Zydrone.com. Alien Crusader is available for Windows, and exclusively available on Steam. Alien Crusader is Copyright © Zydrone.com. All Rights Reserved.