Line #91 VideoGame/AlienHominid


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AlienHominidImage.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:[[WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce You could poke him with a pillow]] and [[OneHitPointWonder kill him.]]]]
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4	''Alien Hominid'' is a 2-D Side-scrolling ActionGame that originated on {{Platform/Newgrounds}}. The flash version seen on the site was programmed by Creator/TomFulp and designed by Dan Paladin, who would later create the indie game development team Creator/TheBehemoth. It was later made into a multi-platform game in 2004 through 0~3 Entertainment and is well known among gamers and the Newgrounds community.
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6	This game stars a [[LittleGreenMen little yellow alien]] who has crash-landed on Earth, and tries to escape the clutches of the FBI, [[GloriousMotherRussia Communist Russians]] and Area 51 agents to get home. Fat Kids help him along the way, [[ExcusePlot but the story doesn't get much more complex than that.]] The gameplay is reminiscent of games like ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'', with the player being a OneHitPointWonder that runs through wave upon wave of enemies to reach the bosses at the end of each level. It also contains a few mini-games. Overall, the game has been very well received by critics.
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8	The original flash version is available [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/59593 here.]]
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10	On January 30, 2020, The Behemoth released the trailer for a co-op action game that serves as a sequel and reboot: ''Alien Hominid: Invasion''. A demo would be made available at the PAX East and EGX Rezzed gaming conventions, however the convention was cancelled and the game was delayed... eventually releasing on November 1, 2023.
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12	In the meantime, in August 2023, a HD remaster of ''Alien Hominid'' was announced for modern day consoles and PC. It was also released on November 1, 2023.
13	----
14	!!The original game (and HD remaster) provides examples of:
15	* AccidentalHero: Not too long after escaping from the FBI, Alien Hominid accidentally saves the U.S. when his ship flew into a missile that was heading to there sent by the Soviets at just the right moment.
16	* AdjustableCensorship: There is a "Gore" option in the options menu. Disabling it will replace all blood with flowers, and finishing the first level with gore disabled unlocks a crown of flowers as a hat.
17	* AIBreaker: In the original flash game, crawling.
18	* AlienAnimals: Tundersnaps are a blue mutant/alien canine-like creature found at the beginning of the Area 51 base. [[AngryGuardDog They attack the Hominids but not the guards.]]
19	* AlienBlood: The titular character bleeds green, while the grey alien bleeds black.
20	* AliensAreBastards:
21	** ZigZagged. The title character is only slaughtering the FBI Agents because they're trying to kill them, and also because they wanted to get his spaceship back. And in Area 2-1, the alien instinctively sliced two KGB operatives up when they are checking up on them. However, the Hominid isn't particularly nice, owing to their "response" to a Grey alien who only wanted a handshake.
22	** Inverted. When the Grey alien shows up in person in 3-1, he is actually friendly towards the titular Hominid (who is a fellow alien like him) and offers a handshake with them. He only opted to attack because the Hominid chose to violently reject his friendly offer by shooting him and the Grey retaliated in defense.
23	* AlternateHistory: ''Invasion'' reveals that the timeline is set in 2004, and the KGB are still active in Russia, implying that the USSR is still a functioning nation in the new millennium (they use the hammer and sickle flag). The real life KGB is dissolved in 1991, the same year the USSR collapsed, and is succeeded by the FSB.
24	* AmbidextrousSprite: The Hominid will hold its gun with its left or right hand depending on which way it faces.
25	* AndYourRewardIsClothes: A wide variety of hats, wigs and headwear is unlockable.
26	* ArcVillain: Boris, and the KGB in general, are the main antagonists throughout most of the game's second setting in Russia (mainly 2-1 through 2-5).
27	* ArtEvolution: The original Flash game looks much rougher, as was typical of other Flash games of the era. This game features updated artwork where the character lines and animations are much smoother and fluid, and the FBI agents[[note]]The KGB were originally present in the Flash version's files before they went unused, and the US Military were not present at all[[/note]] were given broader-shoulders instead of being slightly lean.
28	* Area51: The setting for levels 3-1 to the end. Though the first two take place in the desert outside.
29	* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: One of the bosses is a giant blob of radioactive ''pudding''.
30	* AutoScrollingLevel: Most of level 2-4 scrolls horizontally and a portion of level 2-5 scrolls vertically.
31	* BackgroundBoss: The second-to-last boss sits in the background the entire time.
32	* BadassAdorable: The title character.
33	* BadBoss: Boris throws his own minion at the alien when the two run out of barrels to throw, leaving him a red puddle.
34	* BeamSpam: The Photon Burst powerup can shoot many short energy bursts in one shot. And being a run n' gun game, the player can do this themselves normally with their regular gun, depending on how many times they want to press the "shoot" button in a row.
35	* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: The giant yeti in level 2-2. Freeing him will make him give the alien a ride on his head while the player controls the yeti through a portion of the level, all while crushing sniper outposts with his bare hands and eating mooks.
36	* BossArenaIdiocy: Shooting at the fire hydrant directly underneath Baron Butterscotch is the only way to damage him during the boss fight. Since he covers the hydrant frequently, one has to wonder what's stopping him from covering his one weakness ''all the time''.
37	* BossOnlyLevel: 3-5; the game's final level.
38	* CarFu: Level 1-2 takes place on a highway where the aliens can steal moving cars that they are standing on and ram them into even more cars.
39	* TheCameo: Tricky the Clown [[note]]NOT the one from ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat''.[[/note]] (a character from a NSFW Newgrounds animation) can be seen in a holding cell in the Area 51 base.
40	* ChargedAttack: The Hominid's gun can charge for a stronger blast by holding the shoot button, which is available from the get-go.
41	* ColorCodedCharacters: Black/gray for the FBI agents, red for the KGB soldiers, and green for the Area 51 guards.
42	* ColorCodedElements: Orange for the Fire Shot, Blue for the Ice Ray, and (if you want to count it as an elmental) green for the Acid Blast.
43	* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: No matter how many times you wait when you allow the Grey to approach the Hominid and offer a handshake as a friendly gesture, you can't progress past the end of 3-1 until you shoot him, forcing a boss battle.
44	* CyberCyclops:
45	** A one-eyed robot is the boss at the end of the first level. Near the end of the game that robot's eye comes back in a much bigger body for a tougher fight.
46	** The KGB also have a cyclops of their own, that looks a lot like the first boss.
47	* DamageSpongeBoss: Almost every boss in the game just needs to be shot at until its health reaches zero, though most of them require you to keep hitting them in certain areas for more challenge.
48	* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[spoiler:The FBI's Install Ball at the end of 3-4.]]
49	* DenialOfDiagonalAttack. Aliens can shoot up, down and in front of them while running, but not shoot diagonally. The closest you'll get is the Spread Shot powerup.
50	* DiesDifferentlyInTheAdaptation: In the console versions, the final boss dies by being blasted off of his own UFO and presumably dying a DisneyVillainDeath. In the GBA version, which only includes the first phase of the fight rather than the three in the console versions, his head explodes in a shower of alien viscera instead.
51	* DirtyCommunists: The main enemy in stages 2-1 to 2-6 are antagonistic Soviet soldiers. Worth noting that they tried to blow up the United States with a missile before the Alien accidentally flew into it.
52	* DisintegratorRay: The Megu Cannon powerup basically turns the normal shots into a mini sun, leaving only skulls behind for any mooks caught in it. The Photon Burst also makes enemies puff into smoke while the Acid Blast… guess.
53	* TheDogBitesBack:
54	** As revenge for being bullied by the FBI, the Fat Kids decide to give Alien Hominid powerups.
55	** A chained yeti in 2-2, presumably intended for use as a weapon by the KGB, instead gets freed by you and goes on a brief player-controlled rampage against them.
56	* DramaticSpotlight: Alien Hominid is sitting alone under a spotlight in the game's Game Over screen.
57	* DropInDropOutMultiplayer: A second player can join in and out at any time.
58	* EasyModeMockery: You get 99 continues on [[EasierThanEasy thumbsucker mode]], but you cannot go past either level 1-3 or 1-5, depending on the console version you have, until you choose a harder difficulty.
59	* EliteMooks: A bunch of these exist, notably the jetpack-wearing ones and the flame/ice-thrower ones. In the third set of levels, the Area 51 agents are a little more tougher than the FBI and soviets before them. For one thing, they are not as fazed by seeing the Alien eating their comrades. Given where they work, who would be?
60	* EveryCarIsAPinto: The cars explode into nothingness when they take too much damage, all of them. Of course, this is done for the sake of having some difficulty in 1-2 by destroying a possible platform, and the cars need to disappear to keep the action going.
61	* ExplosionsInSpace: Everything in the space battles blow up when shot.
62	* EyelessFace: All of the KGB type enemies except Boris are drawn without eyes entirely, at least until a facial expression is needed. The robot Bustletron also doesn't have any eyes.
63	* EyeObscuringHat: The Vietnamese Hat obscures the alien's eyes.
64	* FBIAgent: The main enemies in 1-1 through 1-5.
65	* FeatheredFiend: The hawk and giant vulture enemies.
66	* FinalBoss: [[spoiler: The Alien Prisoner, a beefier version of the playable aliens.]]
67	* FunnyAfro: One of the unlockable hats is a round black afro.
68	* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Several of the bosses and minibosses in the game have nothing to do with the FBI or the soldiers, at least not always intentionally, and just show up. Including a giant monster made of pudding which was made by accident.
69	* GoForTheEye: Shooting the eye is required to beat the boss at the end of 1-1. Later, that same eyeball (called the Install Ball) shows up in a much larger robot body, same weakness.
70	* GoryDiscretionShot: Boris the Soviet Leader dies like this — he gets [[HoistByHisOwnPetard carried away by a giant eagle he attracted earlier in an attempt to kill Alien Hominid]]. It drops him on a ConveyorBeltOfDoom, which moves him towards a giant buzzsaw. Just right before he touches it, the scene shifts back to Alien Hominid.
71	* TheGreys: The boss of 3-1.
72	* GrievousHarmWithABody: Human enemies can be picked up and thrown, usually resulting in gibs for the thrown enemy.
73	* GroinAttack: Most ducking shots will result in mooks covering their crotches.
74	* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: The Laser Pulse can cut humans in half, also the alien himself if attacked by some bosses like the one with the hammer and sickle.
75	* {{Hammerspace}}: The Hominid's gun is always on person, but where does he pull that knife from when he doesn't wear clothes?
76	* HateSink: The FBI are shown to bully kids and attempted to kill our alien hero for essentially being an alien.
77	* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
78	** At the start of Level 2-5, Boris (the Soviet leader) scatters birdseed on the ground, which attracts giant eagles that kill you by grabbing and eating you if you ''touch'' them. Immediately after that is a ConveyorBeltOfDoom with giant moving buzzsaws mincing anything on it (which you have to move under). After his defeat, Boris tries to get away from you via parachute, only to be grabbed by one of the eagles he attracted, which drops him on the conveyor belt. Stunned, he moves towards the buzzsaw… Cue GoryDiscretionShot.
79	** This level also involves Boris attempting to pull this on ''you'', by using [[spoiler:your fully-upgraded spaceship]] against you. Though thankfully, he never quite gets all the guns running.
80	* HollywoodAcid: The Acid Blast powerup instantly disintegrates normal mooks. Though the Hominids do fire a ''crap ton'' of it with every burst.
81	* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: The easiest difficulty level is called "thumbsucker".
82	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Subverted in the original Flash version, which give you [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential an option to shoot the first Fat Kid you encounter]]. Played straight in the console versions, where they'll just dodge all your shots.
83	* KilledOffScreen: We don't get to see Boris shredded by the giant saw after he falls on the conveyor belt, but we hear the gory shredding sounds when the screen cuts back to the player(s).
84	* KillerRabbit: The small sharkfinned {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s in one of the Area 51 levels, known as Digestors. When freed, they walk around a bit before hopping onto a guard for a few seconds, then they vomit out some teal colored… liquid and the only thing left of the mook are their legs and a bloody spinal cord.
85	* KillerRobot: Many bosses and minibosses are robots or mechs. All of which try to kill the players.
86	* KillItWithFire: The Fire Shot shoots a large blast of fire. There's also an enemy that uses a flamethrower.
87	* KillItWithIce: The Ice Ray freezes enemies. They'll explode after a while but you can shoot them again to disintegrate them or slash them with the knife. Like the above there's also an enemy variant of the flamethrower that shoots ice instead.
88	* KingMook: The leader of the Soviet Soldiers counts, as Boris basically looks like a larger version of them.
89	* LudicrousGibs: Body parts will be flying all over in this game. You'll mostly see it when the charged shot tears mooks to a mess.
90	* MadeOfIron: Exaggerated example. In 2-1, Boris shows up, on-foot, to unveil the boss of that stage (a giant flying robot carrying a hammer and sickle), and this is the only time you can attack him. Not only he can take [[VideoGame/MetalSlug Morden-levels]] amount of punishment that you dish out to him, but he ''never'' flinches, even as you rain down energy bullets (or special weapons) on this guy.
91	* MadeOfPlasticine: The FBI, Soviet Soldiers and Area 51 Guards. These humans get easily sliced in half with a knife, and only take one shot before going down -- by contrast, a desert scorpion takes three while a beefy bird takes several to go down.
92	* MatryoshkaObject: Partway through the fight with the robot bear, you have to fight against four robot bears based off Russian Dolls that split into smaller robot bears when defeated.
93	* TheMenInBlack: At the beginning of the game, the FBI agents try to cover up the crash landing by taking the alien's ship, literally sweeping away the evidence and (depending on the version) one agent walking by with a sign that says [[MoveAlongNothingToSeeHere "NOTHING TO SEE HERE."]]
94	* MercyInvincibility: Players are invulnerable for a few seconds after respawning (easy mode gives an extra shield), but the game will not hesitate to kill you through a stray projectile the instant you become open again.
95	* MiniBoss: The game has many smaller bosses in between nearly all levels, too many to list.
96	* MilitarySalute: One of the Fat Kids does a hand salute [[spoiler:to the alien right before they send him off back into space]].
97	* MirrorBoss: [[spoiler:The final boss is a super-buff version of the Alien Hominid with better attacks, a giant version of your spaceship and a lot more health than you.]]
98	* MookHorrorShow: Eating the head of an FBI agent or Soviet soldier invariably causes nearby ones to freak out for a few seconds. It doesn't work nearly as well on the Area 51 personnel, as noted under EliteMooks above.
99	* NoBodyLeftBehind: Most of the mooks (and very few bosses) leave behind a corpse when killed. Averted for a few who are stationary, such as ones coming out of the sewer grates or positioned in sniper outposts.
100	* NoNameGiven: Technically, the Alien Hominid is not the creature's actual name, but it doesn't really go by anything else.
101	* OhCrap: The antagonists many times over the course of the game, such as when an alien is about to jump on their head.
102	* OneHitPointWonder:
103	** The Alien Hominid and various mooks. Getting a powerup gives you a shield that lets you take an extra hit, but good luck keeping it. A few attacks, such as getting knocked down by a soldier, only stun you momentarily, but you will still lose your shield if you have one.
104	* OneHitPolykill: Possible with the charge shot or various weapon power-ups.
105	* OneManArmy: The alien(s) shoot through hordes of enemies to get back their ship. Though to be fair, [[DownplayedTrope gameplay-wise the aliens will most likely end up dying themselves quite a bit.]]
106	* OffWithHisHead: The aliens can bite the heads off of agents and soldiers that they jump on to, which will leave other enemies seeing it stunned and open.
107	* PistolWhipping: Human enemies will sometimes try to use their guns to knock the player down. Unlike every other attack in the game, this doesn't kill them, however.
108	* PowerUp: Seven in total. The [[KillItwithFire Fire Shot]], [[BeamSpam Photon Burst]], [[WaveMotionGun Megu Cannon]], [[CleanCut Laser Pulse]], [[KillItWithIce Ice Ray]], [[HollywoodAcid Acid Blast]] and SpreadShot
109	* PreFinalBoss: The Install Ball you fought in 1-1 returns and is the boss for level 3-4 in a new body. After its defeat, the next chapter is the game's final fight.
110	* PuzzleBoss: One of the bosses in the final stages is a "Simon Says" type boss. You have to shoot the colour in the correct order, each round adding an extra. Get the wrong colour? You get shocked and die, and have to repeat the whole process again.
111	* RammingAlwaysWorks: One of the moves for the 2-5 boss is for them to fly off screen and ram the ship into the alien(s) from one side of the screen to the other. [[spoiler:''The Hominid's'' ship, mind you.]]
112	* RayGun: The alien's main weapon of the game.
113	* {{Retraux}}: The Soviet Missile Mastar minigame was made to look like an old and simple 8-bit Atari game.
114	* SandWorm: Though it's more of a centipede-like thing with a few tiny legs, a large creature that digs under the sand is a miniboss in level 3-1. There's another green wormlike creature that eats all who tries to bury themselves underground in the next level.
115	* ScaryScorpions: The desert level has them. They can take more damage than '''a normal human being'''.
116	* SchmuckBait:
117	** Occasionally, you'll see little flowers in the ground. Digging directly under them will give you an extra life. One of these is located in a level where digging underground will get you chomped by a monster. Go ahead, try getting the flower and see how that works out.
118	** Mooks that wield flame throwers and freeze guns are just as vulnerable to being dragged onto the ground as the standard mooks. Just try them out though and....
119	* SetAMookToKillAMook: Human enemies usually avert friendly fire unless the Hominid is riding on one of their heads, meaning the shot meant for the player kills the mook instead.
120	* ShiftingSandLand: The first two levels of the Area 51 chapter takes place in the Mojave Desert outside the base.
121	* ShoutOut: Level 1-3 has various street signs, with one of the signs having the word "VideoGame/{{Pico}}," in it, referencing another of Tom Fulp's works; the ''VideoGame/{{Pico}}'' series. Others are scattered throughout the game.
122	* SimonSaysMiniGame: The miniboss in 3-5 is a version of this where you have to shoot colored orbs in the order they light up in. The player gets electrocuted if they get a color wrong and have to start over from the beginning.
123	* SinisterShades: Worn by all of the FBI and Area 51 enemies.
124	* SparedByTheAdaptation: The first Fat Kid you encounter in the console game can not be killed (or any of them for that matter), unlike the original Flash game.
125	* SpectacularSpinning: The Bustletron now spins his arms in a 360 motion, instead of simply flailing it like in the Flash original.
126	* SpreadShot: One of the temporary powerups, resulting in three shots instead of one.
127	* TacticalSuicideBoss: In the Cyber Cyclops' second boss battle, its eye is only vulnerable to attack when firing.
128	* ThrowTheMookAtThem:
129	** It is possible to give human enemies this treatment after jumping on top of their heads.
130	** Boris tries this towards the end of 2-4, with the minion that was following him throughout the second chapter.
131	* TopHeavyGuy: All of the human enemies, and a few bosses, have tiny legs in comparison to their torsos.
132	* TractorBeam: The Hominid's ship has one. [[spoiler:As does the final boss'…]]
133	* UnexpectedGameplayChange: Levels 1-5 and 2-6 are ShootEmUp levels.
134	* UniformityException: The two playable Hominids look identical, players can tell the ones they're controlling based on the hat they made them wear (or the lack of one).
135	* UpdatedReRelease: The HD version, featuring polished graphics and more minigames.
136	* VehicularTurnabout: At the end of 2-5, [[spoiler:Boris pilots the alien's own stolen ship and uses its weapons against them]].
137	* VictoryPose: The Alien Hominids do this or a victory dance after beating the end boss in most levels.
138	* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: There are plenty of ways to kill your foes, from plain-old shooting them to biting their heads off. Moreso though, there are plenty of ways to kill off your teammates in co-op mode, the best of which is in level 1-4. One player can get into the UFO, use the TractorBeam to capture their teammate, then ''drop them into a woodchipper''.
139	* VideoGameLives: Players start the game with ten and it's hard to get any more. Though different difficulty settings have different amount of how many times players can continue.
140	* ViolationOfCommonSense: You can die by staying underground too long. Doing this in a certain spot gives you a shark fin hat.
141	** An Area 51 level cranks this up. The first thing you see is an agent try to dig into the ground, only to sprout back up in the jaws of a giant worm and eaten. [[TooDumbToLive Guess what happens if you copy him.]] Especially noteworthy, as there's still [[SchmuckBait 1-up flowers in the level.]]
142	** In the same vein, usually you can dig underground to grab enemies and drag them under for a stealthy kill. Trying to do this with an enemy wearing volatile weaponry like a flamethrower causes it to explode and immediately kills both of you.
143	* VulnerableCivilians: Many cars will get destroyed in Level 1-2, with whoever was driving them flying onto the road. The FBI agents are more concerned with trying to kill the aliens.
144	* WalkingTank: Some soldiers use these in certain parts of the Area 51 base. A player can also take control of an empty one when they get to it.
145	* WarmUpBoss:
146	** The boss of level 1-4. '''[[AttackItsWeakPoint WARNING: DO NOT DAMAGE HEAD]]'''. He was much harder in the flash game, though.
147	** In both the console releases and the original flash game, the first mid-boss easily qualifies. This boss has an extremely simplistic and obvious pattern with easy-to-dodge attacks.
148	* WhackAMonster: The electric sockets MiniBoss.
149	* WildTake: The FBI and Soviets after seeing their comrades' heads bitten off. Not so much the Area 51 Agents, though.
150	* WingdingEyes: When the Alien Hominid dies, his eyes turn into X's, the Fat Kids gets the same treatment if you shoot them.
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Context VideoGame / AlienHominid