[Demo] Alien Strike - Blasting the Intruders

Today, we’re looking at demo version of Combo Game Studio’s Alien Strike - Blasting the Intruders(2026).

That’s some majestic 80s neon title screen along with the buildings and clouds. Steam recommends me to use controller but I insist on using the keyboard. Probably bad idea.

 

I immediately start new game with medium difficulty. When I see this character select screen, I immediately think of Metal Slug X and sequels. I see 2 possible slots on each corner, maybe there are unlockable character in full version? That be awesome. Anyway, I take Alan first because he has Ryu’s headband.

 

There’s no button tutorial on the game so I just peek the control setting furthermore I change it to standard WASD control because I’m no longer accustomed with arrow keys for movement.

 

From this screenshot alone, you should know that the game is pretty much Contra but not made by Konami. Everything speaks Contra here. The one-hit death system. The rolling jump. The Spreadshot. The space alien enemies. The prone position. Pretty much everything is homage to Contra.

 

Also, the climbing section. Goodness! This section reminds me research laboratory in Contra Hardcorps. One thing that may different from Contra is how generous this game with shield power up. It only lasts for one hit but better than you die right away after getting hit.        

 

These alien buffoons barely have chance to succeed invasion if they don’t know how to aim other direction than just front. So, I have button to lock my move and allow me to aim in more various direction pretty much like in Contra Hardcorps or Cuphead.   

There’s mid boss: a dangling hive of space hornet. Earth hornet is already evil, so you know how more evil space hornet is. I lose a life because I try to be smart by using slide to dodge hornets but it didn’t work well because the slide is short. But when I use the slide to pass the gap, it becomes significantly longer.

 

I’m impressed with telyport teleport technology that the alien invader has. But when their soldier walks in lazy manner like that, I’m certain they won’t succeed in their invasion. On the other hand, my gun has upgrade! By picking up same weapon icon twice, I will get upgraded version of my gun. Upgraded weapon has addition -x in its name. The electric gun that I had, has limited range. But when it’s upgraded to ElectricX (which is freaking rad name, by the way), it has longer range and stronger power.

 

I also upgrade the spread shot. The game call it 3-bullets but it’s no longer 3 bullets come out from the muzzle which makes the name invalid. I think this similar weapon upgrade system also exist in Contra: Operation Galuga. I could be wrong though.

Then I encounter the sub-boss: giant alien with 3 eyes. I’m pretty sure you know where to hit them. I like the flying item container over there. It’s cute. It more resembles the one in Riot than in any Contra game. I also want to point out that the boss’ health bar on the right resembles the same thing in Castlevania.

 

Now, we moving to Monteiro subway station. From quick browse, I gain knowledge of Monteiro Bus Terminal is located in Brazil. So, I assume we’re in Brazil. It’s nice detail to show panicking civilians but as far as I know, aliens only kill me and not the running civilians so there’s no reason for them to run for their lives. On the other hand, the aliens know their target priority. Aiming at nerd with gun over scared weaponless people. They’re quite smart although they look lazy and unenthusiastic with the invasion.

 

So, we board on the train to destroy more aliens. To quote Caleb from Blood: “Get off my train!”  

 

So, the level boss is that giant worm from the start of Men in Black 2. Good to know. One thing that I didn’t check before is the super shot. I assume every character has their own super shot. Alan shoots lots of large plasma balls across entire screen. The super shot can be activated once the super bar is filled by hitting enemies. This pretty much reminds me of Cuphead and I like it.   

The boss fight goes well for me until alien spiders come from right side. When I focus on the alien worm boss, these arachnid bastards bite my backside. Uncool!

 

Due to cowardly spider attack, Alan is replaced with Melina. So far nothing different from her. Although this big laser is something that I think unusual for giant worm, I can expect it but that sneaky spider attack is the heinous one.  

 

I think Melina’s super shot is quite similar to Alan but she teleports to right side instead of left side like Alan did. Plus, there’s her name (written in Korean, I think) in the middle of explosion.

 

Despite using continue, I got Rank A for this level. A for (late) Alan, I guess. I like that I unlock bunch of rewards for doing so well in this level even though I have no idea what are they.

 

Of course, there’s sewer level. Come to think of it, I can’t recall any Contra with sewer level. Funny enough. Finally, some alien has some sense and utilize gun even though he’s still easy target like his peers.

 

It’s Thay’s turn. His super shot is giant beam which I think has more damage power than Melina’s and Alan’s super shot but bit smaller area of effect.

 

The boss of the 2nd level is: this flying abomination. I thought it is sentient boiler machines put together with hose but that’s probably not true. I didn’t expect one of the sentient orbs to spit explosive sewer water on me and thus Thay lose her life once. And then she lose another life because one of the grinning orb headbutt here. The headbutt is super quick but telegraphed pretty decently with the orb's eye emits spark or shine.

 

Then it flies on background and spits more gooey projectiles. This bastard is dirty but it’s fitting for the sewer level.

 

When the boss has health less than 50%, the unenergetic aliens begin to teleport from sides. They’re not as threatening as spiders.

 

The boss also combines what he already did and that means more slimy sewer water drop on me. Very disgusting. Luckily if I stay in either corner, I’ll be saved from that torrent of sewer water. If the boss moves more further into the corner, I’ll be dead. But I still have to look out for the exploding orb. It explodes on floor’s contact and the explosion move outward a bit.   

 

So, that’s the end of the demo. Pretty good part of the game to show. I notice there’s small Brazilian flag icon on the left bottom, so I can assume the developer is from Brazil.

 

Before I conclude the review. I like to show you Marco’s super shot which is he fires heated laser and then spin around. This one is easy to analyze. His super shot probably has the least damage power but hit everything on the screen. Ok. Let’s wrap things up.

 

I don’t like their gun looks like toy in the main menu. It looks like hybrid of Nerf gun and SNES super scope.

Combo Game Studio’s Alien Strike - Blasting the Intruders (2026) is very good homage of classic Contra. Usually, I don’t like the one-hit die system but AS gets a pass because the enemies are reasonably slow, allowing me to dodge their attack. Also, I think the game is pretty generous with shield power up. The only bad thing that I can say is how short the slide is and how long the cooldown of it. Other than those, the game is very intuitive to play. The weaponry is interesting. The sound effect is good. The music is fine.

Summary: It gets pass on my wishlist   

Game is super fun to play especially with the super shot mechanism. I still hope there’s just little bit improvement in full version like more specialty among the character. Maybe they have varied move speed or sliding capability.

 

[Demo] Kacau (PC)

Today I review another demo on Steam. This time it’s Josia’s Kacau (2025).

The title screen could belong to Castlevania game, I reckon. Nice ripple effect. What makes this game is so interesting is: the title “Kacau” is very catchy. It’s Indonesia for “chaotic” so I expect the game will be total turmoil.

 

There are 3 save slots, which are standard for modern game. Oh God! I hate those creepy eyes on the top. There could be voyeur behind that save slots.  

 

So, here’s the game. It’s like Diablo but you have gun and you can shoot at specific spot instead of solid target, allowing you to have more flexible aim. Maybe it’s closer to Crimsonland but in 3D isometric perspective instead of flat top-down view.

 

The gun only can hold 10 bullets so I think it’s not that ideal to deal with large group of enemies. But I have grenade, activated by pressing right mouse button. Demoman_taunts08.wav

 

Oh, I see. I have to go to that blue orb thingy to progress. Doing so, triggers these options which similar to Hades or what have you. I take the most bottom option because double damage sounds very useful.        

 

Then I have to go that portal. Sure. It’s Hell Worlds all over again.   

 

It takes me to this shabby camp area. I met with this grim reaper at the beginning and now I meet him again but he disappears quickly again. I get new objective though: Activate all 3 teleporters, written on top right corner.

 

I find another magic blue orb. This time I choose “+100 basic damage & increased knockback” boost. It’s better than “base attack + 5”, right?

 

I activated a stone pedestal that I thought it was teleporter. It’s not. It makes me fly like superman to designated area that I choose. Scout_sf12_badmagic11.wav

 

I don’t know what’s that thing sleeping on the left but I want it. I need 300 gold coin to wake it up.

 

Or I can spend 150 gold coins to open chest! Opening chest needs gold? Outrageous! Spy_negativevocalization03.wav

 

The teleporter is the obelisk around this place but to make it completely active, I have to stay at the area around it. Basically, I’m playing control point. Soldier_standonthepoint01.wav

 

Do you remember that sleeping thing that requires 300 coins to wake it up? Turns out it was dragon with ability to shoot green rubber laser that heals me. Funny thing is: it may belong to vertical shmup Raiden because how flexible it is.

 

I believe I have stayed in this area quite forever and the control point percentage is only 41%? Scout_jeers06.wav

 

I activate the ultimate skill by pressing “Q” button. The screen becomes blur and red. But other than that, I’m not sure what else the ultimate skill does. Maybe I should keep shooting while it’s still active.

 

Finally, I get enough gold from dead enemies to open the damn chest near the obelisk. There’s quick help that skill orb that from the chest can run away! Why the prize within a chest can run away????

 

Oh God! The creepy eye is back. So, I manage to get the skill orb which is not that hard thing to do. So, the orb is random upgrade. I got max health +50. I prefer more damage power but I will take what I can get.   

 

Finally, the obelisk is fully charged. It takes a whole century [obviously hyperbolic] to charge the teleporter. Moreover, I have to do this routine 2 more times! The combat is fine but it’s next to necessary to have the charging rate 2 or 3 times faster. For successful attempt on charging the obelisk, it spawns huge drop of blood that -I assume- to restore my health but the healing dragon is all I need. 

I though the evil goop of flesh is bad to touch. Turns out, it’s jump spring! Scout_apexofjump02.wav

 

I get another skill orb and this time I pick skill that makes my dash releases water wave. It doesn’t relate to increase my damage output but I feel lazy to reroll because it costs gold coin. I’m stingy and lazy person.  

 

When there’s very large group of enemies like this, I feel it’s unnecessary to use the gun. Just use the grenade and flee. Good thing I pick the water power for the dash.

 

Consider it blessing on your side that I skip to the last obelisk. Luckily, I show the demo in written media instead of real time video because the charging process is superbly long process and also my laptop is not strong enough to make the game runs at 60 FPS. I may push my luck too hard on playing this demo but curiosity gets the best of me.

Anyway, let’s talk about the enemies. Most of them are melee attacker and becomes real threat when they’re snowballing but still not as dangerous as Da Ork’s Green Wave. Some of them can jump to your near location but there’s ground indicator where he lands so if you keep moving you will be fine. Then there’s big one with giant axe who can sometime charge at you but once again if you keep moving you will be safe from it. Then there are witches that stand still can shoot homing projectiles. They’re your top priority because those projectiles are troublesome.

 

There’s super rare moment where enemies aren’t present at all. Anyway, you can clearly see what I have here. I get another dragon but this one fire lobbing projectile like mortar. Then I have these lightning orbs that can zap anyone who dare gets close to me. Kind of like shield satellite in Operation Carnage. I remember only having 2 of these orbs, no idea why they increase in number up to this moment. 

 

All 3 of the teleporters are activated which lead to the first boss fight against Morvella the Witch! She likes to conjures flying skulls and dark geyser from ground. Amidst her intense bombardment, I notice that there’s skeleton playing piano over there. He’s as charming as skeleton biker from Castlevania 64.

 

Morvella herself is quite funny. I thought a witch should be scary but Morvella isn’t. I mean look at her doing pirouette with Kung Fu pose! How am I supposed to get scared of her?

Oh wow! Morvella is cussing me. Rude! Also, I notice that this is another game that implements Danmaku/bullet hell so I have to be careful.

 

When her health is less than 50%, he begins to spin in center while emitting big dark laser and the area becomes noticeably smaller. Move clockwise while send bullet or grenade to the center. That’s my only tips.

 

Ok. She’s sick of her own spinning laser trick. She’s back to her old routine Kung Fu pirouette.

 

Enough swearing already. You’re going down soon!

 

Houston. We have problem. I deplete her entire health but she still attacking me (while cursing too). To make thing horribly worse, I can’t do anything except dashing and the dash has significant cooldown so I can’t dodge her attack everytime.

 

Eventually, I unfairly died to that witch and I’m stuck in this game over screen forever. I try pressing any button and nothing happens. This game is far from perfect. But I believe given time, the game will no longer be undercooked like this. 

 

Josia’s Kacau (2025) is interesting shooter roguelite game. I never played any game similar to this. I don’t think Vampire Survivor is the same genre as this game because the player has auto-attack feature. Please do let me know other game that have same gameplay! This game has solid gameplay aspect but with some apparent bug and flaw. The most annoying aspect of the gameplay is how slow the charging rate for the point control on top of that I have to do that for 3 times! It should be 2 or 3 times faster. It’s kind of monotonous that I’m stuck with gun that have 10 bullets capacity. I watch someone play this game and when he dies, he respawns to an area where he can pick other weapon that may similar to starter area of Curse of Dead Gods. Apparently, I’m too good with the initial loudout that I’m denied to this loudout change feature. Another problem is there’s no graphic setting so I can set it to low and make the game runs smoother. But that’s just me having low-spec laptop. Other than that, the game is fine and I have fun playing it. Unlike when I play Hell Worlds that feels unfair and tedious. Gold coin is pretty easy to get as long as you kill many many enemies. Sound effect is pretty good. The music is kind of nonexistent.

Summary: It gets pass on my wishlist   

It takes long time for me to get the decent computer that can run this game smoothly. But in the meantime, it deserves place on my wishlist. Even though there’s the creepy eye git.