Alien Front Online

From Sega Retro

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AlienFrontOnline title.png

Alien Front Online
System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Peripherals supported: Jump Pack, Dreamcast Microphone, Dreamcast Modem, Race Controller, Visual Memory Unit, Dreamcast VGA Box
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1-8
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Dreamcast
US
51171
ESRB: Teen

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Alien Front Online is a Sega Dreamcast action game developed by WOW Entertainment. It is an online version of the arcade game Alien Front that was only released in North America, where it was bundled with the Dreamcast Microphone.

Gameplay

As the name suggests, it was intended to be played across the internet, thus becoming one of the first home console games to provide real-time voice communication between two players over the web. Players take control of one of two teams, a tank from the army side or an organic vehicle on the alien side to ultimately decide the fate of the human race and who will dominate the globe.

Game modes

Alien Front Online features three game modes. Two of which are single player focused:

  • Arcade allows you to play on either the army side or the alien side and choose from one of three vehicles. Defeat a set number of enemy opponents to succeed under the time limit. Depending on certain conditions will allow you more time for the next match.
  • Tactics is a mission oriented game mode where restrictions are in place to achieve victory in over 60 missions for either side.
  • Online allows up to eight players split into two teams for team based games over the internet. Online play requires a Dreamcast Modem and is not compatible with the Broadband Adapter.

There are also three different multiplayer modes:

  • Team Deathmatch: The team with the most kills wins.
  • Fortress: One team must destroy four enemy fortress gates while the other team must defend them during the time limit.
  • Flag: A flag will appear in the arena and one player must grab onto it for 150 seconds. The flag carrier cannot collect weapon attachments while holding the flag.

Army Technology

Vehicles

  • MK2 Merkava
  • M1A Abrams
  • M109-A2

Sub Weapons

  • Flame Thrower
  • Turbo Engine
  • Grenade Launcher
  • Hellfire Missile
  • Homing Missile
  • Guided Missile
  • Machine Gun
  • Nuclear Missile

Alien Technology

Vehicles

  • Hov Craft
  • 2L Walker
  • SP Walker

Sub Weapons

  • Gravity Ball
  • Flying Drone
  • Seeker Wing
  • Light Swarm
  • Cloaking Spore
  • Cyclops Blast
  • Alien Spike
  • Meteor Shower

Repair Facility

Both teams have their own versions of a repair facility that will heal vehicles that are parked within their highlighted boundaries. The more damaged the vehicle is, the longer it will take to repair. In addition it will also occasionally spawn weapons that automatically attach to player's vehicles.

  • The Motor Pool, used by the army team, appears highlighted in a green lined box.
  • The Healing Bath, used by the alien team appears highlighted as a red lined circle.
  • Med-Bots will replenish up to one third of the player's vehicle strength appearing as small white boxes with a red cross embedded on it's side scattered through the environment. These do not appear in the Tactics mode.

History

Alien Front Online's release was poorly planned - the game was launched six months after Sega of America announced an end to Dreamcast support, and its late arrival stopped the game from reaching other markets. Shortly after release Sega moved from a free online gameplay model to one which required payment, dramatically reducing the amount of online users. Inevitably all Alien Front Online servers were taken down.

An arcade version also intended for North America was advertised, however it has not yet been confirmed if any cabinets made it into production. The plan was to allow 4 vs. 4 Dreamcast vs. NAOMI matches over the internet as well as offering local multiplayer.

There were also plans for an N-Gage version of the game that allowed for local bluetooth two-player deathmatch along with single player game modes, however due to the poor performance of the platform, Sega decided to cancel this version of the game.

Production credits

Product Development
  • Vice President of Product Development: Jin Shimazaki
  • Localization Manager: Osamu Shibamiya
  • Localization Producer: Klayton Vorlick
  • Lead Tester: Shawn Dobbins
  • Assistant Lead Testers: Joseph Mora, Daniel Airey
  • Testers: Jose Venegas, Robert Reich, Derek Wong, Jake Covert, Daniel Kingdon, Brian Ivanhoe, Walter Kim, Seth Benton
Marketing
Creative Services
Manual Production
Sega.Com
Development Team
Source:
Manual credits (US)
Alienfrontonline dc us manual.pdf
[3]

Magazine articles

Main article: Alien Front Online/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in 576 Konzol (HU) #43: "Október 2001" (2001-xx-xx)
Logo-pdf.svg

Artwork

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
576 Konzol (HU)
75
[4]
Dreamcast Magazine (UK) NTSC-U
92
[5]
Edge (UK) NTSC-J
40
[6]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
65
[7]
MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-U
65
[8]
Neo Plus (PL)
70
[9]
Next Generation (US) NTSC-U
50
[10]
PSX Extreme (PL) PAL
60
[11]
Power Unlimited (NL)
79
[12]
Strana Igr (RU)
73
[13]
Sega Dreamcast
67
Based on
10 reviews

Alien Front Online

Dreamcast, US
AlienFrontOnline DC US Box Back.jpgAlienFrontOnline DC US Box Front.jpg
Cover
AlienFrontOnline DC US Disc.jpg
Disc
Alienfrontonline dc us manual.pdf
Manual
Alienfrontonline dc us inlay.jpg
Inlay

Technical information

Main article: Alien Front Online/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Dreamcast
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
GD-ROM (US)

External links

References


Alien Front Online

AlienFrontOnline title.png

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