Alien Invaders

Go full force with Ben 10 Alien Force on PSP

Ben 10  Alien Force is the latest videogame instalment in the hugely popular cartoon series on Cartoon Network that sees the titular hero, Ben, his cousin Gwen and best friend Kevin embark on a mission to track down and recover numerous pieces of alien technology hidden on Earth. As well as this, Ben and his buddies must unravel the mysterious vanishing of Grandpa Max and find out what exactly the strange man known as Gorvan the Plumber is up to over the course of the story.

Taking place five years after Ben has put away his DNA scrambling Omnitrix, a device that allows him to transform into one of multiple alien forms to battle it out against hordes of nefarious extraterrestrial enemies, Ben must traverse each mission using a mixture of both high powered combos and puzzle solving.

Transformer

Each of the five alien life forms that Ben can transform into – Swampfire, Jet Ray, Humungousaur, Spidermonkey and Big Chill - allow him to harness vastly different and complex superpowers to manipulate fire, swim underwater, grow more than 60 feet tall, stick to walls and even fly at mach speed as he does battle with the dastardly HighBreed minions hell bent on destroying Ben and his amazing abilities.

Using a mixture of both heavy and light attacks, Ben can chain his hits together to pull off devastating moves that come in extremely useful during the game's much larger and tougher boss fights. Plus, the more enemies you defeat, the more moves you can then unlock to use in later missions. This means that by the time you've reached the last of Alien Forces's eight levels, Ben, his Omnitrix and alien alter egos, should be more than a match for anything that comes their way.

Fans of the cartoon series will feel instantly at home with the game's unique cinematic scenes, all of which are presented exactly like the ones found in the small screen series. And every member of the voice talent team behind Ben, his friends and the space age superheroes have all come on board Alien Force to deliver top notch vocal duties to help re-create the look and feel of the show on PSP.

Brain busters

It's not all punching and kicking though; Ben will have to use his brain (and the brains of his alien friends) to solve the puzzles that pop up as you traverse each of the stages. Most of these are aimed at the younger player, the true diehard fan of the show. Some will require you to use a certain special ability from one of the five super aliens Ben transforms into such as gliding from platform to platform, scaling a wall with Spidermonkey or spewing forth great big fireballs from Swampfire.

For fans of the hugely popular series, Ben 10 Alien Force is another gripping adventure to embark on, with plenty of challenging enemies and puzzles. For anyone looking for an engaging platforming action adventure on PSP, you need look no further.