Alien Brigade -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATARI(R) 7800(TM) Game Manual ALIEN BRIGADE(TM) Atari Corporation is unable to guarantee the accuracy of printed material after the date of publication and disclaims liability for changes, errors, or omissions. Reproduction of this document or of any portion of its contents is not allowed without the specific written consent of Atari Corporation. Atari, the Atari logo, Alien Brigade, and 7800 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. ATARI(R) Copyright (C) 1990, Atari Corporation Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1302 All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS ALIENS BRAINWASH HUMANS.............1 Getting Started..................2 Optional Game Controls...........2 PLAYING THE GAME....................2 Weapons..........................4 SCREEN..............................5 Transceiver Box..................5 Weapons Box......................5 Ammunition Box...................5 Weapons Boxes....................6 Health/Score.....................6 ITEMS...............................6 SCENARIOS...........................8 Deep Jungle Camp.................8 South American River Resort......8 Underwater.......................8 Alien Cave Base..................9 Main Alien Mountain Base.........9 STRATEGY............................9 SCORING............................10 ALIENS BRAINWASH HUMANS Some of the guys in the barracks have been acting a little odd lately. You were assigned to a special task force investigating the soldiers' strange, almost alien behavior. The investigation revealed the astounding fact that aliens from another dimension have invaded the Earth. The aliens have brainwashed soldiers into M-16 toting zombies who will instantly obey their alien masters. (Sort of like boot camp.) Worse yet, some aliens have actually taken over the bodies of soldiers and civilians. Every day more humans are being mysteriously possessed or brainwashed. You also discovered that the aliens posess a deadly secret weapon. If the aliens are not stopped, this weapon will brainswash the entire human population of Earth! Ok, so you realize that in most people the difference would go unnoteiced; still, it is your job to try to save the people of Earth. Your task force must seek out all the alien fiends, destroy them, and save the Earth. Think you can handle it? Your Alien Brigade quest leads you through five different scenarios of increasing difficulty. Your mission is to blast aliens, rescue hostages, collect weapons and other helpful items, and stay alive! The bloodthirsty alien nasties are on to you. If you fail in your quest, the Earth is doomed. Now don't you wish you'd listened to your mother and enrolled in law school? GETTING STARTED 1. With your 7800 game system switched off, insert the Alien Brigade cartridge into the cartridge slot as described in your owner's manual. 2. Connect a controller or light gun to controller port one. Press the POWER button on your console. 3. Switch on your TV. 4. The Alien Brigade title screen appears. The difficulty level displays near the bottom of the title screen. Press SELECT or move the controller to scroll through the various levels (Novice, Standard, Advanced, Expert). The more difficult the level, the more enemies appear on the screen and the faster those enemies move to attack. To choose the displayed difficulty level and begin play, press the left controller fire button or pull the light gun trigger. Optional Game Controls The following optional game controls allow you to paus and restart the game: * To pause the game press PAUSE. Repeat to resume play * To return to the title screen and restart the game, press RESET * To return to the title screen and restart the game with the currently selected options, press SELECT PLAYING THE GAME Alien Brigade is an exciting arcade-style action shooter. You destroy alien invaders in five different scenarios. Each scenario is progressively more difficult as the aliens increase in population, strength, and firepower. You gain points by destroying the aliens and successfully completing each scenario's unique objective. You lose points if you shoot innocent bystanders or hostages, so you must aim with care! In each scenario of Alien Brigade, aliens, soldiers and civilians move from right to left across your screen. Aim your light gun or position the target sight with your controller and fire to blast the ugly, hunchbacked aliens and aliens disguised as human soldiers or civilians. (Aliens in human form move more slowly than normal humans.) You also earn points for destroying tanks, helicopters, and other enemy vehicles. Vehicles explode and living targets fall to the ground when hit. The transceiver box in the far left section of the Status bar flashes to alert you of an incoming communication. (See Transceiver.) You can use your transceiver to communicate with your commanding officer and receive your mission objective at the beginning of each scenario. At the beginning of the game you receive a single shot, semi-automatic pistol, a five-burst automatic machine gun, one hundred 48-round clips of ammunition, eight grenades, and six extra lives. In every scenario you can find more powerful weapons, ammunition, grenades, and canisters of military food rations to increase your health rating. The weapons may be hidden, so search the area by shooting at small objects to reveal items hidden beneath them. (See Items.) Each scenario of Alien Brigade ends when you successfully complete the scenario's objective. The game ends with a final battle in the alien's main camp where your mission is to destroy all the aliens, the alien base, and the egg-laying alien queen. Weapons You can carry up to four weapons at a time. The left and right Weapons boxes each contain two weapon slots. The empty slots are filled when you pick up additional weapons. Each box displays only one icon at a time. Use the left or right Weapons boxes on the Status bar to select the weapon in your arsenal that would be the most effective in each combat situation (see Items). Follow these instructions to select a weapon/grenade, fire a weapon, or toss a grenade: Controller To select a weapon or grenade, move the target sight under the left or right Weapons box. Press the left fire button until the desired weapon (or grenade) displays. To fire a weapon position the target sight over the desired target on the Action screen and press the appropriate fire button. The left button fires the weapon displayed in the left Weapons box, and the right button fires the weapon displayed in the right Weapons box. To toss a grenade position the target sight over the grenade's destination. With the grenade icon displaying in the left Weapons box, press the right fire button. Light Gun To select a weapon or grenade, aim the light gun at the Weapons box. Pull the trigger until the desired weapon (or grenade) displays. To fire a weapon aim the light gun at the desired target on the Action screen and pull the trigger. To toss a grenade aim the light gun at the grenade's destination on the Action screen and pull the trigger. SCREEN The action screen is where game play takes place. The Status bar displays game information. [A drawing of the status bar, with the boxes labeled from left to right as: Transceiver Box, Left Weapons Box, Ammunition Box, Right Weapons Box, Health/ Score Box] To select the transceiver, use the controller to move the target sight under the Transceiver box (or aim at the box with your light gun). Press the left fire button (or pull the light gun trigger) to activate the transceiver. (These shots do not deplete your ammo supply.) The Transceiver box flashes at the beginning of each scenario. Activate the transceiver to receive your mission objective. If you have played the scenario before and you already know the objective, you do not need to activate the transceiver. Weapons Box Use the Weapons box to select a weapon. You can display the desired icon by moving the target site under the Weapons box and pressing the left fire button (or aiming the light gun at the box and pulling the trigger). Ammunition Box The top section of the Ammunition box displays the number of grenades or bazooka rockets you have in your arsenal. Each grenade or rocket icon represents a single grenade or rocket. You can carry up to eight grenades or nine rockets at one time. You cannot carry grenades and rockets at the same time. Once you pick up a bazooka, you no longer have the grenade optoin. The numeral displayed below the Ammunition Clip icon represents the number of full ammunition clips you have in your arsenal. The rows of small icons to the right of the clip icon represent the number of rounds remaining in the current clip. Weapons Boxes Use the Weapons boxes to select a weapon or grenade. You can display the desired icon by moving the target site under the appropriate Weapons box and pressing the left fire button (or aiming the light gun at the box and pulling the trigger). Health/Score The soldier icons in the Health/Score box represent the number of lives remaining. Each soldier represents one life. Your current score displays below the soldier icons. ITEMS To pick up an item, move the target sight over the item and fire your weapon (or aim your light gun at the item and pull the trigger). If your shot is successful, the item is added to your inventory. The following items can be picked upand added to your inventory: Food Canisters [Picture shows small, empty cylinders] Retrieving a Food Canister increases your health rating by providing additional lives. Grenade/Rockets Box [Picture shows a grenade, oval with pineapple style mottling on the bottom, and a pin to be pulled] Each retrieved Grenade/Rockets box replenishes your grenade/rocket supply to maximum capacity. For example, if you have thrown two grenades or fired two rockets, a Grenade/Rockets box will increase your inventory by two greandes/rockets. If you have thrown all your grenades or fired all your rockets, a Grenade/Rockets box will increase your inventory by eight grenades or nine rockets. Ammunition Clips [Picture shows a small rectangle] Each Ammunition Clip icon represents a single clip and contains 48 rounds of ammunition. Weapons Finding more powerful weapons increases your range and firepower. The following weapons are more powerful than semi-automatic pistols, but they also use ammunition at a faster rate. Five-Burst Automatic Machine Gun [Picture shows a long, thin gun with a thick, curved stock and a thin brace at the back] shoots five bullets at the target. Flamethrower [Picture shows gun with elaborate hose mechanism at the back] ignites everything in the immediate vicinity of the target. The area covered by the flamethrower is no greater than the area covered by the 5-burst automatic machine gun, but the damage caused by the flamethrower is much greater. Laser [Picture shows a thicker, more solid gun] fire instantly vaporizes nearly everything it hits. The exception is alien leaders. To kill them requires multiple hits from laser fire. You automatically receive this weapon when you enter the final scenario. Dart Gun [Picture shows smaller version of machine gun] is the only weapon that is effective against underwater foes. Because you are firing underwater, darts move more slowly than the ammunition from regular weapons. You automatically receive this weapon when you enter the underwater scenario. Your other weapons will be automatically returned to you at the end of this scenario. SCENARIOS The five Alien Brigade scenarios are briefly described below. Deep Jungle Camp You'll wish you were Rambo in this enemy infested jungle. Aliens have established a hidden camp in this steamy tropical rain forest. Soldiers and civilians are held captive in huts deep within the well-protected camp. Without the help of your squad, all of the prisoners will perish (or worse). To rescue the prisoners, blow off the door of the captive's hut. Cover the prisoners as they run for the waiting helicopter. South American River Resort A popular resort has been overrun with aliens and brainwashed humans. Your squad must go in and show the aliens that their Club Earth vacation is over! Underwater Aliens have besieged your government's underwater research lab. You must destroy the alien frogmen to prevent them from taking over the lab. Some peculiar deep-sea denizens will also try to impede your progress, so be careful! Alien Cave Base The alien cave base is where you will find the evil machines used by the aliens to brainwash and merge with humans. Eerie geological formations provide perfect hiding places for the scores of deadly aliens in the cave. Some humans become fused with aliens as you watch in horror! To rescue the humans, destroy the fusing machines. Main Alien Mountain Base The final challenge. You must destroy the aline spacecraft and the Queen-Mother alien. If you fail, all mankind will be brainwashed or possessed by evil aliens. You think TV sitcoms are stupid now? Just think how bad they will be if your mission fails! STRATEGY Watch out for the real humans you are supposed to protect. Humans that have been taken over by aliens move more slowly. When your squad is hit by alien fire, your screen's border flashes red. Try to avoid this! Getting shot is bad for your health. Watch out for small mine-laying subs in the underwater scenario. Picking up items as you move thorugh each scenario is vitally important. Shoot small objects to reveal items hidden beneath. Don't ignore youru transceiver! Understanding your mission is critical. SCORING You receive points for destroying enemy aliens and their vehicles. You lose points for shooting innocent bystanders, animals, and friendly vehicles. Photographer...................0 Large Soldier.................50 Soldier......................100 Parachute....................100 Alien Civilian...............100 Small Fish...................100 Snake Alien..................100 Small Soldier................150 Flame Thrower Soldier........200 Bazooka Soldier..............200 Large Alien..................300 Kid Alien....................500 Alien........................500 Small Alien..................700 Tank........................1000 Helicopter..................1000 Rambo Alien.................1000 Bomb........................1000 Plane.......................1000 Super Soldier...............1000 Large Spaceship.............1500 Bat.........................2000 Space Ship..................3000 Satellite Dish..............5000 Mind Bender.................5000 Door in Scenario 1..........5000 Mother Alien...............10000 Marine Life.................-100 Civilian....................-500 Fire Engine.................-500 Mermaid....................-1000 Panther....................-1000 ATARI(R) Copyright (C) 1990, Atari Corporation Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1302 All rights reserved. Printed in Hong Kong. G. C. 7. 1990 C300018-055 Rev. A -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This document obtained from the History of Home Video Games Homepage, ©1997-1998 by Greg Chance