UFOPHILIA is relatively new to the market. The developer has likened it to an early Phasmophobia type, which is clear to see. Much like the paranormal horror game, you arrive at a chosen location with a laptop and investigation items. Your job is to identify which alien type has infiltrated the location.
Use the provided items and stay alert for alien behaviours. After discovering the alien type, your goal is to take four photos of the entity, considering the alien’s personal requirements. All of this is to be completed whilst avoiding being abducted.
If you escape with your life, you earn Roswell and experience Points. Used as in-game currency to unlock new locations and upgrade items. Other methods to obtain RP and XP are randomised missions to complete before leaving, and the UFO Objects. These spawn in every location which you can find whilst playing the level.
The Set-up
UFOPHILIA’s training area is, unfortunately, rather lacking. It gives you two of the many items to practise with. A microwave reader and a camera.
The microwave reader is faulty; its purpose is to glow red when the lights are on. This is to show it is not in working condition, yet (as it needs full darkness). However, even with the lights on during training, it still seems to work perfectly. The item lights up green, indicating that an alien is present. I understand this is training, but if the items aren’t somewhat realistic to gameplay, what is the point?
This further contributes to the photographing of the alien, which, in the training area, is a cardboard cut-out. Although quite amusing, it is not at all indicative of how UFOPHILIA will work. It does not give any practise to what you will have to do in that moment. The training does, however, correctly explain the camera. Indicating how close to the alien you need to be, and the sound for a successful image.
In the van, information is pinned to a board with introductory steps. In step 1, it tells you to go into the location with level 1 items and explore. This is contradictory in the “objectives” folder on the laptop. This folder expresses that you should actually go in alone first to gather environmental evidence. This is because using incorrect items or overusing an item can cause an abduction attempt. A new player could go in unprepared and potentially get abducted quite quickly.
The Laptop
In the van is a laptop. It is your go-to for everything you need, from choosing a mission to researching tools/alien types and upgrading your equipment. This helps make information easily accessible to new players: your one-stop shop for all things UFOPHILIA!
Yet, there is a snag to this. Being unable to locate the alien information from hand means going back and forth to the van a lot. Conversely, you will probably need to do this for items, as you can only carry two at a time. All of which is quite time-consuming, especially at larger locations.
The Journal
The list of things the alien will do is quite extensive. To the right of the screen, it lists both item interaction and behaviour events. So you will need to scroll to find what you are looking for.
Clicking an event in the list will display the alien types that behave or interact that way. You will see this at the top left of the same screen. It is then your job to highlight the alien names on your list in the bottom left. When you find and click a second event, you will then need to cross-reference your already highlighted alien types with the new types list, thus discovering your alien type through the process of elimination.
This can be a little confusing, especially with these types of games, where auto-elimination is normally a given. If, for any reason, you make a mistake, you will have to start from the very beginning in evidence, so you may need a pen and paper.
Friend or Foe?
There are nine types of aliens. Each has a blurb of information, an image, and a trait. There are only three distinct traits, so many aliens will share the same ones. It doesn’t seem as though each alien has a different personality, but it will say ”This alien may be aggressive” on its trait. Meaning rather than having a Green Man be playful and a Mantis be aggressive, either one has the opportunity to be either aggressive or playful.
This can be quite fun, as you never know what level of hostility you’re walking into, but then you have no real connection to the alien types, as they are fickle characters with no real substance.
The trailer and game itself explain that some aliens are aggressive, whilst others are curious or even playful, but you don’t see much of the latter. This ties in with the game mechanics. If you use the wrong item or overuse an item during an investigation, it can trigger an abduction attempt. When you believe you are ready to photograph it and have met the alien requirements, taking images of said alien will also likely trigger an abduction attempt, as the picture will not count unless you are considerately close.
Having said that, there are moments in which the alien can be ‘playful’ when searching the location. Such as peeking from the top of the stairs or making noises in your ear, only to hear its steps running away from you. Whilst cute and gets a laugh, this can be a double-edged sword as the sound in the ear could be mistaken for ‘whispering in your ear’, which is a behaviour event. Although perhaps that’s a gamble that’s part of the game.
Abductions
The environmental change when the alien wants to abduct you is well-made. Bright yellow and blue lights stream through the windows in a circular motion. Indicating there is a UFO above the property, and the alien is now coming for you. This moment does exactly as it is supposed to. Making you aware that you are now in danger, with a significant drop in sound followed by whispery screams. Will you stop in fear, or will you face these moments?
There are no hiding spots, so your only strategy is to avoid the abduction by simply running until the abduction timer stops. This can be difficult in certain locations that lead to dead ends; however, it is possible to loop the alien around areas such as a kitchen island or a table and chairs. There have been many reports that it is too difficult for players to escape an abduction, and this can be understandable, as you have no real defence.
There are items to help in an abduction, but you only get these after reaching level five. They come as a package deal of three new items, in which only one (sometimes none) will spawn in the van at random at the start of a new mission.
The game-over scene is also a bit hit-or-miss. If the alien reaches you, you’ll see a frozen image of it, sometimes with flames in the background and a high-pitched screech. The screen then fades to an underside view of a UFO, essentially abducting you, before you are sent back to restart in the van.
At first, you don’t expect it, so it can be a little surprising. But shortly after, you become desensitised to it, and it completely loses its horror aspect. Whereas, the underside clip of the UFO, as we are being pulled upwards, is a nice effect. The whirring sounds add to the atmosphere. It’s a good segment between the end of the level and the restart.
Simple Errors
There are a few errors in spelling and consistency within UFOPHILIA that were quite noticeable, such as the word “misions” instead of “missions”, “termometer” instead of “thermometer” or “Green Meen” instead of “Green Men”. There is also an inconsistency where the “Green men” are noted in another area on the laptop as “green man”. This also doesn’t seem to be an issue with the words themselves, as they are spelled correctly elsewhere. This is not a deal breaker, just accidentally missed.
The Loophole
UFOPHILIA gives players leniency in the form of UFO Objects: four objects that never change and are always present in every location. You receive 1 Roswell Point (RP) for each item found. This will also give you XP, and in some cases, more RP if the missions state for you to find those items.
This exploit turned it into more of an object-finder game, as it is possible to unlock all locations and gather enough RP and XP to upgrade all items without battling an alien. In fact, so long as you don’t take any items inside or activate stage four, where you would photograph the alien, it never seems to become aggressive or trigger an abduction attempt, as UFOPHILIA has no sanity meter.
It’s a good way to give a player a breather whilst still progressing through UFOPHILIA, but it does seem a bit OP, as you can go to the same location and gather the items again and again, receiving the same rewards.
The Environment
The buildings and interiors are well-made and easy to navigate. They aren’t necessarily ‘lived in’, and the rooms can become repetitive. As you only need it for a setting, it works perfectly fine, and the interaction with said environment is easy and smooth, which makes for a more positive gaming experience.
They are built in Unreal Engine, and the same designs in UFOPHILIA can be purchased as an asset pack from Fab.
Sound Effects
From environmental and character movements to the aliens themselves, the sound effects are pretty good. It all adds to the atmosphere. UFOPHILIA is set to change tempo based on the stage you are at. There is a significant drop when you are ready to take the images, and an alert when an abduction attempt is happening.
It can genuinely cause a jump, such as when doors slam, or the lights turn off, or noises suddenly come from nowhere into your headphones.
The downside is that there aren’t that many ‘horror’ events or noises, so you are probably going to get used to them, but I don’t think that’s necessarily an issue. Anyone who plays a game enough gets used to how it works.
No Man Is an Island
UFOPHILIA does not support multiplayer at this time, which is a real shame, as these types of games thrive on group experience. Having it as a single-player game, even if the developer intends to make it multiplayer accessible, will have a knock-on effect on how the public responds to it. Players may likely be done with it before the chance to play with friends comes out.
This could also make an abduction attempt more manageable.
Conclusion
The concept of UFOPHILIA is brilliant and could go quite far. The idea is there, and the work is being put in. Nonetheless, this game does not seem finished. It needs more polishing and was probably released earlier than it should have, but the developer still seems active and intent on improving the game, which is great news.
Maybe we need to watch this space? Will it be a hit or a flop?
Platform: Microsoft Windows
Developer: K148 Game Studio
Publisher: JanduSoft
Code Provided By: Keymailer
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