Introduction: The back story to the game is a familiar one: you have lost radio comms with a research base located on an alien planet. The last reports you had from the sector suggested that some strange and terrible parasitic life-form has taken over all the plants, animals and machines. A lone bounty hunter has the unenviable task of investigating the situation and recovering the research. Not the most original of stories, but hey we are quite happy with a bit of conceit for our old GBA as long as the game lives up to the hype.

GamePlay: You take control of a young female mercenary that has been sent to investigate the alien goings on. Not long after the title screen you realise you are working with an action adventure here that is not a million miles away from that other famous Nintendo franchise, Metroid. It's hard not to compare the two games as they both have female protagonists, they both provide space complexes to explore and both have you gathering weapons and power ups as you go. Even with this high water mark of Metroid as a comparison point, Scurge Hive manages to give as good as it gets.

The game plays out through a fixed isometric view which provides a much better sense of what is happening in each particular area. Jenosa, our heroine is able to jump between platforms, move objects around and climb up ledges. The puzzles too benefit from the 3d view as there is more space to work with, and therefore more complex conundrums to solve.

The game is broken down into six chapters, which each provide an area that needs to you turn on various power terminals dotted around the laboratories. Along the way you obviously have to tangle with a number of foes and face a boss battle at inopportune moments. As with any action adventure, it is often the getting there that is harder than the fighting itself. This is more of a puzzler than a shooter to be sure!

Control: The GBA as usual offers a robust set of controls. Games such as there really benefit from the positive physicality of Nintendo's handheld unit. Whether you play it on the original GBA with no backlight, the clam-shell GBA SP, the Micro or even on your DS, the game has a positive responsive feel. As the game progresses you obtain more weapons and power ups that can be easily accessed at the tap of a button.

The only down side for the controls is a problem introduced by the fixed diagonal 3d perspective. The D-Pad's orientation doesn't match this diagonal display and you are forced to try and hit diagonal directions accurately at key parts of the game. This can introduce a bit of frustration as you struggle to get the direction right. We found this to be less of a problem with the higher quality D-Pad of the later machines such as the Micro or DS, but with the original GBA we did curse a few times.

Graphics: As we have already touched on, the graphics provide a 3d fixed isometric view of the world which provides an interesting take the Metroid 2d outlook, without diving fully in the 3d realm of Prime which would obviously be out of the question on the lil' old GBA. The visuals themselves provide a distinct and stylised view of the world and evoke quite a lot of atmosphere. The 3d perspective means they can have more going on with things becoming too cluttered. The backdrops and characters are excellent for a GBA game and when combined with the great art style, things really start to look excellent.

Sound & Music: It's unusual to have very much to say when it comes to GBA games sound and music. However, Scurge Hive excels in this area. The game musical score is quite simply stunning. Not only are they well conceived and executed pieces of music, but they are also intelligently used to add extra emotion and tension to the on screen action. The various tunes and sound effects really add a ghostly gothic feel to everything that is going on. All this and they still do their job of moving the action along where things are a little on the slower side.

Final Comments: Overall Scurge: Hive is a great little action adventure. Its excellent execution should mean that it will appeal to a much wider audience than we would initially expect. Although you are unlikely to revisit the game once you have completed all the levels, it will certainly provide great value for money as you explore and puzzle your way through the well designed levels. All this is wrapped up in a bundle of great graphics and sound to be one of the great games at the later end of the GBA's life.

Pro: Strong art style and well used music lead to some great gaming moments.
Con: The game's limited replay value may mean that once you've completed it there is little else to do.
Final Score: 7.2

Reviewed by: Douglas Andrews