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Alien Brigade - Atari - Atari 7800     HTML Manual   

Alien Brigade

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