Our third day of covering the Steam Next Fest brings us into nostalgia as we check out a classic that started as a flash game and eventually made its way into consoles, spawning an iconic Newgrounds character and helping kickstart a fantastic game studio.

It’s been a joy to accompany Behemoth ever since their Newgrounds days, spearheading indie development as we know it. The fact that Alien Hominid, a flash game, made its way onto a console was huge back then, and following it up with Castle Crashers only solidified Behemoth even more.

To see a follow-up to this title nowadays really hits that specific early 2000s nostalgia, but we need to take a closer look, since we can’t judge things based on nostalgia alone. Alien Hominid Invasion is an upcoming co-op entry in the Metal Slug-inspired franchise.

The game’s chapters have been divided into city blocks, and the player can choose different routes depending on what they want to unlock. The city blocks are all similar missions, which almost always culminate in the player killing everything on the screen.

The gameplay remains largely unchanged, with only a few additions. It still has that exhilarating run-and-gun feeling that the original game had, but now the player doesn’t die in one hit. A health bar and a lives system have been implemented, which are much more forgiving than the original game’s crushing difficulty.

The art style has been upgraded in a manner that still feels very faithful to the original. Animations are smoother and the graphics are really crisp, but the art style remains largely unchanged; the aliens are still weirdo creatures with big heads, and the humans still have their T-shaped bodies.

The addition of unlockable guns, mutations, and cosmetics helps keep the game really fresh, and the player is constantly unlocking something new or weird to try out. The gameplay is still as unhinged and chaotic as ever, with the screen always covered in projectiles and explosions.

Also, something to note is the possibility of both online and couch co-op. It’s s disappointing couch co-op has been almost forgotten by the industry, and some of my fondest memories are of playing Castle Crashers with friends locally, so I’m glad this feature is still there.

Honestly, Alien Hominid Invasion is a solid reimagining of the original game, with some updated mechanics and the possibility of even more mayhem with friends. It’s still as solid as ever and even prettier with its smooth graphics.

The demo gives us access to the entire first chapter of the game, where we team up with a bunch of kids to take over the earth, and also includes both online and couch co-op, so you can wreak havoc as a group.

Behemoth has been dormant for a while, so returning with such an iconic release is bound to turn some heads their way again. Could we also start considering a Castle Crashers sequel?

Alien Hominid Invasion is set to come out at some point in 2023, for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows (through Steam). Check out my hands-on gameplay too:

If you want to know more about some upcoming games, take a look at some of the other titles we covered from this year’s Steam Next Fest.