Scurge: HIve is a well made third person action game with a lot to offer to anyone with a taste for obscure sci-fi.
User Rating: 7.3 | Scurge: Hive DS
I picked up S:H at my local EB for twenty dollars used, and I've not regretted it since. Scurge follows the Metroid formula of gameplay by putting you in control of a female bounty hunter wearing a special armored suit that shoots energy projectiles from the arm. At first glance this game will look like little more than a Metroid rip-off, but and by valid argument, I suppose it is, but it's still worth playing. The premise of the game involves Jenosa Arma(the protagonist) being hired by the government to infiltrate and investigate a research facility which has recently been overrun by a biological menace known as the Scurge, a force capable of contaminating and controlling anything - biological, mechanical, or otherwise. By the time you reach the facility the employees and inhabitants are long since(presumed) dead, and it's up to you to find out why, and put a stop to the Scurge. Yet again - a simple premise, but don't let the re-hashed story stop you from giving this title some of your time. Unlike Metroid, the game is played in pseudo-3D, with an over-the-head-and-also-from-an-angle sort of view, giving you eight directions in which to run, jump and shoot. This can at times be frustrating, as aiming becomes a difficult affair, but this is hardly a fatal flaw.
The game also contains an array of platforming and puzzle elements in order to keep the gameplay fresh, but these are often more of a frustrating distraction, and do little to add any additional substance to the game. The puzzles consist mostly of keycard hunts and dragging crates onto buttons, and the platforming is flawed do to the eight-directional gameplay. You will often find yourself with the path you need to take right in front of you, but unsure if it is in fact where you're supposed to go, as the jump mechanic seems determined to keep you from progressing.
The graphics are vivid and colorful, reminiscent of any number of Super Nintendo titles, and while this can make the game feel dated, it also grants a nostalgic, classical feel. Overall, Scurge: Hive is a decent, playable title, worth the time of day to anyone looking for an enjoyable time waster or a new shooter to occupy their time. Some may loathe it do to it's blatant imitation of Metroid, but Metroid is good for a reason. And it can be safely said that if Scurge: Hive had done it first, we'd all be clawing to get our hands on it. 
