Aliens Killer 47

There's a fine line between unnecessary cruelty and difficulty, and it's one that Aliens Killer 47 fails to navigate successfully. This is a slick-looking platformer with a focus on shooting that never quite manages to gel its parts together.

Sometimes it's fun, and it's certainly well put-together, but too often just as you're getting the hang of things it'll throw you down a bottomless pit and make you go back to the beginning. For some that's going to be a boon, but for most it's a frustration you can do without.

The game casts you as a moose in black with a heavy weapon and some sunglasses. You need to traverse a variety of levels shooting anything that gets in your way and collecting the key cards that let you move on to the next set of challenges.

The platforming is smooth enough, and you can choose whether to use the number pad or your phone's little joystick to control your alien slaughtering moose. Tapping '5' fires your weapon, although it takes a good few shots to down anything to begin with.

You have a reasonably robust health bar which can withstand a good beating from the bad guys and turrets you'll stumble across, but fall into a pit - and there are plenty of pits to tumble into - and it's Game Over.

It can be frustrating to reach the final leap, with all the key cards you need to make it to the next level, only to mistime the jump and find yourself thrown back out to the menus. It sours the rest of the experience, and means you'll likely play the same level too many times.

Spilt moose

It's a shame, because Alien Killer 47 has some nice touches. The blend of platforming and action is just right, with moving platforms and pixel-perfect leaps bookended with shoot-outs and fast-paced fights.

But the game guards those exciting sections so tightly that it's unlikely many will get to see them. Death is part of the platforming genre, but Alien Killer 47's unbalanced take on your inevitable demise will leave you fuming.