In Scurge:Hive, you play Jenosa, a female bounty hunter who’s been hired to investigate the distress signal from a research lab and recover the technology the lab was working on. Jenosa discovers that the lab has been overrun by aliens, and that an alien plague is threatening to infect not only her, but maybe the whole galaxy. In fact, she’s infected almost from the start, so there’s a race against time to get through the facility and discover its secrets.

The time factor adds a great suspenseful vibe. You have to fight your way forward, trying not to take too much damage from your alien opponents, in order to make the next save point before dying. And you can’t go back to the last one, because the aliens respawn whenever you enter a room. Fortunately, as you gain levels you become more and more resistant to the infection and you get a little more time. This is really important because there are plenty of puzzles to solve and bosses to fight. Those bosses are pretty tough, too. However, I think the time factor makes it a hard game to pick up for a few minutes when you’re in line at the coffee shop. Close the lid and you’re back at the last save point.

As Jenosa makes her way through the station, more areas open up and more challenges are presented. Jenosa has an AI program to tell her what needs to be done, which is definitely helpful, but conversations seem to take too long and can interrupt the action unnecessarily. She’ll also pick up new much-needed weapons along the way. It turns out that different aliens have different weaknesses, so you need to pick your weapons carefully.

Instead of a 3D perspective, Scurge:Hive has an isometric perspective that feels a little dated. I’m so used to swinging the camera around to see everything in 3D games that I found the fixed camera angle quite limiting. Also, quite a bit of the world is designed on the diagonal, which the DS control pad (or my fingers) can’t navigate very well. This is especially frustrating when aliens seem to be able to attack from any direction but I couldn’t figure out how to shoot in every direction. Despite this, I enjoyed the graphics. While the game does not take full advantage of the DS screens, I thought Jenosa’s flowy ponytail was cute. It is disappointing, though, that the touch screen really doesn’t get much use.

For my first DS RPG adventure, Scurge:Hive was enjoyable, suspenseful, had a good soundtrack and an interesting story. However, I did find the game a little difficult to navigate, and I think the touch screen should have played a bigger part. Still, I recommend Scurge:Hive if you, like me, want a fun game for your DS library.