Super Mutant Alien Assault for PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One

Try as I might, I can?t force myself to have any kind of opinion whatsoever about Super Mutant Alien Assault. It?s one of those games that just kind of exists.

There are, to be sure, worse things for a game to be. After all, it means that it doesn?t contain any game-breaking bugs, nor does it do anything so badly that you?ll want to turn it off in frustration. Being competent is undeniably an achievement that many games could only dream of attaining.

But it also means that Super Mutant Alien Assault doesn?t do anything particularly new or exciting. It describes itself as an ?arcade platformer-shooter?, which is really just a fancy way of saying that it borrows liberally from Super Crate Box and doesn?t add all that much. You have a space theme instead of…however you?d describe SCB?s aesthetic, but beyond that, it?s all the same. Crates full of random weapons, lots of guns and explosions, and a steady stream of enemies coming after you. With only 12 levels, it?s a little short I suppose, but if the options are too short or too long, I?ll take brevity every time.

Besides, it?s not like I have a burning desire to have more Super Mutant Alien Assault. It?s about as generic as they come, and it?s not like I would?ve preferred even more blandness on top of what?s on offer here. If you have a Super Crate Box-shaped hole in your PS4 library, it might be worth thinking about this game, but otherwise, your life will be neither measurably better nor worse in any way whatsoever if you give this a try or not.

Surprise Attack provided us with a Super Mutant Alien Assault PS Vita code for review purposes.