- Nice planet. I think I'll save it... for a price. Easy money!- The Player Character
Invasion: The Abductors is an arcade light gun Rail Shooter developed by Play Mechanix and and released by Midway in 1999, using the same Polygonal Graphics hardware used in Mortal Kombat 4.
The Earth is under attack by aliens, and has no defense against their technological superiority. Earth's landmarks and buildings are being stolen and taken to their mothership. The aliens are reinforced by humans captured and swiftly transformed into bloodthirsty mutants. Out of options, Earth sends out a distress call, willing to pay a reward to anybody who can remove the alien threat. Enter the player, a Punch-Clock Hero mercenary who hears the distress call and takes the job, looking for a sweet paycheck.
The game is divided into four levels: three which are in the United States and the Mothership as the final stage. Each stage has several missions the player must complete, especially in gaining bonuses. There are two different endings depending on how the game is played.
Alongside CarnEvil, this was the last gun game Midway was ever produced.
It's a fondly-remembered game by the few people who were able to play it; it's a rare cabinet, and not enough of a Cult Classic to really stick around.
Tropes include:
- Alien Abduction: Both taking women to the mothership, and also abducting humans to mutate into monsters.
- Alien Invasion: It's not made clear why the aliens are so interested in Earth, though it does seem they want to loot the planet's landmarks.
- Anti-Hero: The player. He's a mercenary willing to fight the aliens, but isn't doing it for free.
- Big Red Button: The switches to detach the cargo pod from the mothership are huge green buttons you shoot to activate. They turn red when activated.
- Boom, Headshot!: Mutants and Alien Troopers can take significant punishment if shot in the body, but are killed instantly when shot in the head.
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Follow the Leader: Much like Play Mechanix's later gun game Johnny Nero Action Hero (the 2004 Comic Book-themed gun game that not being published by Eugene Jarvis' new company Raw Thrills but published by Innovative Concepts in Entertainment (ICE) of ticket redemption games) which copies the gameplay of Namco's Time Crisis, this game literally copies Sega's Gunblade N.Y./L.A. Machineguns. - Hostage Spirit-Link: Accidentally shooting humans will deduct some health as expected, but rescuing humans from imminent attack will regain health.
- Interface Screw: Taking damage paints the screen with a giant jagged bullet hole for about one second. But unlike Time Crisis, this doesn't pause the action, making it hard to see any follow-up attacks.
- Mars Needs Women: Though males and females alike are turned into mutants, the Alien Lab on board the mothership seems to exclusively be holding women in bikinis.
- Monumental Damage: Even if you rescue a building from the aliens, it usually takes significant damage when they drop it to the ground.
- Monumental Theft: Along with abducting people and turning them into mutants, the aliens are also attempting to steal landmarks. You prevent the theft of the Chicago Water Tower in stage 1, the Statue of Liberty in stage 2, the Hollywood letters in stage 3, and recover other famous landmarks already taken to the Mothership in stage 4.
- More Dakka: The Extreme Rapid Fire powerup, which is useful in taking down hordes of enemies and even large ships.
- Only in It for the Money: The player character is an alien mercenary. As the page quote shows, he's only saving Earth for the sweet reward promised. (What exactly Earth is willing to offer that an alien would find valuable isn't made clear.)
- Punch-Clock Hero: The player is willing to take on an entire alien invasion force single-handedly and save all the humans he can... As long as he gets the reward offered by Earth.
- People Jars: Women are being kept in tubes throughout the Lab section of the alien mothership.
- Self-Destruct Mechanism: Near the end of the Mothership level, you hack into the ship's computers, and are given the option to set the self-destruct. Doing so gets you the good ending, but forces a time limit to get out of the ship.
- Shock and Awe: The Death Ray powerup is similar to a lightning gun.
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Spiritual Successor: To Area 51. - Timed Mission: If you set the Self-Destruct Mechanism on the ship, you have 30 seconds to hit the last airlock switch and disengage the cargo pod before the ship blows up.
- The United States Is The Center Of The Universe: Aside from the mothership, all other missions take place in the United States. The only nod towards the rest of the world are stolen landmarks kept on the mothership that you recover.
- The Virus: The aliens abduct people and quickly transform them into bloodthirsty mutant monsters that attack you.
- Wall Crawl: Enemy mutants often scale buildings to pounce at the hero.
- Was Once a Man: The mutants you fight were transformed from normal humans snagged by Abductor vessels.
