F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q. Why does my gun not fire and I get an odd clunking noise?

A. Your gun will overheat if used too much. Keep a watch on its temperature gauge (just above the gun icon in the lower right) and try to keep the gun cool – don’t fire when you don’t need to.

Q. There are two (or three) commandos in my mission – which one am I?

A. You control one directly in the play screen. The others will carry out any orders they have. However, you can switch to any other commando by tapping the mini-commando icon on the play screen – you would then take direct control of him. If you switched into a commando currently under a move (or follow) order, you’ll see the intended path highlighted on the scanner. The other commandos will continue to carry out their orders. They are also aware of dangers and will turn to fire at any approaching aliens.

Q. Why do I automatically turn to face an alien that attacks me?

A. This automatic turn is to help you shoot him as once you are in his attack grip you can’t escape – it is kill or be killed.

Q. I’m playing a mission with multiple commandos. What will they do?

A. You can give orders to them. At mission start they have a ‘Follow’ order and will follow you around. They will shot at any nearby aliens whilst they follow you. However, to complete most missions you’ll need to give them different orders – e.g. move to point xx etc.. Remember you can switch between commandos and take direct control at any time. This is needed for key tasks like laying mines, using medipaks, flaming areas etc..

Q. I’ve just launched the game and see an icon with a curved arrow and a tick and cross below – what is this?

A. This is the “Resume game?” icon. If you had previously quit the game early by pressing the Home button mid-mission, or if your game was interrupted by a phone call on device, then your progress was saved. Now you’ve re-started you have this “Resume” option offering the chance to continue play where you left off previously. Tap the tick to resume play, or the cross to go to the normal game menu.

Q. I’m having trouble giving orders. What should I do?

A. First, go to the order screen - tap the small scanner to enter the order screen. The game pauses while in this screen so you have time to issue orders. You can scale and move the map by pinching, expanding and flicking. To give an order, first select the commando you want to order by tapping his face icon – he’ll flash on the map to show he’s selected. To give a move order just flick/scale the map to where you want him to go and tap there. You’ll see the route shown in dots, along with a crosshair for the destination. To change the order, simply tap somewhere else on the map (for a replacement move order), or tap the same spot again to delete the order. To give a guard order, select the commando and tap the square he’s in. Or to give a follow order, select the commando and then on the map press and hold the commando you want him to follow. Note that when a commando completes a move order, he will revert to a guard order.

Q. Why did I switch to a different commando when I exited the ordering screen?

A. When you leave the order screen, you will be in direct control of the currently selected commando. So if you wish to be in direct control of a particular commando you must make sure he is the currently selected one when you exit.

Q. Why do I see a dotted path on the small scanner?

A. This shows the route you need to take to complete your order. If you gave yourself a move order, it shows the best route, and is often helpful for guidance. Alternatively, if you have a follow order, it shows the route to the commando you are following.

Q. I keep getting killed. The game seems too hard!

A. The early missions can be completed without giving too much thought to orders. But when things get tough you have to give thought to ordering your commandos so that they help give cover to each other – remember a commando not under your direct control will be aware of dangers and turn to fire, even whilst carrying out an order. Also, try not to get bunched up in a tight corridor – you won’t be able to help each other and a tough alien can often kill multiple commandos in this scenario. Finally, try to use what equipment you have – if there is some flamer thrower ammo, use it to block off routes and also kill multiple aliens. If only one commando needs to exit, consider sacrificing others acting either as decoys or as a way of just holding up the alien onslaught to buy you enough time.

Q. Do commandos automatically use their medipaks?

A. No. You must select them via the menu in the top right. Medipaks generally give a 50% health top-up. Quick thinking players will quickly use a saved medipak when being attacked by an alien to help them survive long enough to kill the alien.

Q. Do other commandos pickup items?

A. Yes. They always pickup items they walk over. The exception is mines, which can only be picked up via the top right menu.

Q. Do other commandos always use the strongest ammo they have?

A. Yes, but it you take control of them and switch to a lower ammo. They will stay with that – this can be useful if you want to conserve higher strength ammo. Also note other commandos will switch from flamer ammo if in near or direct combat with an alien as they attempt to shoot (they don’t want to set fire to themselves!).

Q. The headphone socket/cable on the iPhone gets in the way when playing. What can I do?

A. In the settings screen, tap the top left icon – the screen will flip orientation. Tap it again to reset. Note that the orientation setting is saved, so when you play the game in the future, the front-end menu will start rotated.

Q. When an alien is in combat I can’t back off to get away. Why is this?

A. Once an alien is in direct combat with you there is nothing to can do to escape his attack. Your only option is to shoot him dead or hope one of your fellow commandos does so for you. As a last resort, if you have some flamer ammo, you could kill him immediately with that, but your health would take a hit.

Q. How can I pause the game?

A. Just enter the ordering screen (tap the small scanner), or the in-game menu (top right) and the game is paused.

Q. What does the ! symbol mean when I see it on the commando icon?

A. It means that commando is currently being attacked by an alien.

Q. Why does the timed mine not kill aliens?

A. This is a special mine that detonates after a period of time. It doesn’t have the flickering electrodes like the regular mines. The on-screen time starts counting once the mine has been placed (or dropped if the commando carrying it is killed by an alien).

Q. I gave a move order but the dotted path seems to take an odd route?

A. If there is a closed bulkhead door (shown in yellowy green on the scanner) the move order will try to take a route which avoids the door. Of course you can open these doors if you wish, and in that case you’d need to split the move order into two parts – one to the door and the other past the door once you’d manually opened it.

Q. Do mines and flames always stop the aliens?

A. Flames will either instantly or very rapidly kill an alien. The more flames they have to run through, the larger the chance they will die. Even if they make it though, they will be severely weakened and easily shot afterwards. Mines have a near 100% kill rate. The aliens gradually learn about the power of mines and will eventually back off or seek other routes past them however.

Q. Why have the left/right joypad arrows disappeared off the screen?

A. If you enable the accelerometer in the settings screen, then the manual on-screen joypad will reflect this – so if you use the accelerometer for left/right movement only, then you’ll only see the forward/backward icons on screen, representing the remaining functionality of the joypad.