Centipede: Infestation
About the Game
Centipede: Infestation is, like Space Invaders Extreme or Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX , a modern "re-imagining" of a classic video game franchise. Here, players are thrust into a post-apocalyptic wasteland adventure where plant and animal life has largely been eradicated by war, and bugs have been mutated to monstrous sizes. Rather than directly playing like classic Centipede games, Infestation plays somewhat more like a modern dual analog action title like Geometry Wars or the way classic Robotron was intended to be played.
Story & Setting
At its core, the gameplay takes place within a single staged area that is often not much larger than the area allowed by a television screen and merely face off against swarms of incoming bugs, and eventually, the pivotal centipedes themselves. The narrative largely revolves around a group of survivors on post-apocalyptic Earth, one of whom named Maisy may hold the secret to returning plant life to the planet. Each also features character development and plot points divulged during cutscenes between stages, most of which are simply dialog between the main protagonist, Max, and Maisy. Numerous characters and costumes are unlockable over the course of the story.
Gameplay & Core Systems
Players progress with the Nunchuck Control Stick or 3DS Circle Pad and aim and shoot with either the Wii Remote or 3DS touch-screen (the Classic Controllers on the Wii allow for straight dual-analog control). The centipedes generally appear as boss encounters for single stages, and their behavior--moving back and forth, having body segments that can be targeted individually--is a direct homage to the original games. Unlike the original games from the early 1980's, Infestation delivers a wide variety of weapons available to the players. Flame Throwers, Freeze Throwers, Laser Guns, Machine Guns, Lightning Guns, and others are on hand for players to maximize their bug-blasting potential. Each player may carry up to four different weapons at one time, and each weapon can be upgraded one time by collecting it a second time.
Standout Features
- Weapons are assigned to the A,B,X,Y buttons or D-Pad (Wii Remote), and once activated, can only be used for a limited time, which forces some strategic hoarding and saving of weapons for bigger encounters.
- However, weapons cannot be carried over to the next stage and players will start with their standard Pea Shooter.
- New weapons are dropped by small spiders dropping in from above.
- These weapons remain where they fall and attack enemies automatically.
- Sometimes switches must be hit, sometimes specific enemies or weapons are highlighted.
- Several different types of bugs will appear during stages, each with different strengths, attacks, hit points, and behaviors.
- Ants, for instance, do not tend to attack directly, and will generally follow set paths.
- Other bugs will drop seeds which grow into defensive plants such as a Gun Turret or a Bomb Plant which launch attacks against bugs, adding to the overall firepower and offensive capabilities of the players.
Modes & Ways to Play
Max's brother Rivet appears early on, largely to fill the role of a second player during co-op play.
Player support includes Co-Op.
Presentation & Atmosphere
Besides characters and costumes, other unlockables include art galleries, movies and music.
More game data: releases, identifiers & technical details
Regional release records and identifiers for Centipede: Infestation | Nintendo 3DS.
Release and technical facts
| Fact | Value | Release / platform | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Published by | Atari, Inc. | United States | MobyGames |
| Developed by | WayForward Technologies, Inc. | United States | MobyGames |
| Media Type | Nintendo 3DS Game Card | Nintendo 3DS | MobyGames |
| Multiplayer Game Modes | Co-Op | Nintendo 3DS | MobyGames |
| Number of Offline Players | 1-2 Players | Nintendo 3DS | MobyGames |
| Number of Local Players via Wi-Fi | 1-2 Players | Nintendo 3DS | MobyGames |
| Original game disc count | 1 | North America | MobyGames |
| Genre | Arcade | North America | PriceCharting |
| ESRB rating | Everyone 10+ | North America | PriceCharting |
| Player count | 1 player | North America | PriceCharting |
| Publisher | Atari | North America | PriceCharting |
Regional releases
| Release date | Region / edition | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2011-10-25 | United States | MobyGames |
| 2011-11-01 | North America | PriceCharting |
| November 1, 2011 | North America | PriceCharting |
Catalog identifiers by release
| Identifier | Code | Region / edition | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| eBay Product ID | 93179433 | United States | MobyGames |
| Nintendo Media PN | LNA-CTR-ACPE-USA | United States | MobyGames |
| UPC-A | 742725281943 | United States | MobyGames |
| upc | 742725281943 | North America | PriceCharting |
| asin | B003VJGI76 | North America | PriceCharting |
| epid | 93179433 | North America | PriceCharting |
| upc | 742725282131 | North America | PriceCharting |
Data by MobyGames.com · Catalog data: PriceCharting
