Timothy vs. the Aliens Review (Nintendo Switch)

Timothy vs Aliens is bad. Really bad. I like the idea but the execution is all over the place.

The first thing you’ll notice in Timothy vs the aliens is that the art style is something a little different. Black and white. Bold and brave. The invading aliens are the only characters with any colour to them. Sadly, Timothy vs Aliens doesn’t have the gameplay chops to back up such a bold design choice, and it ends up feeling quite cheap.

This Review is in Partnership with Pure Play TV, the Official YouTube Partner of The Games Cabin

Timothy vs. The Aliens Video Review

Story of Timothy vs. The Aliens

The story is that aliens have invaded an old American city. You play as Timothy, an old-fashioned gangster - the kind that dresses smart, not the kind with their huggies hanging down to their knees. It’s Tommy’s job to save the town from the invading aliens. It’s very standard stuff and had the gameplay not been so poor, I’d have probably seen the story through to the end. Though, I can’t say I liked the silent characters - again, it made the game feel quite cheap.

Gameplay

Gameplay is shockingly poor and the controls don’t help, either. The bulk of play is a mix of frustratingly inaccurate platforming and frustratingly inaccurate third-person shooting. The game doesn’t even make use of the Nintendo Switch’s motion controls for aiming, which in this day and age is an actual sin.

Technical Level

On a technical level, the game is poor. It’s going for that artistic movie style with its black and white graphics and letterbox borders. It even goes as far as having an awfully unstable frame rate that feels like it wants to be at the movie standard 24fps rather than the wobbly 30 - it’s unstable, especially when you’re shooting a bunch of aliens or trying to drive one of the awful cars around town.

Conclusion

I could only manage a couple of hours of Timothy vs Aliens before I took a step back for fear of crushing those joy cons in my manly hands. It’s just not fun, and why the developers have sought out a second release, I do not know. The original PS4 version wasn’t any good, and this Switch edition is also very poor, and likely worse with the weaker hardware. I cant recommend it.