In 2006, independent game developer Frozenbyte released their first title, Shadowgrounds, a sci-fi shooter game that was a throwback to the top down action games that have now all but disappeared from the shelves. The game wasn't all that original but it was fun and now Frozenbyte and its US publisher Meridian 4 are finishing up work on Shadowgrounds Survivor. FiringSquad got a chance to play a special press preview of the game which featured several of the game's single player levels.

Shadowgrounds Survivor isn't a sequel to the original game but rather a title that takes place in parallel to the events of the first title. The new game will allow you to play as three different characters, each battling the alien invasion that is hellbent on turning humans into meat. The preview build we got to play had four levels from the the game's single player campaign plus two of the all new "Survival" mode which is basically you trapped in a confined space while tons of alien creatures keep coming after you. The Survival mode continues until you are dead; online leaderboards will compare your stats in the mode with others who have played it.

The levels we got to sample in the campaign mode kept to the kind of pace that the original Shadowgrounds had which was pretty relentless. Creatures ranging from small spider like bugs to larger lizard like creatures to huge rocket launcher armed creatures are a constant menace. Fortunately you are well armed as well with pulse machine guns, mini-guns, grenade and rocket launchers and a very effective flame thrower. Sometimes when you kill an alien an upgrade part appears which you can collect and supposedly use to upgrade your weapons and character (although we didn't have a chance to use this feature in our preview build).

One of the cooler new additions in this next game is the ability to get inside a mech like vehicle to really pound into the alien invaders. The twin machine gun turrets on the mech make short work of the creatures that you encounter. The mech level was brief but very memorable. Other settings include a forest-canyon level, a lab that has a lot of snow and ice and most importantly a lava level that really shows off Frozenbyte's graphical prowess. The heat effects are very impressive with visible distortions that can affect how you can see enemies and landscapes in the locations.

Indeed the entire game has gotten some new graphical improvements compared to the original Shadowgrounds. There are also some new weather effects such as rain and snow/ice particles that improve on the original's visuals. The art style remains about the same with character models and some of the industrial locations returning from the original. Frozenbyte has put in a new physics engine (AGEIA's PhysX) that adds some interactivity to the environments. Blowing up fuel-filled barrels blow up enemies and scatter other items that might be lying around.

Our preview build was way too brief and buggy to really get a feel of how the full game will turn out (sometimes the AI of the enemies would work; sometimes they would stay frozen in place) and the co-op mode in the original game wasn't part of our previous build for Shadowgrounds Survivor. However, Frozenbyte is promising to release the full editing tools for the new game which should be a big hit with the modders in the Internet community.

Based on our preview build, Shadowgrounds Survivor has the potiential to be a big improvement on the original game with more options, better visuals and physics support and the new Survivor mode that should encourage replayablity. It remains to be seen, however, if the full game will come together as a whole to be a solid entertaining experience. Frozenbyte and Meridian 4 plan to release Shadowgrounds Survivor in stores and via digital download in mid-November.

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