This article originally appeared in Dev.Mag Issue 28, released in January 2009

Here goes: if one were to attempt classification, Iji could be described as a "Nonlinear Action RPG Platformer". It borrows thematic and gameplay elements from System Shock and Deus Ex, marries them with tactical platformer gunplay a la Blackthorne, and presents it all using the same basic polygonal graphics that made Another World so visually distinctive.

Whew! Quite a mouthful!

No, this isn't a 4-chan meme photoshopped onto a skyline; it's an alien take on Mutually Assured Destruction. Without the em.

Sadly, a side effect of relating a game to existing titles is that it makes the reader think that the game being reviewed consists of nothing but cheap borrowings from the games it's being compared to. This does the game a great disservice, especially if it does a particularly good job of melding all those borrowings into a cohesive and entertaining whole. Iji takes all its influences, mashes them together very nicely, and adds some little touches of its own that make it highly distinctive. But enough of that – it's time to tell you WHY.

Iji's story begins with the title character and her family touring the military research complex where her father works. This is rudely interrupted when a hostile alien race hits the Earth with a somewhat sudden and unprovoked orbital bombardment. Six months later, Iji awakes from a coma to find that the military complex has been completely overrun by the aliens, and that she has been infused with reverse-engineered alien nanotechnology by the few surviving scientists. It's up to her to strike back against the invaders and, through whatever means available, get them off what's left of Earth.

Big guys. With lasers.

So yes, Iji is part action platformer, and in that it's little different from any other action platformer you may have played. You guide Iji through the ten Sectors of the military complex, jumping from floor to floor and shooting increasingly nasty aliens with a growing range of weaponry. Her repertoire of moves is pretty basic – jumping and crouching. Crouching allows nastier enemy projectiles to zip harmlessly over her head, and is ideally performed behind cover to prevent fire from weaker weapons and melee attacks from reaching her too. However, unlike in other games of this type, she is unable to fire her own weapons while either crouching or in mid-jump. This can become annoying in some situations, but eliminating these abilities makes tactical placement and weapon selection all the more crucial to your survival. You can't just pull off the old "crouch 'n' fire while the aliens shoot uselessly over your head" or "jump to the next floor level, fire at enemy in mid-jump, fall into cover" maneuvers, and this forces you to think your firefights through a little more carefully, especially against larger, stronger adversaries.