Bert Higgins: The Man From H.E.L.L.

Bert Higgins: The Man From H.E.L.L. is a top-down shooter that may be described as similar to Alien Breed and Project Paradise, but featuring many weapons, items and a generally high degree of interactivity with the environment.

According to the background story of the game, things are not going all that well in 2025. Everything changed back in 2009, when Earth started receiving alien transmissions that contained valuable information about high-end technologies. Although whoever sent these signals never showed up, this contact alone was enough to produce worldwide panic followed by a global crisis. As the old governments collapsed, a new world power emerged in the form of a mega-corporation called Future Developments Incorporated that utilised this alien knowledge to various ends. Among other things, FDI created sophisticated cyborgs to maintain order - the so-called Bio-Electronic Robotic Technology, or B.E.R.T. However, those who had not embraced alien technologies united under the banner of EDEN, a group that calls for global re-armament and opposes FDI in order to purify the planet of extraterrestrial influence.

The player controls Bert Higgins, a cyborg created by FDI, on various missions. The game is not all about shooting and encourages to explore the environment and carefully approach enemies as opposed to simply running around with guns ablaze. Many objects in the levels may be damaged or destroyed, and many are interactive: for example, you can open a drawer or a fridge, sometimes to find a useful item inside. Colour-coded keycards that should be familiar to anyone since Doom are also prominently featured as a staple of level progression.

There is a lengthy tutorial split into several sub-levels that walk through the basics of game play, culminating with a small training mission where Bert needs to escape from a guarded facility. The actual missions spread over three campaigns with non-linear progression, nearly 30 weapons and over 20 different enemy types.

Bert Higgins was originally sold as shareware, with the demo including only the first two levels from the registered game. In 2011, one of the developers made the full version available as a free download.