Saturday 24 January 2015

Alien Games

Alien Through The Ages
33 Years of Alien Games

Alien Isolation was recently released, and playing it got me thinking about some of the other games based on the Alien franchise that I've played in the past. I decided that it would be a fun project to try and play them all. I excluded Alien Versus Predator games, because that would have added fourteen more titles to my list; but look for another installment in the future where I play through some of those.

Some of the games I played all the way through and beat, some of them I only played long enough to get a sense for the aesthetics of the game design, and a couple of them I couldn't manage to find at all. Some of the games were brutally bad, some were addictive and fun; Which is exactly what I expected when I set out to play them; so in that sense, none of them were a disappointment. I even ended up being pleasantly surprised once or twice.
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Alien (1982) released for Atari 2600





This is the first Alien game ever made; released in 1982 for the Atari 2600. There's nothing at all to suggest a connection to the Alien film franchise in this game, other than the box art. It's hard to imagine a kid popping this game into their Atari and not being disappointed; though that's kind of the sense I get from most Atari games. There's just no way the reality of an Atari game could every live up to the promise of fun and adventure on the game's box art. With that being said, I'm sure that expectations were a lot lower back in the day, and Alien is a perfectly functional game.


Oh yeah; I remember this from the movie


Run, Ripley, run!


I don't know what that thing is on the other side; but I want it

The game is basically a Pac-Man clone. You move your blip around the map collecting dots while avoiding the alien blips. If you collect all the dots in the level, you're moved to a new screen with a slight Froggerish variation to the game play, wherein... you move your blip across the screen avoiding the alien blips. If you make it across, you get to go back into Pac-Man mode and do it all over again. You can pick up yellow power-ups that I have to assume are guns, which allow you to spray some fire in front of you... But, the fire power doesn't really seem to do anything, as the Aliens can walk right through it and take one of your lives.


Pac-Man for the Atari 2600


Frogger for the Atari 2600


Now I have the power of fire!

The gameplay of Alien is actually fairly fun and addictive... For about twenty minutes. It works as an old school retro game, but at the end of the day it just wants to make you play Pac-Man.


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Alien (1984) released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad PC




The next Alien game to be released was Alien (1984). Unlike the 1982 Alien, this game actually bears some resemblance to the movie it's based on, including an opening menu featuring the alien egg, and all the characters from the movie, down to Jones the cat. It even takes place aboard the Nostromo, and involves moving from area to area through air ducts. You go from one area to the next picking up items like the "cat litter box", attempting to destroy the Alien. As we all know, aliens can't stand cat litter boxes... For that matter neither can humans.


Retro alien egg! Gnarly!


The tubular dudes and dudettes who comprise the Nostromo crew


The rad elements that make up the game. /end '80s slang

It's neat to see the retro representation of characters from one of my favorite movies, and it seems like there's the promise of a decent game here, if you're able to figure it out. But I could not for the life of me get anything done in this game. If an escaped lunatic with a hand gun entered through my window right now and demanded that I do something beneficial in this game on penalty of death; I wouldn't be able to do it. In fact, I might thank the lunatic for his promise of deliverance.


Ripley, displaying her characteristic okayness and stability


I don't believe in half measures. Initiate destruct sequence!

After one attempt where I received a competency rating of zero, I decided to do the only thing I knew how and initiate the Nostromo's self-destruct sequence. I killed the alien along with all the crew aboard the ship, and achieved a competency rating of 12%. Basking in my victory, I could rest easy knowing I ended the alien threat.


The game saw into my soul


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Aliens: The Computer Game (1987) released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Apple IIe, Amstrad CPC





This is the first game based on James Cameron's Aliens, and was released for the Commodore 64, the ZX Spectrum, the MSX, the Amstrad and a handful of other ancient technologies. There's a lot of different versions of this game floating around, and the graphical differences between the various systems that it's available on are apparent; the Commodore 64 version seems to be the prettiest. People who played this game during it's initial release seem to have very fond memories of it, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that nostalgia is the key factor there. After a couple hours I managed to find the right combination of ROMs, emulators, and keyboard configurations to make this game playable... And it really wasn't worth the amount of effort I put in to play it. That's not to say it's a terrible game, per se; just not worth the head ache.


A shot from the ZX Spectrum version of the game (above); and the Commodore 64 version (below)


This is the most ambitious of the Alien games in our time-trek so far; with scenes, characters, and dialogue from the movies and a variety of gameplay vignettes meant to replicate scenes from Aliens. It pretty cool to see character portraits for Vasquez, Hicks, Ripley, and the rest of the gang and Aliens: The Computer Game definitely has some retro appeal in that regard.


Vasquez, as depicted in Aliens: The Computer Game (above); and the James Cameron film Aliens (below)



Bishop, as depicted in Aliens: The Computer Game (above); and the James Cameron film Aliens (below)


I'm not sure what that expression indicates, but it scares me...

There's some definite tension when an alien approaches your screen the first few times, but it mostly has to do with the clunky controls. "Will I be able to move my cursor to the correct position in time?". The gameplay gets really repetitive really quick; but I still came away from the experience fairly impressed at what this game from 1987 was able to accomplish. The first person shooter element of this game is pretty sophisticated for the era, coming five years before the release of Wolfenstein 3D.


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Aliens (1987) released for the MSX





Aliens (alternatively called Alien 2) is the first side-scroller of the Alien games. Old school side-scrollers can be punishingly difficult. You die, its back to the beginning of the level... That's not news. But it makes it a lot more difficult when your players avatar is hard to control due to stilted movement. The controls just aren't as responsive as they need to be to make a game like this good, but once you get used to the low-gravity feel of the jumpy it becomes bearable to make some progress in the game.


The Universe is a pretty big place, after all


Ripley in all her glory, armed with a shotgun. Note the alien egg to the right, and the motion tracker at the top of the screen

The variety of weapons and power-ups you can pick up in this game is actually pretty amazing; even if most of the weapons featured have no basis in the Alien franchise of films. Everything from your standard shotgun, to smart guns with tracking bullets, or laser rifles with double beams. If Ripley had this kind of fire power in the movies, the Alien threat would be over early and we may have been spared a sequel or two.


Use your serbo gun!


Facehuggers... They're kind of cute, once you get to know 'em

The game suffers from some really boring backgrounds. Basically, the entire game is you walking on a platform with a black background. I get that it was the '80s, but for comparison: the first Super Mario Bros. game was released two years before Aliens. The amazing backgrounds in that game, while aesthetically different than what an Alien game would typically shoot for, go to show you what game design in the 80's was capable of achieving.


The backgrounds in Super Mario Bros. (1985) still hold up


Hostile body... There's a pickup line in there somewhere


Ending on a cliffhanger!

There's a pretty decent variety of enemies in the game that are mostly true to the movies. The regular Xenomorph we all know and love, complete with green acid blood; massive alien queens that serve as boss battles; eggs with facehuggers nestled inside. It's a nice touch that the egg flaps open as you approach, then releases the facehugger when you get right next to them; just like in the movies. There's a motion tracker in this game as well. It's more or less completely unnecessary, but it's also kind of a nice touch that shows some attention to detail.


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The 80's

The Alien games from the 1980's didn't really stand out as anything special on their own accord. If you're a big fan of the film franchise they might be worth checking out, but for pure retro nostalgia there are better games out there. Aliens: The Computer Game is probably the best of the bunch, but be wary that there's many different versions for many different systems, and finding the right fit can be a little time consuming.

The console that occupied the bulk of my childhood was the Sega Genesis. My parents had a Coleco Vision that fascinated my brother and I as a cultural relic, but they didn't have any games left for it by the time we came around. We also had an NES with Duckhunt and Super Mario, but it was the Genesis that was in our possession when I was finally cognizant enough to be really into video games. So, the coolest part about checking out the 80's Alien games for me was getting to know some of these old school systems a little better. Figuring out how to run a game in the Amstrad emulator was more interesting and rewarding to me then actually playing the games themselves.

If nothing else, the 1980's Alien games helped to give me an appreciation for how far we've come in gaming technology. But, they also helped to give me an appreciation for what was, and the retro sensibility of old school games. It was a viewfinder into the not too distant past; a glimpse of what would have occupied my time and imagination if I had been born a decade earlier.
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Aliens (1990) released for the Arcade






This is by far the funnest Alien game yet, and easily the best looking. But, the look it's going for is really not in keeping with the sensibilities of the Alien films, and it's not really trying to be. It's a side-scrolling arcade beat 'em up, and a good one; but fairly interchangeable with any of a dozen other Arcade beat 'em ups not based on the alien franchise. It's not grim and gritty; it's colorful, loud, and busy. It does pay tribute to the films, and there's definitely a familiarity... There's Xenomorphs, and facehuggers, and a climactic battle with the Alien queen where you can occupy a powerloader; just like in Aliens. Yep. And there's also Zombie-Men, weird quadrupeds, an armadillo alien, and a variety of other enemies that don't have H.R. Giger's fingerprints anywhere near them.


...The fuck?


This thing wasn't in the movies, but if you ask me it should have been


Kill it! BAHAHA

Still, this is the first of the Alien games that I had a genuine fun with; and the first that might be worth going out of your way to play. The gameplay is really simple, but addictive. It's non stop action, with shit flying at you from every direction; and you're flinging it right back. You fire your gun in a non-stop barrage, picking up rocket launchers and a variety of power-ups as you go. The bosses inexplicably explode when you beat them. Everything in this game screams Action! Action! Action!


I've been shooting everything... You think you get a pass, Newt?


Zombie-Men with machine guns... I'm just gonna go with it


I just wanted to load some crates


Does anyone else find the alien queen strangely erotic?

Aliens is designed to suck every last quarter out of your piggy bank. It would have cost a kings ransom to beat in the arcade. Mercifully, it's not a very long game and can be easily beaten in one sitting. Let's be clear, the game is just mindless action designed to deplete your childhood allowance... But it's so fun, it's worth checking out. It's not trying to be anything it isn't, and it definitely holds up.


A scene from 1986's Aliens (above); and 1990's Aliens (below)


Get away from her, you bitch!



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Alien 3 (1992-1994) released for Amiga, Commodore 64, Sega Master System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Game Gear




Alien 3 is the first of these games that I actually remember playing from my childhood. It's a side-scroller that got a release for a variety of systems. Visually, it's as different as you would expect from one system to the next, but the game play and level design are very similar. It has a variety of weapons and directional shooting. The color palette and tone of the game are surprisingly on point with the film it's based on; probably more so than any other alien game that's come before.


Maybe the best egg yet; other than the one I had for breakfast


Ripley wielding a flamethrower in the SNES version of Alien 3


Prisoners trapped in a cell block? Isn't that how they're supposed to work?


Look at that smile!


Ripley just can't catch a good night's sleep


The different weapons are pretty cool, and the flamethrower is bad ass. The enemies are true to the film franchise. Facehuggers, chest-bursters, and drones abound, and they are assaulting you from the moment you start the game. Alien 3 is hard and relentless. But, I could see how fans of difficult side-scrolling action would really like it. The game does some interesting things with the genre, including using computer terminals to activate missions, but it wasn't really enough to hold my interest for a prolonged period of time.


The NES version of Alien 3


No pressure


Honestly, the game itself was less interesting to me than just checking in to see the differences from one port to another. It's pretty to look at, but frustrating and repetitive to play. It certainly has it's charms, but ultimately it's not the kind of game that I get into.


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Alien 3: The Gun (1993) released for the Arcade






Alien 3: The Gun is an on-rail shooter that made it's way through Arcades in 1993. It's mindless, non-stop action like the 1990 Aliens arcade game, but somehow manages to be a lot less fun. I think 90% of the entertainment from these kind of games came from using the light gun; without that gimmick, the game kind of falls flat.


It's the Buridan's Ass of gaming... What should I shoot at first?



Explosions for everyone!


Get.. Out... Of my face!

Part of the problem is that the game goes for a more realistic look than the 1990 arcade beat 'em up; it may have been more impressive at the time but it hasn't really aged that well. There's just shit flying in your face and obscuring your vision the entire play through, and while I get that that's the point; it honestly started to really irritate me after awhile. Just get out of my face! The irritation does add a little to the satisfaction of machine gunning your foes down, though.


Parlay?




These guys would be right at home in an early '90s boy band, with poses like that

I think that ultimately what I don't like about this on-rail shooter is that you don't need to press a single button to progress, except at the boss battles. You can just sit back and pop in quarters, and the game will continue to move you through. Do I really even need to be here for this? At least in the 1990 Arcade game you had to actually move forward to progress; all this game requires of you is that you buckle in and keep feeding it money.



If only that were the case


heheheheheh


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Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure (1995) released for PC


This is a 1995 Adventure game based on the Darkhorse Alien comic books. It's not fondly remembered, doesn't have much of a following, seems to have too little of the Xenomorph and too much nonsense, and I was never really able to get it working... Which might be a good thing.

Here's an article from PC Gamer by Richard Cobbett lampooning it, if you want to get a better sense of what the game is about: http://www.pcgamer.com/saturday-crapshoot-aliens-a-comic-book-adventure/


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Alien Trilogy (1996) released for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, PC





Oooohhhh yeah, I had almost forgotten. Their were first person shooters before their were analog sticks. Every instinct I possess wants to aim and look around me, not that it's necessary. The shooting in this game is similar to the shooting in Doom; aim in the general direction of your target and fire away.


You stay over there, I'll stay over here, and we'll get along just fine

The game actually has some decent atmosphere going for it. It's the first time an alien game has come close to being scary. There's darkness, decent mood music, and Xenomorphs at every turn... The gameplay is challenging, but not unfair. But, the level design gets really boring. It's labyrinthine and repetitive. All in all, it feels like a bit of a slog; after you've killed your first dozen enemies, you've basically seen what the game has to offer.


Ugh, you again?

There's some nice touches in this game. The trademark motion tracker is actually useful for the first time in an alien game. You're exploring a 3D environment for the first time, and so their actually is a bit of ambiguity as to where your enemies will be approaching from. Stepping on the corpse of a dead alien will injure you will injure you due to the acid blood, which is a nice touch. The weapons are pretty standard stuff for a '90s FPS. Machine guns, shotguns, pistols; there's nothing mind blowing here, but they all do the job.




The game, overall, feels like a Doom clone with less interesting levels and less interesting enemies. That being said, if you're a big fan of old school FPS games like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, this game is probably worth playing. You'll be instantly familiar with the gameplay, know what's expected of you, and know how to go about achieving it.



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the '90s

Ahhh the '90s. Pogs, boy bands, fanny packs, starter jackets, and middling Alien games. I can actually see the seed of something a particular sort of gamer would like in all these games. Fans of challenging side-scrollers will enjoy the Alien 3 game for SNES and Genesis; fans of old school FPS action will enjoy Alien trilogy. For my money, the best game here, and the best in our list so far is the 1990's Alien arcade game, but that has little to do with any relation it has to the film. It's just the most playable of these games, and the one that has aged the best.

PlayStation games have probably aged the worst out of all the consoles. The SNES and the Genesis will always be as good as they were back in the day because they were the pinnacle of that "type" of gaming. PlayStation, on the other hand, was pioneering gameplay that has been continually improved upon since that time, and while they were innovative they've also aged poorly. Nintendo 64, the peer console of the PlayStation, had games that never really went for grittiness, scariness, or realism in the way that the PlayStation did, and as a result many Nintendo 64 games still hold up to this day.

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Alien: Resurrection (2000) released for the PlayStation




This game is Alien Trilogy on steroids. Way more ambitious and way better looking, with fantastic atmosphere and tension. The level design has a lot going for it. Everything looks a whole lot better. There's water and blood dripping from the rooftop, multiple levels of action, and a much more detailed environment. The first few glimpses you get of the alien are pulse quickening; it actually seems to be stalking you. You'll stumble across dozens of corpses before you ever encounter an enemy; it's a really decent horror environment. It doesn't just throw hundreds of aliens in your face from the get go, it tries to build tension, and it works. It's not just a balls to the wall shooter either, there's some stealth elements going on. It's probably best to avoid combat early on.


I'm no detective, but I suspect foul play


Someone ruined their picnic


Sleeping on the job... Good help is hard to find

The control you have in this game is also far more elaborate than what was presented in Alien Trilogy. You can crouch, and you can look up and down. It's really ambitious, but without an analog controller it just comes across as painfully clunky. The enemies in the game are frustratingly difficult to defeat, and having clunky controls does nothing to ease that frustration. It's ahead of it's time, and it suffers as a result of that. There's the seed of a really decent game buried in here somewhere. It would have made a great PC game, with the ability to look around with the mouse; but as a PlayStation game it unfortunately falls short.


Xenomorph... HIDE!



I just wanted to be friends... 


Alien: Resurrection is the scariest, most atmospheric Alien game yet, but the awkward controls make it a painful playing experience; which is a real shame.


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Aliens: Thanatos Encounter (2001) released for the Game Boy Color




This is the first top-down Alien game, and it's got some fun and addictive gameplay going for it. You once again take on the role of a colonial marine, tasked with completing missions like rescuing civilians and killing Aliens. The game is good looking, and the opening cutscene is pretty. It's not a terrible game. I really enjoyed the left hand/right hand/inventory management system; it was a good change of pace from previous entries in this article.


Jorell? Superman's dad?!


I think I'm going to start ending phone calls this way


Top down alien action is a good change of pace, if nothing else


The top down aesthetic works for the game, but the gameplay gets old fairly quick. It's not really worth going out of your way to play, but it's fairly impressive for a hand held game that's over a decade old; and it's far from the worst game on this list.


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Aliens: Extermination (2006) for Arcade



Another on-rail arcade shooter; I didn't get a chance to play this one but the action seems pretty standard from what I could make out... Basically, if you like on-rail shooters, you'll enjoy the game; and if you don't, you won't.

Here's a review from Arcade Heroes by Shaggy:
http://arcadeheroes.com/2007/04/04/alien-extermination-review-by-shaggy/


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The 2000's

There's not much going on for Alien games in the 2000's, but that's mostly because the focus of the decade shifted from Alien to Alien vs. Predator. There were eight AvP games released in this ten year period, and only three games featuring the Alien franchise on it's own. For the most part, the Alien games were pretty forgettable. Functional, playable, a good way to kill some time; but not really worth going out of your way to see.

Alien Resurrection is worth noting, because it really does have some great atmosphere and some pretty sophisticated graphics. It builds tension in a way that Alien games have been unable to do until now; but I hated the controls in the game. I would have loved to have played it in a different medium, because I can see what's it's trying to do and I appreciate it, but it's a victim of the PlayStation's controller.
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Alien Infestation (2011) released for Nintendo DS






This game really surprised me. It's the best alien side scroller there is, by far. It actually shows you how to play it, and introduces you to the tools you'll have available to you, without taking you out of the gameplay with an unnecessary tutorial. It's great that the Alien isn't immediately introduced; that there isn't a thousand aliens flying at you from the get go. That helps to build suspense, something that's surprisingly lacking in most alien games. It makes the impact of seeing a Xenomorph for the first time more... Impactful.


Making out with a facehugger; the bottom screen depicts your inventory


Contemplating an alien egg; the bottom screen depicts the map

There's a lot that's cool about this game. The weapons are exactly what they should be; they're nothing special, but they're what you expect a colonial marine to wield, and the way you use them to interact with the environment is well implemented. There's even a squad aspect to the game, with rooms around the map where you can switch out your weakened marine for a another member of your crew. The Music is great, not terribly repetitive and quite tense. Engaging in firefights with the enemies is really fun, and the ability to take cover against boxes is a nice touch. The dual screens of the DS are also really well implemented, with the bottom screen used to manage your inventory, check your map, and keep tabs on enemies with your motion tracker.


The alien, preparing it's lunch


Okay squad, pose like we practiced!

This is definitely one of the best Alien games that I've played, and worth going out of your way to try. The action does get a little repetitive after awhile, but it takes a lot longer to reach that point than almost all of the other Alien games.


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Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013) released for PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360




The much maligned Aliens: Colonial Marines. The game certainly has it's issues, but it's really not as bad as you may have assumed from word of mouth. It has great voice acting, including Lance Henriksen and Michael Biehn, from the films; and Ashly Burch, who I personally love. There's a big selection of really fun weapons to use. There's some pretty awesome squad based firefights. The game does a really nice job of telling an original story set in the Aliens universe while at the same tying in plot elements of the films. The Xenomorphs are really mobile and threatening. They move quickly, they climb walls, and they deal significant damage. The game makes pretty good use of the motion tracker.



Awww he's over-tired


The biggest sin of Colonial Marines is that it was passed off as a Triple A title. It may have been, in terms of it's budget, but in terms of it's quality, it's not. It's buggy. Your team mates will teleport hither and yon like Nightcrawler from the X-men, and their AI isn't worth a damn. Enemies will glitch into doors. At times, the Xenomorphs seem to go right for you even when one of your team mates is closer and a more logical target. They jump through glass windows, and the glass doesn't bother to shatter. The graphics aren't amazing for a big budget game released in 2013, and it's not at all surprising to me that the game was initially scheduled to be released years earlier. The Aliens are kind of ugly, and not just in the obvious ways. The game has atmosphere, but it's not scary. Somehow having a machine gun with a flamethrower attachment on top and a rocket launcher strapped to the bottom does a good job of alleviating fear


Wicked powerslide, brah!


He's dead, Jim



If you went to the store in 2013 and bought this game over game's like Tomb Raider, BioShock Infinite, and Crysis 3, you definitely misspent your money. The game really didn't deserve to be a full priced title like those games. It didn't have the right to presume people would want limited edition box sets, and it didn't deserve to offer DLC season passes. But, it is actually kind of fun. It's not innovative in any way, but it's not a terrible way to spend a couple hours, and it's probably worth the 17.00 you can pick it up for on steam right now. It's certainly NOT worth the 90.00 price tag associated with downloading all of the DLC. Natural Selection II, also available on steam, is probably more worthy of your attention if you're looking for Marine vs. Alien action.

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Alien: Isolation (2014) released for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One


Alien: Isolation is the best Alien game that has been released to date, and the only game since the 80's that has tried to emulate the horror atmosphere of the first film (my personal favorite) over the action of James Cameron's Aliens. There's so much about this game I like. I like the sleek "drone" style of Xenomorph that they use, I like the survival horror emphasis over the shoot everything in sight approach. It's very refreshing not to play as a colonial marine, as awesome as they are.





Stay tuned for a full review of Alien: Isolation coming soon.
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