Alien Resurrection (Sony Playstation 1)
Could the worst Alien movie spawn one of the best Alien games?
I was really excited about Aliens: Colonial Marines. Really excited. I was really getting into the Alien vs Predator series (the games, not the movies) and it really started on the humble Jaguar for me (you can watch the review here).
Since then, I’ve become massive fans of the Alien and Predator franchises respectively, seen all the movies, played most of the games (Alien vs Predator on the SNES as well as AVP: Extinction for the PS2) and a game like Aliens: Colonial Marines really felt like a game for the fans. More cinematic than any game previously and full of references to the movie and the Alien series.
The game may have disappointed plenty of Alien fans, but I still enjoyed it (mostly) and it started a fascination with how we got to this point. What does it take for a franchise to get to a point where the movies have dried up, but they’re still releasing cross-over films and games for the fans?
Originally, I wanted to do a massive Aliens Retrospective; Covering everything from the games, changes in genre and really dissect the question “at what point did they stop releasing movie tie-in games and decide to stray out on their own?”
That episode would have been far too long. Instead, we’ve gone with reviewing a key mile-stone in the Alien video-game series, Alien Resurrection. A game borne out of a movie no-one wants to admit enjoying. Alien Resurrection is the last movie in the Alien franchise (to date) and marks the last time an Alien videogame would have a ‘new release’ to tie into. Unfortunately, by the time Alien Resurrection was released on the Playstation, the movie tanked three years ago.
Alien Resurrection is a great game, attached to a bad movie after the hype was killed off and the Alien franchise was left forgotten.
In my honest opinion, the Alien resurrection movie was somewhat a return to form. Aliens (the second movie), was an assault on the planet the Aliens built a hive on. Lots of action, lots of fighting. It’s an aggressive movie, and this is reflected in the game Aliens: Colonial Marines. Alien and Alien 3 feature one Alien running rampant through a human population that need to try and work together.
Alien Resurrection feels unique in the sense that it’s a movie about survival in space against a small group of Aliens (and unfortunately for the heroes, a Queen and her Newborn). The game therefore carries a lot of those intense survival feelings from Alien, Alien 3 and Alien resurrection. But you’re not helpless, ammo is scarce but you can find flamethrowers, rocket launchers, shotguns, grenade launchers and smartguns along the way. The entire game is restricted to a spaceship (à la Alien), with some incredibly cinematic scenes and a vicious enemy that’s quick, hard to detect and will retreat if it means survival.
This game is hard (but there’s cheats!), aiming can be a bit difficult (those Aliens can be really quick) and sometimes, Aliens will just run straight at you, stupidly getting blown apart. For any Alien fan, this game really pushes the limits of the Playstation system while delivering an incredibly accurate representation of the Alien franchise (all the while being based off (arguably) the worst Alien movie).
A word of warning, Alien Resurrection has problems when being played on anything newer than a Playstation 2. If you’re using emulators or a Playstation 3, Alien Resurrection has constant door glitches and bugs that will prevent them from opening. I’m unaware of any workaround for these errors (except a level skip cheat) but the only way to play through even the first level, is to use a PS1 or PS2. Unfortunately, this means if you just choose to level skip when you get stuck, you’ll miss the big fight with the Alien Queen (and most of the game).
If you’re craving a more ‘traditional’ approach to an Alien FPS game, you may want to check out Alien Trilogy… One game that tries to tie elements from all three of the first Alien movies.