Uh . . . Is This It?

I am a reasonably big fan of the first-person "Doom" style games, so I was quite excited when I heard of a game in this genre based on the Alien movies. Being an impulsive person with little or no financial sense, I immediately rushed out and bought this game.

First of all, this isn't a bad game. The graphics are nice and the atmosphere is very true to the game's cinematic brethren. As Lt. Ripley, you walk around dark corridors similar to the giant ship in the first movie and those of the processing station featured in the sequel. The overall effect is very moody and creepy. I found myself jumping a lot when I played this game.

Unfortunately, however, this game just isn't very fun. The levels are pathetically small, so there is remarkably little to do. The game designers made an attempt at creating some replay value by adding secret areas into the game that you had to find, but the game is so dark that finding them is practically hopeless. Oh, and while I'm on the subject, the game is often times far too dark. You can barely see where you are going and it's easy to get turned around and headed in the wrong direction.

The animation of the aliens, though not horrible, was nothing fancy. It was along the same line of the enemies in Doom. This in itself wouldn't detract from the game overall, but you'd think that they'd invest some time SOMEWHERE in the game, wouldn't you? Probably my biggest disappointment, though, came with the fact that there weren't enough enemies in the game. Often times it seems that there are only half a dozen enemies wandering around each level. I was hoping for the frenetic, heart-pounding energy of Aliens . . . but what I got was the moody, silent suspense of the first and third films.

That's not necessarily bad, but why would you want to make (or play, for that matter) a game with so little action?

The answer for me, of course, was simple: I didn't. I grew bored of the game quickly, and ended up pretty much wasting my money.

This game had quite a bit of potential. I thoroughly enjoyed the first three movies, and I was looking forward to a game along the lines of James Cameron's Aliens. That's probably why they call it Alien "Trilogy." There were more quiet, suspenseful moments in the trilogy as a whole than action-packed ones. This was great for the movies, but bad for the game.
Rent it first.