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Alien Trilogy (PlayStation) artwork

Alien Trilogy (PlayStation) review


"So you want to be a space marine hunting xenos"

Not ever in my life playing videogames have I ever felt so paranoid and extremely cautious to the point of having anxiety attacks when wandering in dark, desolated passageways since DOOM. The thought of encountering a xenomorph ready to pounce and slash you to ribbons at extreme velocity as you frantically try to zero on it with your shotgun and very limited ammo is not only a rush, is very fight for survival in Alien Trilogy for PlayStation.

This game perfectly matches that claustrophobic feel from the first entry in the movie series and adds a healthy dose of terrifying action from the second movie as you try to survive past various alien creatures including face huggers (which WILL hug your screen should you let them close enough,) Alien embryos, deadly xenomorphs, and even human beings while trying to shoot you down the first moment they spot you. Every turn is barely lit or completely void of regular light sources, some rooms have red or blue hues illuminating rooms which you can barely see with your naked eye, having to rely on your radar whenever it picks up movement nearing you. The fact that some creatures here make scurrying noises which increase in volume as they close on you does not help your demise. Everything gets a whole lot worse if you run out of ammo and the only thing you got left is a simple 9mm gun which shoots one round indefinitely as a xenomorph continues to slash you into bits. The terror doesn't end as your hit points vanish, as a bonus you get to see what happens to your character in the Game Over screen, ranging from getting the last hit by a xenomorph from its deadly long range maw, or a facehugger wrestling you down as the space marine desperately try to rip it away from their face. Quite brutal.

Alien Trilogy gives you no quarter if you aren't prepared to fend off against its dangerous denizens. Either you make sure you are well stocked before each mission, or you might as well reset and start from the very beginning. Sure, there are Health Packs here and there, but most only restore a single hit point which really adds insult to injury when you are a few steps away from death. It also doesn't help when those damn xenomorphs keep dodging your shotgun blasts as they zig zag around to make dinner out of you. Despite its hardcore difficulty, Alien Trilogy is actually a blast to play, and it doesn't really give you the impression of not being able to do anything as you fight your way through it, nor it leaves you with a sense of unfairness when you die for the 100th time, being that it relies more in strategic survival than simply blasting your way through like other DOOM clones of its time. A single well placed bomb toss could well be the perfect alternative to wasting all that ammo which you will need as you move forward.
The lack of soundtrack only adds to the lonesome atmospheric feel of the game, only having the sounds of angry foes and the ping of your radar as you try to shoot your way past them. You can try to outrun one of the nasties, but it will do a little good when you read some of the objectives which order you to completely shoot everything that moves in every other mission.
Weapons include a tiny, almost useless 9mm handgun, the shotgun which seems more proficient against xenos, canister bombs, and not much else seemingly. Other items besides health packs include a shoulder lamp which helps greatly when you are running through really dark corners, making it easier to spot enemies to shoot at, and armor vests which helps you take some damage off acid which falls everywhere once you kill an enemy alien, as well as resisting damage from said nasties. This of course doesn't make it easy if you plan to survive long enough so using everything in a wise manner is the best way to go.

You also have to deal with human beings, even though the game doesn't exactly state WHY there are such other than the mission briefs pointing out them being the enemy and also involved in illegal xenomorph trafficking and such. Although they are easier to hit than said xenos, they are quite relentless once they spot you, not taking breaks from the constant shooting aiming at you and they don't seem to run out of ammo once they do as well.

Alien Trilogy was released on the PlayStation in 1995 and is one of the best DOOM clones I've ever tried, in fact, one of the best Alien games I had played period. Although it is merciless, it is quite fun gunning down those vile acid spewing thugs and quite exhilarating when you try to survive till next stage. It may be the fact I am a Horror fan, but I can tell you it was quite the experience playing this game in such horrific atmosphere.





CptRetroBlue's avatar
Community review by CptRetroBlue (May 20, 2018)

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EmP posted May 25, 2018:

I loved this game. I put so many hours into it back in the day and regret nothing! I always worry that I'll go back one day and it won't hold up. But I think I'll take that risk soon. You'll have to shoulder some of the responsibility.

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