Alien 3

"Plot ? What's that ?? Bring me a gun and let's get to it !! :)"

FOREWORD

Owing to the popularity of the Aliens series (and Alien 3 in particular, although I personally preferred Aliens), it was only a matter of time before an attempt was made to port it across to the home consoles.

Was it a success ? Or just an attempt ?? Read on ...

OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME

You play Ripley, fabled heroine of the Alien movies, played by Sigourney Weaver. In Alien 3 on the Megadrive (or Genesis if you prefer but I shall call it the Megadrive as I'm English), you have to play through level after level of platform action, where you blow up, char-broil, evade, lock out, ping and detonate alien after alien, trying to save as many infected humans as you can.

If you save the requisite number of infected humans, the exit opens, and you may leave. If you fail to save the requisite number of infected humans during the time-limit imposed, aliens explode from their chests and, not surprisingly, they (the humans) die.

... and you lose, by the way ... just in case that wasn't 100% clear ;)

GRAPHICS - 8/10

Considering this is the Megadrive we're talking about, the graphics are really quite good - the Ripley sprite is well attended to, with her shaved head and very slight physique, and the aliens themselves are all well reproduced. The move like they do in the movie, and barrel towards you at a rate of knots when they see you ahead of them (which can be quite intimidating, I must say !!).

The visual effects on the humans are good as well - they are bound to the walls, writhing in discomfort in the hopes that you will save them. If you fail, the effect of chest-busters escaping from their bodies is nothing short of GROSS, but appropriate considering the subject matter.

The destruction effects are really well handled as well, from the explosions caused from your rocket launcher and grenades (which you can throw or affix to walls), to the flash on the muzzle of your semi-automatic weapon, you get a sense of grim satisfaction from unloading a clip into an alien that's running towards you, it must be said :)

SOUND - 7/10

The music is good and very atmospheric, and whilst the groans, grunts and squeals of your character and the humans you are trying to save are a little bit low on the quality-side, the sound effects are generally perfectly acceptable, and add to the overall experience of playing the game rather than detracting from it or, arguably worse, frustrating you, the player, whilst you are playing.

CONTROLS - 8/10

Ripley is very responsive it must be said. You can control the depth of her jumps, which enables you to make tiny moves forward and reasonably large leaps where they are needed.

Switching between weapons is easily done, and so is freeing humans, so what controls you do need to execute in-game are readily accessible to you (which is a must really), which makes the game very easy to get into.

PLOT - 4/10

Whilst the little alien cutscenes that lead into each level are quite sweet, this game is pretty thin on the plot really. It is, however, more or less a movie-to-home release, so you can think of the Alien 3 plot when you're playing it (if you find that helps) - didn't really do much for me - I was hip-deep in alien body parts before I knew it, and didn't care about too much else to be honest !!

GAMEPLAY - 7/10

It's good, very easy to get into and, whilst there isn't a huge degree of variety between the levels themselves, it is both gory and atmospheric, so yeah - it's fun to play.

I was a little unhappy with the fact that whilst you can duck and jump with the Ripley character, you cannot forward roll or anything like that, so it is very awkward sometimes trying to dodge aliens when they throw themselves at you, but apart from that minor gripe, I thought it was a fun game to play, and I have come back to it a few times since ...

The presence of a countdown on each level makes sure that the pressure applied to you as a player throughout the experience remains high - you will find increasingly quicker ways of navigating the levels, or ... you will lose !! It's that simple really.

The sensation you get when you make contact with an alien ("contact" meaning with bullets, not with your hands) is very satisfying, and the aliens have been included so as to have a very satisfying weight to their frames that makes them seem more real in the game, if that makes sense. You know how sometimes you will find enemies in games that float about ? Golden Axe 2 is an example of that ... not here Mister, OH no.

REPLAY VALUE - 6/10

Whilst this figure will diminish over time, the short- to mid-term replay value of this title is good. The quality of the mix between graphics and sound is both satisfying and gratifying, so you will probably pop back and play it again at some point or another, although it is likely to become a decreasingly regular event, as time moves on.

VALUE FOR MONEY - 7/10

Considering the difficulty you will inevitably experience in picking up ANY Megadrive games these days, it is possible that the game will prove to be rather expensive for what you actually get. However if you want to pick up a copy to see what the Megadrive was like in its hay day ? Then you could do MUCH worse than finding yourself a copy of this title.

OVERALL - 7/10 (This is NOT an average)

Alien 3 is a good, fun title which is not taxing on the brain. Instances of you getting frustrated with the game will be on the low-side, and the amount of immediate gratification you get from it will be good. The game is graphically decent throughout, and there is a sinister sense of urgency in that you must complete each level within a (often very stringent) timer, otherwise your buddies all suffer an horrific fate.

It's good !! It's dated, but it's still good :)

MAIN GOOD POINTS

* Good variety of weapons.
* Pressure-levels are high owing to the timer on each level.
* Good graphics and sounds.

MAIN BAD POINTS

* Finding a copy !!
* Not a huge amount of variety between the levels.

SO SHOULD YOU GET IT ?

I think you should see if you can get your hands on a copy to rent IF you want to see what the Megadrive was like when in its prime. I don't think it's worth looking to buy it unless you are trying to build up your collection of Megadrive games personally, but if you ARE, then this is a worthy title to add to your collection, definitely.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/07