Alien Trilogy

Moby ID: 1267
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

Alien Trilogy is a first-person shooter based on the first three Alien movies. You control Lt. Ripley in three sections, each based on one film: The colony complex on LV426 (from Aliens), the prison planet (from Alien³) and the derelict spaceship (from Alien). Each section consists of about 10 missions. In every mission, certain goals must be accomplished to continue. These include killing a certain number of enemies, finding items or activating switches.

Enemies include everything the alien life cycle provides: facehuggers, chestbursters, warrior aliens, dog aliens (from Alien³) and alien queens, one of which waits in the final mission of every section. In addition to the Aliens, you also have to fight employees of the Company, who have either been infected by the aliens and are beyond saving or who actively want to obstruct your mission.

Weapons to be used include pistol, shotgun, pulse rifle, flame thrower and smart gun. Ammunition, health upgrades and other useful items are scattered throughout the levels. Hidden areas may be uncovered by using explosives like grenades and seismic charges. An auto mapping system helps in not getting lost, night goggles and shoulder lamps (running on battery power) allow you to see in the dark and the motion tracker tells you where your enemies are - but only if they are moving.

Spellings

  • エイリアントリロジー - Japanese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

11 People

Producer
Lead Design
Level Design
Level Mapping
Lead Programming
Programming
Graphics / Artwork
Utility Programming

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 40 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.2 out of 5 (based on 67 ratings with 4 reviews)

Damn good find!

The Good
While visiting a recently discovered treasure trove of classic gaming goodness I found 'Alien Trilogy' in its original long-box sitting unassumingly on a shelf. I picked it up for 10 bucks and brought it home...

I was surprised at the production values at first...because they're quite good! The 3D engine is similar to the one found in PO'ed, in that it is fully three-dimensional. The characters are standard sprites but for some reason I have always found graphics like these to be more compelling than their 3D counterparts of the era.

The weapons are nicely detailed and shells spill forth after dropping some aliens or an infected human or two. The game is quite bloody which I absolutely love! If you're blowing away an infected colonist with a shotty or dousing an alien in flames blood flows profusely...sweet death...Oh, how I embrace you...

The Bad
My one and only gripe is the password system...my god haven't we moved away from elongated super passwords? Didn't we leave that back in the 80's with Metroid? Apparently not. Beware...if you die you're going to be entering a massive password, that is of course if you were intelligent enough to save when you were fully geared up.

The Bottom Line
A worthy FPS for the PSX! If you find it...get it! You will not regret the purchase - at 10 bucks how could you? Plus the long-box is hilariously over-sized it makes the purchase a no-brainer!

PlayStation · by Stefan K (5) · 2009

The Alien-licensed games go FPS

The Good
In Alien Trilogy, you must complete a series of tasks, which are outlined to you doing your mission briefing. These tasks include restoring power to certain areas and collecting identity tags from dead scientists. The missions lay across ten or more levels. Oh, and you have to destroy several xenomorphs along the way. These include incubating eggs, face-huggers, crawlers, and dog aliens. Out of these enemies, the face-huggers are hell to kill since they run very fast and you have to follow them while you are shooting in an attempt to kill them.

The weapons include pistols, machine gun, flame throwers, pulse rifles, and smart bombs. You can only use a certain weapon to kill an xenomorph quickly without wasting any time. You can also pick up seismic charges, which are very useful as no matter what xenomorph you encounter, it will be blown to pieces in one shot.

Completing each mission takes roughly 30 minutes to complete, but it is worth while to explore each of the areas fully, and this will take you through alien nests, prisons, derelict spaceships, communication rooms, labs, and more. Each of these locales have advanced technology and other gadgets. During your travels, you can obtain various power-ups. The best one I was able to get is the auto mapper. If you get this, then you will be able to pick out any secret areas that can increase your kill count, as most of these areas can contain hordes of xenomorphs. If you don't do enough in your mission before you reach the exit doors, you have to restart the missions. But if you complete 100% of the mission, you'll be able to enter an area where you can stock up on ammunition.

As I said earlier, most of the missions require you to restore power to certain areas. This requires you to find a panel and activate it. Doing so will operate a lift or power-up a door. Some panels will require you to collect one or two batteries and use it on the panel. Again, it is necessary to search every nook and cranny, and possible use the seismic charges to blow up crates and other things.

Alien Trilogy is a first-person shooter, and I like FPSes, since I like to explore areas more than just finding somebody to shoot. As you would expect, there are bosses at the end of each of the three areas in the game. You defeat the Alien Queen not once, but thrice. Cut-scenes of Ripley getting inside of a vehicle is shown right after one of the Alien Queens gets defeated.

Now let's talk about the interface, which is well designed. Rather than having the main indicators (health and ammo) listed as percentages, the indicators are represented with green lines that gradually increase or decrease. The health indicator is slightly different as it goes in a somewhat wavy pattern, and it is interesting just to see it move downward or upward if you lose or earn health. These indicators sit inside a black area that is well suited to the game. Other information is displayed right below the health indicator and not scattered all over the place. They are in one area only.

The weapons themselves look good, and they function correctly as you would expect. The locales, as well as the xenomorphs who inhabit it, look like they can do a lot of damage to you, especially if the same group of them is ganging up on you. The sound effects are the exact sounds from the Alien movies. For example, the motion tracker exactly sounds like the one in Aliens, with the faint sound meaning that there is an alien nearby. That faint sound gets louder as the alien is close to you.

The music consists of CD-Audio tracks, and some of the tracks sound futuristic. There are heaps of tracks to listen to as you play the game, and the track that I enjoyed most was the adrenaline-pumping track that portrays the battle of the Alien Queen.

The Bad
Some of the backgrounds are a bit blocky, and the Alien Queen doesn't look exactly like the one in the movies. The cut-scenes are also short.

The Bottom Line
Alien Trilogy is a first-person shooter where you have to destroy xenomorphs that get in your way using a series of weapons, and complete missions in the process. The game has you exploring interesting locales, and there are a ton of secret areas in each area, which can be revealed if you have the auto mapper. The sound effects are the same sound effects that you hear from the Alien movies. The graphics, as well as the interface, are well designed but can be crap at all times. This game is worth playing, especially if you like Alien-licensed games and FPSes.

PlayStation · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2006

A dark arena filled with scares and creatures.

The Good
Alien Trilogy is a game that is fun to play. Especially, if you feel that there are not enough FPSs on Sega Saturn. The game starts you off in great atmosphere of darkness which can make you jump at certain points, no kidding. The game basically asks you to handle simple objectives and find your way to the exit. but you must watch out for those aliens. I am enjoying this game as a recent buy, and it is good for those people who need to have at least a decent shooter to play if its hard for them to find Saturn games. Enemies are plentiful in the levels, which is really good. The overall graphics are nice and the controls are manageable but may time to get used especially if you play new gen systems.

The Bad
What I didn't like was, though the graphics were nice, they could have polished it more. Gameplay levels can be more dynamic and larger. The controls for movement aren't changeable, which I would like to have fixed. Besides those nothing much else to dislike.

The Bottom Line
It is an eerie environment encrusted game of aliens, infected humans, and lunatics. Enjoy.

SEGA Saturn · by thehype16 (2) · 2009

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Trivia

German version

In the German version, all human and cyborg enemies were replaced with alien enemies. However, the replaced human soldiers still leave ammo and weapons behind. Also the death animations and help cries of the prisoners were removed.

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly.
    • April 1996 (Issue 81) - Game of the Month (PlayStation version).
    • March 1997 (Issue 92) - Shooter Game of the Year (PlayStation / Saturn version) + Shooter Game of the Year runner-up (multiplatform) (Readers' Choice)

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Related Sites +

  • Alien Trilogy
    game pages at Acclaim's old official site, preserved by the Wayback Machine

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 1267
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by rcoltrane.

Windows added by Plok. SEGA Saturn added by festershinetop. PlayStation added by Grant McLellan.

Additional contributors: Terok Nor, Alaka, ケヴィン, Patrick Bregger, MrFlibble.

Game added April 2, 2000. Last modified February 28, 2024.