69. Aliens: The Computer Game

(Spectrum/C64/Amstrad, Software Studios, 1986)
"You always were an asshole Gorman."
James Cameron's Aliens is one of my favourite films and definitely my favourite of the series. As a kid, my Dad wouldn't let me watch films that were outside of my age range, Aliens was the first I got to see by sneaking round a friend's house and it's probably that feeling of "forbiddeness" that made it stick in my brain. After repeated viewings, I still cannot tire of that movie. Or Bill Paxton.

So, how stoked was I when I got my hands on a game for my beloved Spectrum. Released by retro all-stars Electric Dreams, Aliens attempted to capture the tension and action of the movie and covert that same style to the humble home systems of the time. Played in first person, the player switches between six of the film's characters as they scroll through the rooms of colony LV-426 trying to track down the Xenomorph Queen lurking deep within, The game plays in almost total silence, however, when a Xenomorph is encountered, the scanner beeps kick in, rising from a low octave to a high pitch, during this time, the player must scan the area for the creature and gun it down before it turns and charges the camera. If the player fails to act, the camera goes to static and the character is killed or cocooned. I always used to let Burke get killed straight away, what a dick. In fact, it surprising they made him a playable character. After fighting through the warriors, eggs, face huggers and cocoons the team eventually comes up against the Queen.

Aliens could be seen as an early example of survival horror, with limited ammo, a huge map to traverse and alien attacks that were legitimately scary, Aliens conjured up the same presence and tension gamers would later feel playing games such as Resident Evil and Dead Space. The fact it managed to be so creepy with the graphics and sound available at the time is a triumph for videogame design. The title theme is also one of my very favourite Spectrum tunes. Aliens has its faults, all the rooms are practically identical and, without a map to hand, players are destined to get lost in the labyrinthine colony. The game is fairly quiet and many rooms are passed through with no activity, this isn't necessarily a bad thing though, as it makes the jarring Xenomorph attacks far more heart-stopping. Hudson also isn't playable, which is unbelievable.
Film tie-in is good game shocker. Very few games based on films are any good, generally due to licensing costs and an inability to translate the screen action into gameplay. That is still very true even today, which makes the small miracle the developers achieved with Aliens all the more special. Good work guys.

True story. Back when I was a kid, I had a friend who came round and loved playing this game, he went straight out and bought it for his C64, but the version he got was the U.S edition, which is a totally different game. He was so gutted that he actually burst into tears when it loaded. I don't know where he is now, but I'm sure it scarred him for life. I bet all he plays now are fucking mini-game compilations.