I think it would be fair to say that Alien: Resurrection is not a universally praised entry in the Alien franchise. It’s game tie-in, however, is generally very well liked. An early adopter of what has become the standard FPS controls on console, Alien: Resurrection is held in high regard as an authentic and tense Alien gaming experience.
It did, however, have a troubled development. Releasing nearly 3 years after the film itself actually came out, the game went through three different iterations and found it’s developers overwhelmed. Yesterday EuroGamer posted a nice retrospective on the development of Argonaut’s Alien: Resurrection for PlayStation 1.
After a year of work, Resurrection was facing numerous problems. The team had worked incredibly hard but there was a sense that Tim Moss’ original vision for the game wasn’t what they wanted to make anymore. A lot of the work was done, about 60 per cent or so, but with the end of 1996 approaching the team saw more impressive and realistic titles hitting store shelves. Amid a generation that focused on pushing the technical and graphical boundaries of what video games could do, Argonaut would drop what they were doing and follow suit.
It’s a really nice summary of the development of the game and well worth checking out!
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Out of all Alien games, this one stuck with me the most. Atmosphere is just insane... and it never lets up. The final level especially where you're chased by the Newborn aboard the Betty was some of the creepiest shit in a video game I've experienced, haha!
Same. Prison levels were real spooky for me as a wee lad but I always enjoyed replaying them for some reason. I was super excited/scared to see the runner aliens for the first time. Then the fast grown-ups showed up...
In fairnesss, I only rarely cheated on that, only after I completed the game and wanted to just have fun by choosing the levels and fighting the queen.
Luckily I always had my pink acid boots on
Really need to get one of them. The telly in the lounge only has Component which doubles as RCA, so I have to constantly keep changing leads for the PS2 or the DVD player or the N64.
In AT, it will just attach for a few seconds and then dies, but while it is attached there is nada you can do to get it off. It just drains your health while it is on but if it attaches to you and you got low health, it can "kill",you. a movie clip will play showing Ripley falling unconscious from the hugger. Strangely this clip will play even if a chestburster kills you.
I think the first AvP game handles it the best, with the SCREEEEE sound.
Almost every other game just makes huggers a QuickTime button mashing event, more annoying than anything.
There are some interesting differences to the movie like you encounter Purvis in the middle of the game and he chestbursts 2 minutes later.
Perez is a mid-game boss in the gymnasium that is really hard to take down.
You encounter hundreds of drones in the game but only about 3 warriors. They are not even bosses, they just pop up randomly.
I never played this game so I am not sure how much of the plot is the same as the movie but if it is relatively the same and humans were kidnapped and used as hosts just like in the movie, did the scientists use the the portable medic thing to remove the chestburster from them or were they left to die painfullly like in the movie?
Or is it merely a game mechanic that has no bearing on the plot of the game?
The ability to "abort" a chestburster providing you could find the "portable autodoc" was a fair gameplay balance feature.
Plus the "scan HUD" was so cool and reminded me of something out of ALIEN 3's escape pod, medical unit scene.
By the time it came it out, it was WAY too late, and the level design sucked...it was just the same corridors over and over.
If you look at the original screenshots from the scrapped game, you see there was such a vastly different level design.
Its too bad.
That sounds great! I'll probably try it this way.
Its a case by case basis.depending on the game.
No mention of the PS2 on gamefaqs having issues with ALIEN-Resurrection but the PS3 is well documented.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_games_incompatible_with_PlayStation_2
Worth mentioning backwards compatibility here.
You can only play ALIEN Resurrection on the original PsOne console and not PlayStation 3 (unsure about PS2?) like other PsOne games. A YouTube reviewer said various game code doesn't work and there are glitches with backwards compatible consoles.
I downloaded the emulator version and it works a treat. You might need to add in the dual stick and rumble features if your USB controller has that function. I only use the D-pad and shoulder buttons.
I recall the PSOne being long in the tooth around October-December 2000 with the Playstation 2 being demoed in pods HMV and GAME shops in the UK, so the buzz for a PsOne release was over.
I liked ALIEN Resurrection the movie enough (at the time) November 1997 but I'll admit it was a short-lived infatuation, only stoked by ongoing news of a game tie-in. I was more optimistic as ALIEN-Trilogy (also PSone) proved popular amongst gamers, critics and videogame sales in 1996.
I recall the "Teletext" gaming news feed on old-school tv sets (remember that service which rivaled the pre-dial-up internet?) I think it was GameCentral (which lives on to present day via METRO.co.uk free Newspaper) reporting extensively on the development of the Resurrection game 1997-2000.
I recall talk of a Tomb Raider style third person game and the News team had almost monthly updates on ALIEN-Resurrection (along with a very early incarnation of DUKE NUKEM Forever by another development team). Developers would write in the feedback section with updates, team changes or handing in notices in frustration!
I can't remember if any video demo of the "TOMB RAIDER" style gameplay ever saw the light of day but I did see screenshots and talk of the character Dom Vriess.(wheelchair guy) being a reverse aiming gun strapped to your back in harder levels.
Didn't know the Moss Brothers (Argonaut games) were originally planning to do a game based on the game LOADED-1995. Although to clarify that was a GREMLIN Interactive game based on "ALIEN BREED" which was ironically a topdown "ALIENS" style rip-off.
I don't know anyone who owned LOADED but a lot of high school friends played the shit out of the DEMO that came with the PSone.
The change to a TOMB RAIDER clone would've sucked as too many games who tried to emulate were inferior knock-offs. They did not understand why the gaming mechanic of Lara Croft was ideal for her global travel but unsuitable for anything else.
You only need PsOne games like the FIFTH ELEMENT, BATMAN AND ROBIN, Deathtrap Dungeon to prove this point.
I'll admit I raised my eyebrows when the Resurrection team finally came back and said a first person shooter was in the works. At best PsOne FPSs were for the larger part, unplayable. Low polygon count, low frame rates, game slowdown and blocky enemies (Star Wars Dark Forces or Duke Nukem).
The end product though was, IMO, better than ALIEN Trilogy and far more intense and satisfying. I didn't feel the need to upgrade to a PC to play ALIENS VS PREDATOR 1999 as Resurrection was on par with graphics and physics.
Speaking of which; it's interesting that Argonaut thought the next ALIEN movie (following Alien 3) being drafted by 20th Century Fox in 1996 would be an Aliens Vs Predator movie. I think many high school friends and their parents in this era shared the same hope with talk and rumours.
Alas, ALIEN- Resurrection was a safe but ultimately boring movie. A sentiment shared by its game developers who did better work on the franchise than the movie itself.
It's not like ALIEN 3 had that problem too.........oh wait.
It is also possible they added this credit to the DVD later.
Proof here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifrPTOBCIfs#t=4m40s
Probably the 5th best Alien FPS and definitely better than Alien Trilogy.
The game is even referenced at the end of the movie credits.
Also it's one oc the handful of FPSs (to this day, which is saying something..!) which allow you to walk as slowly as you want AND have the sound of your footsteps slow down to match your walking speed. Sounds trivial, but imo for a game like this this realism adds inmensely to the buildup of tension IMO (i.e. you are low on health and cant afford another hit, and are creeping ever so slowly. Doing so always reminded me of Elgin's demise scene). FPS developers, seriously take note!