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My Comments:
There are some good first person shooters out there (most of them on the Nintendo 64 or P.C.), and some that suck. Alien Resurection has some of Both. For all intents and purposes it is a First person survival horror game. Some of you out there may be aware that there was a Movie made by the same name as this game. If your thinking that the game is based on it your right...it is. But as always they had to put in a part you could play and that part of the game is where the fun is. The Cinima Scenes are not taken from the movie but are CG, though admittedly well done for the Playstation in '97. Another fun fact about the game is that anyone who's played Time Splitters will easily get used to the controls while anyone who didn't like the controls of that game may want to avoid this title as there is not any one exceptionally good control scheme, of the ones I tried, I found the default dual shock control to be the best. The Game's designers took their time too modeling the Aliens movement animations as acurately as the Playstation could handle. And yes, the Aliens do still spit. The Game incorperates every part of the Alien's Growth into it meaning the eggs open to release Face huggers which can infest you with chest bursters and of course the basic Drone (Brown color) and Bull (black and a with a few more spikes) Aliens appear. Even the Queen makes an Appearance more than once though she looks very little like herself. But saving Face, all your Favorite weapons from the Movies appear, From the two Pistols (a character Specific) to the ever so much fun to play with Rocket Launcher and Electric Gun (which are new additions to the Arsonal already defined in the movies).
Gameplay:
The Game Starts out simple enough: a few baddies here and there and ample health pickups (which are actually an item and can and should be saved till later in the game). But it doesn't take long for the First Alien to appear and try to eat you. From that moment on the game gets progressively harder as the Aliens begin to use their abilities to their advantage more and more. Near the end of the game they will usually attack you from above making you look away from that sneaky little Face Hugger that snuck in the room with them. The Controls are responsive allowing you to quickly look around once you get used to them. My only real complaint about the Game is that your character just doesn't seem to move fast enough.
Difficulty:
Easy can get rough....very rough. Don't Let their appearance fool you those Aliens are Smart. Durable too so watch out. They more than that, they know how to set an ambush.
Sound:
As I was playing through the game I kept creeping extra cautiously around some of the turns as I heard an Alien attacting a human from that direction. But I noticed very little background music. The game tries to mess with you and does a fairly good job if you follow the creaters advice and play it in the dark.
Graphics:
And Now we get to the part where I rip the game apart. The Graphics themselves were good while the enemy design was lacking but the designers found a great way to mask it, make everything as Dark as they could reasonably make it. The result is that the aliens are usually hard to see as are passages ammo and health. They compensate for this by giving you a Flashlight as an item. The battery will wear out after a time but you simply have to turn it off to let it charge. Good thing about the items is that your character doesn't need a free hand to use them. Extremely useful when you've had your face hugged by a Face hugger (which I might add, they did exceptionally well) and are having to fight a hord of aliens with no ammo in any gun but your pistol. The Flashlight also doubles as a flash supreser at times as some areas lighting can hurt. I don't mean like hurt your character. It's more likely to have you wanting to look away from the screen because you just can't stand to look at it. And even though the Flashing lights are noticable even through the Flashlight you won't be anywhere near as likely to cringe away from your TV.
Final Stats
System: PlayStation One
Publisher: Fox Interactive
Developer: Argonaut Software
Game Style: FPS (First Person Shooter)
Players: One Player
Save Feature: [Yes]
Price: $17.99 Pre-Owned. IGN Gamestore.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Favorite Character: Call
Least Favorite: The newborn Alien
Review Date: 06/26/2002
To Make it Better:
Simply make the Aliens more Detailed. Vary the enemies some more and this game would rule.
To Make it Worse:
Drop the AI, Lose the darkness....Basically you would lose the atmosphere the game creates.
Overall:
I loved this game. True, the levels are long (and I mean that on some of 'em) and the game moves a little slow for my tastes but it is presented well with [most] of the enemies appearing in logical areas. However long puzzles that make you run all over the place as well as a minor Problem with popup does detract from the games score. Overall it's a Good buy now that its cheap but when it was new....a better rental.
Draco's Game Reviews © Ben C. Broome
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