''Alien'' is a 1984 hybrid strategy/

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

video game developed by Concept Software and published by Argus Press Software for the Commodore 64 and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

, and later ported for the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

in 1985. It is based on the science fiction horror film '' Alien''.

Gameplay

''Alien'' is an omniscient menu driven game. The player is put in charge of all of the crew members of the ''Nostromo''. The game starts with one of the crew members being killed by the alien, which mirrors the death of Kane when he gives birth to the alien in the movie. The player moves the characters around on a map-grid representation of the ship as they search for the alien. Littered around the map are various objects that are useful such as nets, incinerators, pistols, and oxygen tanks. The player can order one of the crew members to pick up such objects and use them when needed. Based on the current situation, the emotional status of the crewmen can change. Their emotional status can range from confident, stable, uneasy, shaken, hysterical, and broken. This means that the crew members will not always obey the player's orders and can be frozen by fear or unwillingness to enter a hazardous situation. Ordering characters to pick up weapons can positively affect their emotional status and make them more likely to follow orders. Sending a character off alone can negatively affect their emotional status, causing them to perform poorly. Furthermore, like in the film, one of the crew members is secretly an android and he will turn on the other crew. When the crew is reduced to three there is the option of activating the ship's self-destruct sequence and escaping in the ''Narcissus''.

Reception

''Alien'' received mixed reception from game critics. The '' CRASH'' review overall verdict declared: "An excellent game — should keep you going for weeks. Hitchcock would have loved it." The three ''

Your Spectrum ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History Th ...

'' reviewers gave it a positive review with the scores of 3/5, 4/5, and 5/5, respectively. On the other hand, '' Computer & Video Games'' reviewer gave the C64 version an averaged score of only 11/40, opining the game was a poor adaptation of the film and a "sad disappointment, with appalling graphics, sickly colours, and very little action." Retrospectively, Stephen Kleckner of Thunderbolt wrote positively about the game, including it in his "must-play" list of ''Alien'' titles.

References

External links

''Alien''
at Lemon 64
''Alien''
at Spectrum Computing
''Alien''
Amstrad CPC gameplay at YouTube {{Alien (franchise) 1984 video games Adventure games Alien (franchise) games Amstrad CPC games Commodore 64 games 1980s horror video games Single-player video games Strategy video games Top-down video games Video games based on films Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games featuring female protagonists ZX Spectrum games