Fight, fight and fight some more!

There's no doubt about it that some Playstation games last a very long time, despite the rise of Playstation 2. Let's face it - there's some really terrible Playstation 2 games out there (eg. "Hidden Invasion"). However, approached the right way, a game like "Alien Trilogy" offers a tremendous amount for the intrepid first-person shooter. When I say "right way", I mean look at it as a challenging piece of gameplay, not just from a graphical viewpoint (though I don't think the graphics are bad as such, merely dated). I was amused when, in a recent film, I heard a character say how he was genuinely excited to have downloaded the original "Space Invaders" game with its "quality 1981 graphics"! Anyway, I always used the "Smooth" setting on the Playstation 2 when playing "Alien Trilogy".

"Alien Trilogy" has a massive 33 levels, divided into 3 sections at 3 different locations, finishing with the strange boneship of "Alien" fame. Missions are given, secrets await and enemies abound.

The cut scenes are great and anyone who liked the movies should make it a priority to somehow see them, preferably by playing the game.

Weaponry is picked up as the player moves through the game. We start with a simple handgun, then graduate to an ever-so-handy shotgun (I was using this right to the last level). Other weapons include the pulse rifle, grenades, charges, blowtorch, smartgun (this one packs a real punch!). There are many shootable items, including walls that can reveal all sorts of secrets, such as extra health and ammunition.

The enemies were a great assortment, ranging from facehuggers to queens (3 of them in this game). Warrior aliens were the hardest to battle but I liked to see them explode in a spray of green acid. There were even infected humans and synthetic android types.

Okay, there were some problems. The graphics had some pop-up and pixelation, some of the levels were just plain confusing (though very detailed) and it was sometimes hard to turn around when surrounded by enemies (though the control system was quite good, just a little slow at times). Also, the final level was just not hard enough, seeing there were other levels where I was killed multiple times before getting through.

I reckon some who say this game isn't good just haven't played it right through, nor have they approached it the "right way" (see above). For my $10, this was very good value with excellent gameplay, though once it has been finished, it has limited replay value unless you want to play it on the most difficult level.