Dr. K's Waiting Room

Released: 1993
Developer: SEGA

A Brief Background:
The Alien franchise (Various, 1979 to present) has certainly had a long and complicated history with videogame adaptations that includes real-time strategies, crossover titles, survival/horror experiences, and a fair number of first-person shooters. Similar to how director James Cameron more than met the challenge of delivering a sequel to Ridley Scott’s commercial and highly influential Alien (ibid, 1976), Konami produced a popular arcade port of Aliens (Cameron, 1984) that came to be regarded as one of the best games in the franchise. However, Konami lost the rights to the Aliens license by the time the divisive third film was released; hampered by production woes, delays, and script problems, it took some time for Alien³ (Fincher, 1992) to become a cult favourite for many fans. It was, however, accompanied by two videogame adaptations, the first being a decent, if confusing, run-and-gun adventure, and the second being this arcade-exclusive rail shooter. In many ways a precursor to SEGA’s later success with the House of the Dead series (SEGA/Wow Entertainment, 1996 to 2022), Alien³: The Gun was lauded as one of the best light gun shooters around at the time, one that successfully merged the atmospheric horror elements of the film with the action-packed enjoyment of a rail shooter.

The Review:
I’m tackling my review of Alien³: The Gun a little differently to my other game reviews; it’s still going to be a shorter review because of how short the game is, but I did finish it so I want to go over my thoughts in a little more detail and give it a proper rating. The first thing I need to say is that the game’s title is pretty ridiculous; yes, Alien³: The Gun tells you everything you need to know but could they really not have come up with something a little more interesting and exciting for a subtitle than just The Gun? Secondly, I emulated this game and the ROM I played was a little buggy; elements like the heads-up display (HUD), aiming reticule, foreground, and background would often be invisible or appear corrupted, which was a bit of an issue but I was still able to power through the game thanks to the gift of unlimited credits. Finally, Alien³: The Gun is an Alien³ game only in the sense that it takes place on Fiorina “Fury” 161 and contains locations and Xenomorphs that mirror the film, but it’s actually more like a sequel to the movie and has far more in common with Aliens than the third movie. Rather than playing as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley, you and a friend take on the role of two United States Colonial Marines charged with investigating the Sulaco and cleaning up the rampant Xenomorph infestation on Fury 161, though movie stills are used at certain points to convey story beats like the Alien’s demise from the end of the film. Your standard issue pulse rifle has two basic fire modes; the first is a rapid-fire function tied to a firepower meter and the second sees you tossing out a limited supply of grenades (or “bombs”) to clear all onscreen enemies. If you simply hold down the trigger, you’ll run out of firepower and be left vulnerable as the game automatically moves you through the various corridors and locations; when you input a coin to continue, your bombs will clear a path for you and you acquire a flamethrower to mix things up or restore your health by shooting supplements.

Your main objective is to survive each stage of the game, wipe out any Xenomorphs, robots, or androids in your path, and take out the boss waiting at the end of the stage. There are five stages but, at various points, you’re asked to pick a floor or door or need to shoot through a door to reach a different area, which leads to different routes, thus adding a bit of replay value to the game. You start off on the Sulaco, which is now infested with Alien eggs; Facehuggers leap at the screen and Xenomorph warriors scuttle about on the floors, walls, and ceilings, slashing at you and being left a quivering mess of green goo as you blast off their limbs. Sentry turrets also take shots at you, dead bodies are everywhere, and you’ll be treated to the familiar squeals of defeated Aliens and a few voice samples as you progress. While the Sulaco is obviously based on the location seen in Aliens, right down to the cryo-sleep chamber, the rest of the game’s stages take place either on the storm-swept surface of Fury 161 or in the prison and refinery on the planet. You’ll blast through the mess hall, infirmary, tunnels, and furnace as you go but watch out for the prisoners; not only do you need to avoid shooting them, but you’ll also have to try and save them when Aliens grab them from the vents. Other memorable moments from Alien³ are also surprisingly recreated, such as the scene where the inmates use themselves as bait to trap the Alien in the corridors (they even explode like in the movie), you encountering a Xenomorph in the bowels of the prison, and a final confrontation with the Alien in the lead works. The amount of enemies or prisoners you killed and the damage you took is tallied up at the end of each stage; do well and you’ll gain a higher rank and score higher on the high score table, though this is mainly for bragging rights.

Although Alien³: The Gun doesn’t feature any of the recognisable music from any of the films, the action comes thick and fast; since it’s a rail shooter, you’re given very little time to breathe and, unlike other light gun games, there’s no cover or reload options so you’re left ploughing ahead into the claws of swarms of Aliens. Weyland-Yutani androids and robots pad out the enemies you’ll encounter, and you’ll see other Alien variants, such as bipedal ones like in Alien³ and “warrior” Aliens like those from Aliens and even Chestbursters (with some even exploding out of the chests of the prisoners!) Each stage ends with a boss battle that basically amounts to you being guided around an enclosed space and blasting at a larger foe until their health bar is depleted; the first boss you’ll face is the “Super Face-Hugger”, a bigger variant that scuttles about, pops back up time and time again no matter how much it appears to be dead, and spits acid at you. After escaping the flaming wreckage of your shuttle and braving the harsh landscape of Fury 161, which is swarming with Aliens and salvage robots, you’ll battle a massive tank-like vehicle. Target its cannons and turrets and it’ll eventually detach and hover in the sky shooting missiles at you! After passing through a pitch-black area with your infrared goggles, you’ll fight a larger Alien drone at the prison entrance. This critter is pretty fast and agile for such a big bugger; it also slashes at you, whips you with its tail, and charges at you with a headbutt and basically sets the standard for the subsequent Alien boss fights. You’ll battle Alien³’s bipedal creature, the “Super Dogburster”, in the bowels of the prison; this one also charges at you and likes to hide behind the many pillars but has the added threat of spitting purple goop from afar to damage you and briefly obscure your vision. After surviving the tunnels, you fight another large Alien by the lead works; this time, you’re stuck in place but it’s pretty simple to stun-lock the Alien until it flees. You catch up to it at the blast furnace and must unload everything you have to force it into the lead works; though it appears defeated, it’ll claw its way back out and you’ll need to shoot the pipes overhead to rapidly cool it and finish it off. After that, you have one last challenge to beat and, thankfully, it’s not a Xenomorph Queen! Instead, you’re confronted by an “unidentified man” (who I assume is Bishop II from the movie) who unloads on you with a flamethrower after learning that you destroyed all the Aliens; simply shoot at him until he stops getting up and you’ll earn yourself a bit of text to wrap things up and a place on the high score table.

The Summary:
I love a good, action-packed light gun game; they’re mindless fun but, sometimes, that’s exactly what you want and Alien³: The Gun certain delivers in this regard. Unfortunately, like its home console cousin, Alien³: The Gun is a little restricted by being associated with the Alien³ movie. It’s pretty obvious that this is an Aliens game dressed up to resemble Alien³; you have all the same weapons, sound effects, and even a few locations from Aliens featuring prominently against the background of Fury 161 to bolster Alien³’s far more subdued and bleak narrative. I can understand that, as it’s hardly exciting to make an action-shooter based on a movie with only one Alien in it, but it begs the question of why anyone thought a videogame adaptation of the slower, more contemplative Alien³ was a good idea. Still, that aside, this is a really fun game; it’s painfully short and light on additional weapons and such, but there’s some great attention to detail sprinkled throughout. You can blast off Alien limbs, destroy many parts of the environment (both for fun and to damage foes), and it’s interesting that the developers added in a limited branching path system; it doesn’t change the game that much, but it adds replay value, if nothing else. The Aliens are fun to blast into smithereens, the weather effects on the planet’s surface add a bit of atmosphere, and I enjoyed how aspects of the film were recreated, especially in the mess hall and candle-lit corridors. The bosses could’ve had a little more variety, for sure; as much as I applaud the game for not wheeling out an Alien Queen, it feels like Alien³: The Gun has less Alien variety than other Alien videogames from around this time and plays things a little too safe by just offering bigger, scarier versions of the Xenomorph. In the end, there are obviously better rail shooters out there, but you could do a lot worse than giving Alien³: The Gun a shot; of all the Alien³ videogame adaptations, it’s the best (though not the most faithful) simply for its brevity and the fast-paced, explosive action it offers.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Have you ever played Alien³: The Gun? If so, how do you think it compares to the home console adaptation of Alien³? Were you disappointed to see the bleak, atmospheric Alien³ adapted into an all-action shooter? Which of the branching paths did you take and what did you think to the boss variety on offer here? Are you a fan of Alien³? While Alien videogame is your favourite and how are you celebrating Alien Day this year? Whatever you think about Alien³: The Gun, or Alien³ in general, share your thoughts below or drop a comment on my social media, and go check out my other Alien reviews across the site.