Alien Resurrection

This is a game of extremes. For starters, it is easily the toughest game I have played in the two years I have been reviewing games. Maybe tough isn't the right word--it is incredibly, frustratingly, motherblanking hard as hell. Ammo, health and save points are scarce, and the aliens are nasty; if one gets in close it's pretty much "game over, man, game over!". But that adds to another area where AR outdoes its peers--it's got to be the scariest game yet for the PS. Walking through the dark, narrow corridors and ventilation shafts, waiting for facehuggers or aliens to leap out at any moment, knowing that one mistake could mean instant death--it gets the ol' ticker going, especially if you play it in the dark. The levels are huge and pretty well-designed, with some cool tasks and puzzles built in and awesome scripted events that happen in real time as you play (although I wish there were more of them). Controls are iffy-even with the mouse/controller combo (and don't even think about playing this game without the mouse), strafing and changing weapons is really awkward. Graphics are pretty good for a PS game, although the fluctuating framerate (sometimes outstanding, sometimes just decent) can be disorienting. Basically, AR isn't worth it unless you have a lot of patience, a PS mouse and a love for the Alien movies. But if you have all three (like me), there's nothing else like it.

As the game loads, Alien Resurrection suggests that you play it "in the dark." I highly recommend this as well--the game's atmosphere is absolutely frightening. In fact, it's almost as scary as the shoddy control scheme. Most of the corridors in the game are dimly lit and thus, you don't have much time to react and line up your rifle with the aliens scampering toward you. The dual analog control scheme is good, but aiming at the beasties before they get you is way too difficult, even with a mouse. AR needed some kind of autoaiming bad--there's just way too many cheap deaths, making this PS game more frustrating than the movie's hairbrained plot.

Now here's a case of a game that looks great, sounds great and plays...er, not so great. Be sure to play Alien Resurrection in the dark with the volume cranked. The sound effects--from the ping of your motion detector to the brap-brap-brap of your pulse rifle--are dead-on true to the flicks, while the ambient screams and hums of machinery really add to the atmosphere. This is a scary game, filled with scripted events and ideas borrowed from Half-Life. It's also a friggin' hard game. To preserve your sanity, play on easy and play with a mouse (unless you want to lose a fortune in busted joypads). Even then, the game's often too dang tough to be fun.