''Aliens Online'' was a 1998 massively multiplayer

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...

video game released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

. It was based on the science fiction horror film ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

''.

Gameplay

''Aliens Online'' included asymmetric teams, teams consisting of more players than found in most

s of its era, job/class specialization, and RPG elements. Players could fight on either the side of the United States Colonial Marines or on the side of the

. Scenarios were played in one of six different maps, with three more added over the game's lifespan. *The Colonial Marine faction had the Medic, Scout, Soldier, and Heavy Weapons classes. More advanced weaponry were available when grouping as a "fireteam," and increased hit points became available as a character progressed in rank. Marines' equipment included the motion detector from the film ''

'', which was their sole method to locate Aliens, but would not locate Aliens which were not moving. In later versions of the game, the Marines could also drop proximity mines. *The Hive Alien faction had the Face Hugger, Drone, Queen, and Empress classes. Their capabilities included leaping easily to vents and speeding through cramped ducts, and radar of the entire map, representing the aliens' greater awareness and hive-like mentality. They attacked only at close range using tail strikes and with claws. Each map allowed one alien player to fill the role as Queen or Empress, and that player could freely swap from drone to drone. Players gained points for killing Marines and lost them by dying, except when playing as a face hugger, which loses no points for dying.

Development

The game was announced in June 1997.

Release

The software was free to download and was automatically updated. Joining

GameStorm GameStorm was an online gaming service founded by Kesmai corporation in November 1997. It offered several online video games at a flat monthly fee of $10 per month, a relatively radical payment system in the age of pay-by-hour online gaming. Both ...

for $9.95 per month was required to play the game. Online play was shut down in 2000 after the GameStorm network was sold to

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

Reception

''Aliens Online'' was well received upon its release. Chris Gregson of

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

gave it a review score of 7.2/10, opining "With so much to gain and absolutely nothing to lose, any self-respecting ''Aliens'' fan should give ''Aliens Online'' a try." Brooks Peck and Craig E. Engler from ''

Science Fiction Weekly Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

'' gave the beta version the perfect A score. Noting the game's bugs, they nevertheless opined "it's clear that Kesmai has what it takes to satisfy both the ''Aliens'' fan and the hardcore gamer. This is one of those titles that cashes in on some of the Internet's promises of multiplayer action, and it's sure to be a hit with SF lovers." According to a retrospective by Stephen Kleckner of GamesBeat, "''Aliens Online'', unfortunately, was riddled with balancing issues and bad level design. (...) Ancient ’90s computing technology and Internet infrastructure and these issues worse, resulting in incredibly laggy connectivity." '' Next Generation'' reviewed the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Overall, this is a wonderful addition to GameStorm. We just wish there was more variety so the thrill could last."

References

External links

* {{Alien (franchise) 1998 video games Alien (franchise) games First-person shooters Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online games Mythic Entertainment games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Windows-only games Video games based on films Fox Interactive games