Since its inception in 1979, the Alien film series has inspired more games based on its premise than seemingly any other movie franchise outside the twin constellations of Star Wars and Star Trek. While the name has been attached to side-scrolling shooters on such disparate platforms as the Apple II and Sega Genesis and even a Pac-Man clone on the Atari 2600, the type of gameplay most associated with the series is that of the first-person shooter. Alien Trilogy on the PlayStation and Saturn, Alien Resurrection on the PlayStation, and Aliens Versus Predator for the Atari Jaguar and PC (with a PC sequel due next year) are all first-person shooters, so it should come as little surprise that the next game in the lineup, Aliens: Colonial Marines for the PlayStation 2, is taking the familiar path.

Click for full size image

While previous Alien games have either firmly followed events from the films or existed nebulously outside of the mythos, Aliens: Colonial Marines is a mix of both approaches, fitting snuggly into several gaping holes in the series' continuity. You play as one of a group of colonial marines sent to investigate the disappearance of the squad that accompanied Sigourney Weaver's Ripley character to the planet LV246 in the second Alien film. Aliens: Colonial Marines' developers created a thorough explanation of what happened on the USS Sulaco in the temporal space between the end of Aliens and the beginning of Alien3, but they've asked us to only describe those events in the vaguest of terms at this point, so as not to ruin any of the game's surprises. Suffice it to say, there are aliens involved, the Company is to blame, and--as in a spacefaring version of a Jim Thompson novel--nothing has gone as planned.

At the beginning of the game, your squad comes across the now-derelict Sulaco. A salvage vessel has docked to the ship, and its scavengers are stealing the Sulaco's military hardware and intelligence. Your commanding officer, Lt. Nakamuri, directs your ship's pilot to also dock to the Sulaco after the crew of the salvage vessel fails to answer hails, and your team is sent in to investigate. You quickly determine that all's not right, and you must work to get the ravaged ship's systems back on line, put out fires, and clean up toxic spills. After a massive battle ensues within the infrastructure of the two cojoined ships, it becomes apparent that aliens were present aboard the Sulaco and that the crew of the salvage vessel has become their host.

Click for full size image

While the plot is promising, the playable character choice seemed disappointing at first. Anyone who's played the PC version of Aliens Versus Predator will tell you that the colonial marine was the least interesting of the three playable character types in that game (an alien drone and the tank-like predator are hard acts to follow). However, your marine looks like he'll be much more fun to play in this Aliens title, since you won't have to fend off the creatures all by yourself. You'll command up to four marines at a time from a pool of 12. The soldiers all have their own personalities, skills, and abilities, and they'll react differently to stressful situations depending on their experience level and mood. If one of your marines is spooked, for example, he may not pay as much attention to his surroundings and could even panic and run in the middle of a battle. In a situation like this, to stop him you'll need to select the soldier and then shock him back into an active state by shouting motivational comments like, "Stay frosty, marine!"