I assume that the plot is tied into the movies to some degree, but I am not an expert in the Alien series, so you can judge for yourself. However, my lack of familiarity with the story did not affect my enjoyment of the game. As with all survival horror games, the object is to persevere through a lot of challenges and puzzles. Some of the puzzles are very hard, especially in the beginning. For example, at some point you may go nearly nuts trying to find a fourth detonator, but trust me, it’s out there. This seems to get easier as the game continues and you get into the head of the developers. Alien Resurrection also has many old standards like ammo under boxes, health packs under stairs, and weapons leaning against walls, but developers didn’t bother to include a map. I cursed this game many times because of the lack of a simple navigational device. This does greatly (and needlessly) increase the difficulty of the game

One of the better aspects of Alien Resurrection must be the assortment of gear that you can use. The game has all the standards, from pistol to shotgun. The flamethrower and grenade launcher are also included, and I was very impressed with a laser’s effect on aliens. If you want to go out like John Woo, they give you the dual pistols, but the electric gun shouldn’t be forgotten. Due to the fact that this game is dark, you must also carry an all-to-important flashlight. To make the game hard, the flashlight only goes for a few seconds and then has to be recharged.

The only really bad part of the game must be the controls. One analog stick moves your head while the other moves the body. This becomes a huge problem when you have three aliens coming at you and you can’t find them because your head is going one way and your body is doing something completely different. This is, at best, very hard to overcome, and may be enough reason for many people to put the game down for good. But, if you can get past this, you have a challenging, interesting game.

Overall, this makes for a good time. If it weren’t for the difficult controls, Alien Resurrection might become one of my all time favorites. They mood is set very well, and the graphics are good enough in most places to be enjoyed. The soundtrack is not so annoying that you want to throw it out the window, and if you like a challenging game with many complex tasks to be done and puzzles to be solved, this is one for you.