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System:
MasterSystem
Genre:
Action
Publisher:
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Developer:
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Players:
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Release date/year:
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Other systems:
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- Alien 3
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MS
The story itself is based on the movie, in which you're taking on the role of a stranded Ellen Ripley who is stuck on a prison planet with the homicidal Alien creatures but in a limited fashion to the degree of you have weapons this time around, where as the movie didn't, and you're rescuing prisoners from certain death instead of letting them become Alien feed like the movie did! Any way that you slice it, Alien 3 is a decent action platformer with several improvements over the movie, but lacking in other aspects suck as diverse game play and precise control.
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-The Game Play-
You have one tired woman in a prison full of men, most of which seem to have been captured by the Aliens and prepped for incubation! You're working against the clock and you have plenty of fire power this time around in the form of Pulse Rifles, Flame Throwers and the ever popular grenades, which can be used to clear out any harmful Alien threat. Each stage gets a little hard to defeat, in which the prisoners are spread out a little further, and the time limit is a little smaller, as well as the Aliens start getting a little more daring and plenty aggressive! Power ups are found through the different stages, and can be used to replenish your weapon stock, or your health depending on how much damage you take in the process.
You must also take into account the sheer amount of enemies that come your way at a seemingly endless pace. From time to time, you might think that you have an area all cleared out, only to have an Alien jump on you and start whisking away your health. This comes with constant moving by the computer, and it can be very unfair in most areas, especially when you’re just getting finished with an intense battle and run right into another Alien. Although some platform gamers will probably find this to be an interesting, if not welcomed challenge, most will probably find the cheapness of the computer to be a little overwhelming.
The control that you find in Alien 3 could use a little work, but overall, the control isn't that bad, it only takes practice! With the amount of jumping that you'll need to do as well as firing on whatever doesn't look friendly, you'll find that the control takes some getting used to, especially in places where a good timed jump is a must! Other than that, and the stiffness of the Master System controller, action gamers shouldn't have too much of a problem learning what the control has to offer. I’ve found that the gaming seems to come to an abrupt end when you’re trying to jump and land someplace that you didn’t intend to, only to be nailed by a rushing Alien.
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-The Visuals-
While it's not as refined as the SNES version, it does offers some pretty solid visuals to look at. The stages are all well detailed, with enough dark mood lighting to keep the theme of the game, but some of the finer detail could use a little work! The enemies move with a bit of stiffness, and there isn't much with special effects either, save for the small explosions that you get from lobbing a grenade. Some of the more impressive, if not misplaced effects that you will find here is with the hanging bags in some of the areas. It’s almost as though the programmers and designers of the game had some sort of fetish with blood and gore, so you’ll find plenty of it throughout the various stages.
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-The Audio-
The music blends quietly into the background, so you'll find nothing that jumps right out at you. The sound effects are a generic fare of gunfire, explosions and the occasional hiss of a hidden Alien looking to make you lunch! All of this ends up blending together nicely, without too much blaring on any level or in any aspect. The Master System version doesn’t seem to have much of a draw on the musical aspect of the game, and this could be considered a downfall when you put into thought that the movie itself was supposed to have a dark feel. As with the visuals, it just seems that this aspect of the game is somewhat misplaced and doesn’t fit.
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-The Verdict-
Alien 3 isn't much of a visual game, but it does offer plenty of the traditional action plat form gaming that most fans will appreciate. While it does differ from the movie widely, Alien 3 has enough action and plenty of weapons to go around for either the die-hard killer, or just a weekend warrior. However, with a slight control problem, some gamers will have a hard time sinking their teeth into this, and will probably look elsewhere for the control to go with their cup of action tea!
6/10
//KasketDarkfyre
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