Penny Arcade - Comic - As A Treat

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Penny Arcade - Comic - As A Treat

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

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Johnny17

I remember the console versions Alien Trilogy and Alien 3 from the 90s to be pretty decent.

Golden Yak

Johnny17 wrote: »

I remember the console versions Alien Trilogy and Alien 3 from the 90s to be pretty decent.

That arcade side-scrolling beat-em-up is the only one I have fond memories of.

Zoku Gojira

Yeah, some of the side-scrollers weren't bad for their era.

And there have been some pretty great games connected to the franchise:

• Aliens (arcade)
• Alien vs. Predator (arcade)
• Alien vs. Predator 1 & 2 (originals on PC)
• Alien Isolation (console & PC)

So I could get behind his premise only if he left out "in videogames."

ironzerg

The AvP games were really good, especially experiencing the different campaigns.

The Alien was cool, and had all the tools to pretty much murder their way through the thing, and it only got hairy when you were caught in the open against marines with really heavy weapons.

The Predator was a total badass and you were pretty much an unstoppable death machine. You had so many tools, weapons, and defenses at your disposal, it was hard to die even if you were trying.

Meanwhile the poor Marine was a luckless bastard where you probably died 1000 times trying to get through the game. You know they did it right when the flamethrower is less of a weapon and more of a "let me tap it every 10 feet of these constantly dark corridors just to make sure." And chain gun spin up has never, ever been a big deal in any video game...but in AvP waiting those 2 seconds for it to start spitting hot lead when you knew it would take less than a second for that Alien warrior to tear you apart? Yeah. It mattered. And a motion detector that only covered 90 degrees in front of you, when Aliens would come at your from literally impossible angels...good times, good times.

dennis

Golden Yak wrote: »

Johnny17 wrote: »

I remember the console versions Alien Trilogy and Alien 3 from the 90s to be pretty decent.

That arcade side-scrolling beat-em-up is the only one I have fond memories of.

Nothing says Alien mythology like a side-scrolling beat-em-up.

Preacher

Alien 3 on the snes was pretty fun, but it was a side scrolling shooter where you like killed millions of aliens every stage. Like it was not at all close to the source material.

I want the l4d style to work, but the franchise is cursed.

Grendus

Honestly, I don't remember many terrible Alien games. Mostly just Colonial Marines. The others ranged from passable to good.

Ringo

Natural Selection was pretty great

Tofystedeth

I'd play that kart racer...

Bropocalypse

It's sort of a matter of debate, I think. A game can be good, but does that make it a good representation of the IP on which it's based? Alien: Isolation does both, but does a sidescrolling shooter do the same, even if it's fine? I'd say Metroid represents Alien better than other NES/SNES Alien titles.

Jgr9

Justice for Kart Racers!

Rhesus Positive

My cheeeeeesssssttt

Golden Yak

dennis wrote: »

Golden Yak wrote: »

Johnny17 wrote: »

I remember the console versions Alien Trilogy and Alien 3 from the 90s to be pretty decent.

That arcade side-scrolling beat-em-up is the only one I have fond memories of.

Nothing says Alien mythology like a side-scrolling beat-em-up.

Need to get the Engineers of Prometheus in there.

So Major Dutch 'Designed by Rob Liefeld' Schaefer can mess them up with his giant cyborg gun-hand.

cB557

Wasn't there like, a fuckin DS game or something where there were a bunch of different playable characters, but with permadeath for all of them, whether it be via alien or chestburster?

Okay yes I googled it, it's real, I did not just imagine it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_Infestation

Gameplay of Aliens: Infestation is comparable to the Metroid and Castlevania video games, where players are encouraged to search and backtrack for weapons, upgrades, and keys. The player controls one of a party of four marines and explores the U.S.S. Sulaco as well as LV-426 and Phobos in order to investigate the Union of Progressive Peoples (UPP) and Weyland-Yutani's involvement in Xenomorph development. The game incorporates a permadeath mechanic. If a marine falls in battle, another in the party will take their place. The player loses if the entire party is wiped out. Fallen characters can be replaced with any of fifteen displaced marines found throughout the game, each with their own unique dialog.

Always stuck in my mind even though I only ever heard of it one time. If someone told me it was real jank and fucked up I wouldn't be too surprised, but it still sounds like an interesting mechanic.
Made by Wayforward, so hey, maybe it's real good.

GDT1985

Why is that Bionic Commando rip-off giving a Xenomorph a flying neckbreaker?

Edit for weird auto-correct(?)

Ringo

Because it's awesome?

Zoku Gojira

Bropocalypse wrote: »

It's sort of a matter of debate, I think. A game can be good, but does that make it a good representation of the IP on which it's based? Alien: Isolation does both, but does a sidescrolling shooter do the same, even if it's fine? I'd say Metroid represents Alien better than other NES/SNES Alien titles.

Another great example from '90s arcades is the oddly-named Alien 3: The Gun. Yeah, you know, the gun. Remember that part in the movie where Ripley magdumps it into the xenodoggomorph?

Whereas, "run & gun with driving sections and a boss fight" just sounds like a rough draft of James Cameron's shooting schedule for Aliens. I'm almost surprised the arcade tie-in wasn't just an FMV lightgun cabinet playing the movie off a laserdisc.

Solvent

Not really a huge Alien fan, but I gotta say the whole aesthetic of the universe is super distinctive and very cool. The Giger museum is trippy.

Emperor Megaman

I kinda want to see Baby Ripley in a Kart. That would be funny, i need fanart of it.

I like Gabe's gratuitous use of a Chestburster.

Brenden1k

Alien isolation was good, wait I guess it was ****ed up, in the sense of where is my freaking brown pants, how did it know I was there, this is insane.