| Aliens |
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- Not to be confused with the Spectrum game without music.
Aliens is an early first-person shooter, featuring characters of a movie released a few months earlier. It also has strategic elements, if far less than Alien (ZXS).
Mankind has colonized a distant planet. After all contact is lost, a crew of six equals goes to investigate, only to find the base inhabitated by savage aliens. Your goal becomes to rid room 248 of alien life. At any time, you can choose to control an individual crew member directly, or order them to move a number of rooms automatically. The aliens meanwhile stroll around, filling rooms with bio-mechanical growth that spawns eggs and disturbs the light generators.
Most releases came with a map. Many gamers still cannot figure what to do.
It is hard to say if Aliens (CPC) was developed first. The Spectrum game and audio were further ported to Aliens: Software Studios (MSX).
Screenshots
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The second loading screen.
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Anything else to restart the song.
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Game start.
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Shot an alien.
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Game over, Burke!
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New attack wave or game paused? Makes a musical difference!
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Music
The only music plays outside gameplay, but is a favorite among Spectrum 48K commenters. Also arranged for Aliens (CPC), it is the first video game composition to quote Alien movies. In-game music is not possible, but your proximity meter rises in pitch as it detects an alien, and your loud shots get alien attention faster than in the movie.
The music driver mixes two square waves, allowing chorus and even half volumes on the loudspeaker. That mixer is near-identical to The Music Box. AY output is not supported, even though The Music Box did already before the movie was out.
The credits in Aliens are rather ambigious. Considering credits in other games, Pennsoft most likely programmed the actual game and the warning sound effect, while Soft Machine most likely composed the music and all other sound effects. The aforementioned Music Box was created by a member of Soft Machine: Mark Alexander.
Recording
The only song was recorded from the main menu in Fuse 1.6.0 with Spectrum 48K. It was played twice plus 10 seconds.
The VGMPF calls the song by its usages, not knowing any official title.
Credits
(Sources:
original manual,
first loading screen.)
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Source verification is needed.
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Game Rip
Audio Devices
This game uses the computer's built-in loudspeaker.
Releases
Links
| Alien (movie)
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| Alien: Concept
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| Aliens: Activision
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| Aliens: Software Studios
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| Aliens: Square
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| Aliens: Konami
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| Alien³: Probe
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| Alien³: B.I.T.S.
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| Alien³: Sega
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