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I never actually realised quite how many video games there are based on the Alien media property until Mike Diver's superb Aliens: The Video Games - An Unofficial Guide dropped onto my doormat.
And I say this as a fan of many of those games; Alien 3 on the Mega Drive remains a firm favourite, and Capcom's Alien vs Predator coin-op is a regular play for me whenever I'm near a PC with MAME installed. I also have fond memories of playing Alien Trilogy on my PlayStation back in the '90s, one of the first video games I remember that truly translated the look and feel of the movies into something interactive.
Even so, I wasn't prepared for the info dump Diver's book presents when it comes to covering all of the Alien video games; granted, the author expands his remit by including titles which are unofficial adaptations of the concept, such as 1981's Uchuu Yusousen Nostromo and 1982's The Alien, but even so, there are a dazzling number of legitimate Alien video games, and Diver does an excellent job of summarising each one in detail.
He also divides these games into intelligently organised chapters that make thematic sense; the Alien 3 adaptations get their own chapter, for example, a wise move given that the Sega, arcade, SNES, and Game Boy versions were made by different studios and are completely unique. Games original in concept also get their own section, as do Alien vs Predator titles and stand-alone Predator titles (those two properties are always considered a pair, for obvious reasons).
Diver is a seasoned journalist and rabid Alien fan, so it goes without saying that the text in this book is well-written, impeccably researched (Time Extension is even cited as a source) and packed with knowledge and insight. To back this up, Diver uses a combination of screenshots and bespoke photography for illustration, and while few would argue that this is the most detailed book you can buy in terms of design, the clean layout makes it easy to parse.
The history of Alien video games is certainly a rollercoaster ride, but with the upcoming Alien: Isolation sequel to look forward to, now is a great time to glance back at past instalments and realise how many quality games this xenomorph-filled movie series has spawned over the decades.
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