The game's title screen
- "Stay frosty!" (you'll be hearing this a lot)
Aliens: Extermination is a 2006 Light Gun Game and Rail Shooter based on the Alien series, the second arcade shooter (released over a decade after the first, which is Alien 3: The Gun).
Set several years after Alien³, the player(s) assume the role of a Colonial Marine under Weyland-Yutani's employment, sent to LV-426 where the Hadley's Hope disaster (as seen in the series' second movie, Aliens) occurred decades ago. In the years since the Hadley Hope tragedy, Weyland-Yutani has terraformed the colony and converted it into their factory outpost, secretly used as a breeding plant for more alien Xenomorphs, and when the Xenomorphs inevitably escape, they'll have to shoot their way out.
The series developed another arcade shooter eight years later, Aliens: Armageddon, making this game the middle installment of a Thematic Series.
Aliens: Extermination contain examples of:
- Advancing Boss of Doom: The final battle against the Not Quite Dead Alien Queen have her suddenly appearing and pursuing the players, aboard a train about to evacuate, at which point they must fire away at the Alien Queen to prevent her from catching up on the vehicle.
- Airborne Mook: Flying facehuggers and winged drones shows up in the tunnel in the Stronghold level, with the Alien Dragon boss at the end of the stage serving as a King Mook of sorts.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Most of the bosses, fittingly enough, have a major weak spot for players to focus their attacks upon. The Xeno-based bosses have theirs on the head, the Tower's most vulnerable area is it's central core, while the Power Loader boss can be taken down easier by aiming for its Synthetic pilot. (Protip: Aim for the dick.)
- Awesome Personnel Carrier: The APC from Aliens makes a comeback, and transports the players through alien territory in two levels. Namely, through an alien-infested tunnel where they must shoot every alien in sight while defending the carrier, and when escaping from the Not Quite Dead Alien Queen.
- Bolivian Army Ending: The game ends with the player(s) and surviving Colonial Marines killing the Alien Queen and making their way to the dropship, who then takes off from LV-426. But unbeknownst to them, there are alien stowaways on board... cue end credits.
- Canon Immigrant: The flying Alien Dragon, although unexpected, was actually featured in another earlier piece of Alien media, namely in the comic book Aliens: Survival. But then again, her appearance is definitely a surprise to casual players, who would no doubt react to her appearance with a, "Holy shit, they fly now?"
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Most of the time the player will be forced to take damage regardless how skilled they are, as the computer will either generate enemies too numerous to avoid attacks, or have their attacks hitting the player before they can show up onscreen.
- Continuity Nod: While the franchise's previous arcade shooter, Alien 3: The Gun, is based on the third movie, this one on the other hand is closer connected to Aliens.
- The Catchphrase "Stay Frosty!", for instance is lifted from the movie, uttered by supporting Marines if they player performs well. It seems like this is a phrase used by Colonial Marines to develop camaraderie.
- The ruins of Hadley's Hope is revisited as well, with unfortunate Weyland-Yutani staff being cocooned in the same manner as the film's unfortunate colonialists.
- The APC chase from the movie is recreated in the game, in a similar-looking tunnel.
- Cores-and-Turrets Boss: The Central Control Tower is a Stationary Boss with a single red glowing core as its weakpoint, and while it's incapable of attacking on it's own, it can activate turrets to surround itself, which the players spend the entire level destroying and then putting a few rounds into the tower's core between battling the turrets.
- Damage Sponge: The Alien Queen and Final Boss of the game, who lasts for at least seven areas as the player(s) empties one magazine after another (and at least a dozen grenades for good measure) into her. The fight seems to last FOREVER until she's finally defeated at the exit of the tunnel... only for her to suddenly come back for one last round just as the player is on a fleeing train, leading to the Advancing Boss of Doom segment.
- Flunky Boss: The first boss, the Central Control Tower, and third boss, the Alien Dragon, will surround themselves with hordes of flunkies during battle. Mechanized turrets for the former, flying drones and facehuggers for the latter.
- Gang Up on the Human: In the incubation chamber, players will fight Weyland-Yutani synthetics, and also alien drones released from their cells — who, upon getting out, will ignore the synthetics and attack the humans instead, despite having no reason to do so. In any case, the aliens should be attacking the synthetics responsible for imprisoning them in the first place, and yet they chose to attack the human players.
- Giant Flyer: The boss of the Stronghold level is a gigantic flying Xenomorph named the Alien Dragon, who spends the entire battle flying circles around the players and later chases them along a catwalk.
- Hostage Spirit-Link: Try not to accidentally shoot other Marines in the heat of battles against the alien drones and synthetics. Doing so will remove points from your health.
- Kill Tally: Even in single-player mode, the player will have a HUD display tallying the number of drones, facehuggers, synthetics and hostiles they have killed, for the player(s) to compare their scores after each boss battle.
- Kill It with Fire: Besides having the trusty flamethrower as an early obtainable weapon, the player can also pick up Napalm grenades to combat alien drones and synthetics. It's very effective.
- Low Clearance: During the battle atop a moving APC travelling through an alien-infested tunnel, players risk getting hit by low-hanging girders on the tunnel's ceiling if they fail to shoot through the girders on time. Occasionally, alien drones would end up getting too close and be smashed into pulps by the girders instead.
- Ludicrous Gibs: Drones and synthetics have the tendency to burst into entire flying piles of of flesh and green blood after being shot, especially if hit from point-blank.
- Mecha-Mooks: The second level onwards introduces synthetic soldiers manufactured by Weyland-Yutani, tasked to capture living Xenomorph specimens and eliminate the marines.
- Mercy Kill: The ruins of Hadley's Hope contains a chamber full of unfortunate Weyland-Yutani workers, All Webbed Up by alien drones with chestbursters growing inside them. Players can gun down these workers to end their suffering (or choose to just watch them suffer for shits and giggles) — it makes no difference either way, since they alien chestbursters will still burst out from the impregnated workers and attack the players.
- Mini-Mecha: The Power Loader from Aliens makes a comeback as the second boss, piloted by an armoured synthetic. It comes with the same armament as seen in the movie, including welding torches and Power Pincers, which is used to attack the players, but it's also built with a circular saw that can deal major damage (a trait not shown in the movie).
- Outside-Context Problem: The game's premise is that the player(s) assumes the role of a Colonial Marine to investigate an alien infestation, and for most of the first level they're pretty much up against facehuggers and drones — until the first boss turns out to be the colony's security system, which suddenly went online and sics various turrets and mechanized enemies on the players. It was then they realize their objectives has been compromised by their higher-ups and they're not expected to survive the mission.
- Sentry Gun: Automated turrets installed by Weyland-Yutani are another recurring threat, showing up during the first boss battle, and later in the incubation room.
- Space Marine: The Player Characters are part of a Colonial Marine squad tasked with investigating a second outbreak on the ruins of Hadley's Hope. Well, it's part of the Alien franchise, that certainly goes without saying...
- Video Game Flamethrowers Suck: Mostly averted, the flamethrower power-up which can be obtained early in the game does impressively well against alien drones and synthetics.
- Zerg Rush: This is the preferred tactics of the drones and facehuggers to assault the marines, much like in the second movie. Or the preceding game.
