Aliens Online was a massively multiplayer First-Person Shooter based on the 1986 film Aliens, released in 1998 and developed by Mythic Entertainment (best known for the MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot) with assistance from Kesmai. It was an online-only game exclusive to the GameStorm monthly subscription service.
Players take the role of either Colonial Marines or Aliens, engaging in multiplayer battles of up to 200 players on a single map. Besides player-controlled Aliens, the game also spawns a number of computer-controlled Aliens including an Alien Queen whose assassination is one of the Marines' primary objectives. Alien players take control of one of the computer-controlled Aliens when they join a server, while Marines players spawn in as reinforcements. Similar to Doom and Alien Trilogy, the game is software-render only and uses 2D sprites for weapons and characters, and the levels are "2.5D" rather than "true" 3D (different floors cannot be placed over one another, although the illusion of a full 3D space is created with floors of different heights).
With the closure of the GameStorm network, Aliens Online's servers were shut down in 2000. Editing the game's configuration files allows players to play through the levels in a single-player test mode with computer-controlled Aliens NPCs, but with no code for offline multiplayer it is far from the game's true, full experience now lost to history.
Aliens Online provides examples of:
- Authority Equals Asskicking: The Alien Queen hits harder than the regular Aliens and can soak over 3 dozen rounds of pulse rifle fire before going down, compared to the regular Aliens who go down after a single short burst. The Alien Empress is even tougher, but requires an Aliens player of extremely high level to spawn.
- Close-Range Combatant: Aliens lack ranged attacks and are limited to claws and tail swipes, but move much faster than the Marines do.
- Fragile Speedster: Aliens go down extremely quickly, but are much faster than Marines and can also navigate around the levels through vents and ducts to catch Marines by surprise.
- Friendly Fireproof: Besides the usual lack of friendly fire for a large-scale team FPS, Marines also don't take damage from their own explosive weapons.
- One Bullet Clips: Averted; reloading a weapon discards the current magazine and any bullets that were still in it. As you only carry 5 mags per weapon, you can't reload willy-nilly.
- Ranged Emergency Weapon: The pistol has a surprisingly low rate of fire (feels more like a single-action revolver than a semi-auto pistol) and requires 4 to 5 shots to kill an Alien. It's only really useful if you're out of ammo for absolutely everything else.
- RPG Elements: Players would gain experience and level up by getting kills, which would increase their hit points.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Not really. Besides the expected shorter range, lower rate of fire, and lesser ammo capacity, the shotgun also deals less damage than the pulse rifle and often requires 2 to 3 shots to down an Alien. It's more of a backup weapon for when your pulse rifle ammo is low, as it does still hit harder than the pistol.
- The Sneaky Guy: Aliens do not make footstep sounds, which helps them ambush Marines from behind. They can also stand still to avoid showing up on the Marines' motion detectors.
- Video Game Flamethrowers Suck: Generally averted, the flamethrower kills Aliens reasonably effectively, if only because they die quickly to pretty much anything. Its one major drawback is the fact its range is much lower than the pulse rifle's or smartgun's.
