Aliens Online

About

Aliens Online is a first person shooter that pits humans against extraterrestrials in online and single player matches. Players join Colonial Marines with pulse rifles and shotguns or become stealthy Aliens with claws and tails. Combat focuses on team deathmatch modes with limited revives and five distinct maps. Marines gain advantages by grouping into fireteams that unlock heavy weapons like flamethrowers. The Aliens use narrow corridors and hidden drop points to ambush opponents. All matches took place on the GameStorm subscription service which closed in 2000. The game stands out for its direct sci-fi combat and asymmetric design. Maps recreate settings from the Aliens film with tight ductwork that rewards Alien players who master hit-and-run tactics. Fireteam mechanics let human players share live camera feeds of their teammates. With simultaneous games running across servers, it offered early MMO scale for 1998. Though short lived, it remains a notable entry in 90s online gaming with a dedicated retro audience.

Storyline

Maps ranged from a loose reproduction of the colony from Aliens, to a derelict spacecraft with an Alien hive in the lower levels. Every map had cramped air ducts or sewer pipes that the Aliens could speedily, and usually securely, make use of - with hatches that allowed the player to drop onto unsuspecting marines and rend them with claw and tail attacks. Marines carried a selection of long-range firepower based on the weapons in the film. A lone marine only had access to a pulse rifle, pistol, shotgun, and motion tracker (deployed like a weapon, and not part of the HUD). Up to four marines could also band together in a fireteam, unlocking heavy weapons like the flamethrower and the auto-tracking SmartGun. Members of a fireteam could also open minature "helmet cam" windows for each of their teammates, and see a feed of what that player was seeing.