Aliens: Thanatos Encounter - Game Boy Color - Review

In April 2001, only a matter of weeks before the launch of the much anticipated Game Boy Advance, THQ released a Game Boy Color title based on the Alien franchise.  Aliens: Thanatos Encounter.

The game was developed by Croydon based Crawfish Interactive, who at this point were well versed with the Game Boy Color.  Over previous years the developer had worked on a multitude of ambitious ports and licenced titles for the system to varying degrees of success. This would be one of their last games for the 8-bit handheld before permanently moving on to the 32-bit GBA.

In Aliens: Thanatos Encounter we follow the story of a marine platoon who are returning to Earth after a deep-space training mission. Whilst deep in hyper-sleep, Mother, the ships AI computer, receives a distress beacon from a mysterious freighter known as the Thanatos. Mother is instructed by the marine HQ to set a course for the cargo ship and send in the unlucky marines to investigate. After waking, they dock the ship and board the Thanatos and to no-one’s surprise they discover it teaming with life signs…

The game essentially plays as a top-down shooter that takes place over 15 missions in which you, as one of the marines explore the large industrial environments of the Thanatos. A mission briefing will tell you the conditions you must meet before completing each level and these typically involve rescuing survivors, finding key cards and of course dispatching Xenomorphs. In fact the latter one you’ll be doing a hell of a lot. The fact that the game is called Aliens and not Alien gives you an idea of the kind of vibe they were going for, and they certainly don’t hold back. Various types of the phallic monstrosities are swarming the ship and upon seeing you they will dart around erratically and unpredictably in order to take you down.

Thankfully the marines are well equipped for such eventualities, and although they only start out with a handgun and a motion tracker, they’ll soon be picking up and using the entire arsenal of weapons seen in Alien films. Shotguns, Pulse Rifles, Grenade Launchers and Flamethrowers are all here and by virtue of the game having the A and B buttons assigned to each of the marine’s hands, you can actually equip and fire two different weapons simultaneously. Yep, you can dual wield Pulse Rifles. The game even has the odd power loader to stomp around in just to make you feel that bit more badass. Unfortunately you aren’t able batter the Xenos with the loader’s arms like Ripley but instead it effectively gives you a second health bar at the expense of a bit of speed.

At the start of each mission you are given the choice of controlling one of five marines, each with their own stats which determine their speed and stamina in the game. I personally find speed to be king here, as a dexterous thumb on the d-pad and a quick marine can avoid any damage at all in most close encounters. The game has a neat control scheme which allows you to switch between three different modes on the fly by pressing the select button. The first is ‘free’ mode which allows you to move and shoot freely, the second is ‘strafe’ which locks your firing angle whilst allowing you to move in all directions, and the last is ‘locked’ which fixes you in place and allows you fire in all directions. Although I tend to only use ‘strafe’ I still appreciate that the developers found a way to get so much out of the Game Boy Color’s basic button layout.

At times you’ll feel like you’re playing a classic first-person shooter as you strafe and shoot through the often, maze like rooms and corridors of the Thanatos. It’s only really the perspective that separates the game from something like Doom, however not being able to see too far ahead does force you to play with a more cautious approach. Inching forward into unexplored areas is definitely recommended as a more gung-ho approach will have you writhing in the steely claws of an Alien quicker than you can say "Eat This!"

When your marine is taken down by a Xenomorph, you will be taken back to the character select screen and your newly selected marine will be given 200 seconds to find and rescue their captured comrade. The terrified and injured marine will have been taken to a nearby nest ready for impregnating, but as long as you get to them in time and manage to fend off the Xenomorph guards, they’ll be good fight another day. It’s a really nice idea that falls a little short in execution as the path previously cleared by the downed marine will now be infested once again, making it a tall order to reach them in time.  Still I love the idea.

By now you will have seen for yourself how impressive this game looks for a Game Boy Color title. The levels are superbly detailed with grating, yellow hazard markings, containers and pipes, all of which provide the perfect backdrop to a game in the Alien universe. The Aliens themselves look great and I really like seeing all the different kinds depicted. Everything’s here from chest-bursters, face huggers, runners and drones. There’s even a new larger type that doesn’t seem to come from any cannon I’m aware of.

The music is tolerable and sets the mood well but it’s not something that you’re going to be seeking out after you finish playing. The sound effects are definitely the weakest area of the game with the guns in particular sounding… well completely pathetic to be honest. The incinerator isn’t too bad but what a difference a decent pulse rifle and shotgun sound effect would have made. Don’t even get me started on the smartgun... It’s somewhat forgivable considering the limitations of the hardware but it definitely does bring down the quality and enjoyment of the game.

Overall though Aliens: Thanatos Encounter is a decent, in fact almost excellent, addition the Game Boy Color’s library. It’s everything that a late release in a consoles lifespan should be; refined, ambitious and technically impressive.

It may have its flaws but fans of the Alien franchise should definitely give this one a chance. It captures the spirit of James Cameron’s unforgettable sequel and if nothing else it lets you toast Xenomorphs with a flame thrower from the comfort of a power loader. So if you like what you’ve heard why not seek out a copy of Aliens: Thanatos Encounter and jump on the express elevator to hell, going down!