Anyone with any geek cred can quote the Aliens and Predator films (but not Aliens vs. Predator -- that'd be embarrassing). But it takes a special kind of nerd to answer our alien-related questions. Can Rebellion's Tim Jones, project lead on the recently released shooter Aliens vs. Predator, tackle our 5 Hit Points quiz -- and survive?
(Edit: Forgot to mention...special thanks to our own Michael Donahoe for coming up with the questions for this edition of 5HP!)
1. Bill Paxton is no stranger to Aliens or Predators -- and fan-made arcade games. What type of arcade game did a fan build to celebrate the actor's cinematic career?
Tim Jones: [Laughs] Whoa...that is obscure. Well, I don't know the answer, but guessing at it...the first thing that comes to mind is a light-gun shooter. I don't know why. I could imagine him shooting at aliens and vampires.
Bitmob: Sorry, it's pinball. Bill Paxton Pinball.
TJ: Oh, pinball. Well that makes sense....
Points: 0; Hits: 1
2. A lot of different publishers and developers have made Aliens games, including a popular RPG maker. Name that company who made an MSX game based off the movie.
TJ: Whoa, I should know this. An MSX game? Is it the same game that was on the Commodore 64?
Bitmob: No. This game is a platformer, and the C64 game had a bit of everything in it.
TJ: Oh yeah, the Commodore 64 one was an awesome game. But I could never get beyond the third screen. Is it Bioware?
Bitmob: Square.
TJ: Really...huh. I need to seek that out.
Points: 0; Hits: 2
3. The Aliens in Aliens are pretty ugly. The aliens in Mass Effect, however, are pretty sexy. Fox News thought so, too, when they covered the game's sex scene. What risqué nickname did they give to the Xbox 360 over the Mass Effect controversy?
TJ: Was it the Sexbox 360?
Bitmob: Sexbox, yup!
Points: 1; Hits: 2
4. Sega published Aliens vs. Predator, which isn't surprising since Sega also brought out an alien -- not the license -- beat-em-up game in the '80s. Can you name it?
TJ: The one that first popped into my mind was the Aliens vs. Predator side-scolling beat-em-up that Capcom brought out -- which was awesome, by the way.
Bitmob: It isn't a licensed Alien game, but it does have "alien" in the title.
TJ: I give up.
Bitmob: Alien Storm.
TJ: Fuck, yes...of course!
Points: 1; Hits: 3
5. Almost every sci-fi video game has stolen something from Aliens, but what recent game series in particular practically pilfered the whole movie?
TJ: Modern Warfare, for sure. [Laughs] The opening level -- they quote like every line. It's all like, "Watch those corners!"...all that kind of stuff. And Halo obviously takes a lot from it.
Bitmob: We'll give that to you. We were looking for Halo.
TJ: Modern Warfare was pretty shameless, too. We tried to be pretty tough about not doing over quotes and references from the movies, particularly because so many games do it all the time.
Points: 2; Hits: 3
Final Score: 2 Points
Eh, that's not that great, Tim, but we suppose you could've done worse. On a scale of Burke to Ripley, we give you a Spunkmeyer.
