Alien
Name: Alien
Programmer(s): Hans Van Halteren
Publisher: Avalon Hill
Year: 1983
Description:
In 1982, Argus Press Software released Alien for the Apple II, creating one of the earliest survival horror games for home computers. Players control a lone astronaut trapped on a spaceship with a deadly alien creature hunting them through dark corridors. The game borrowed heavily from the 1979 movie of the same name, though it was careful to avoid copyright problems by changing character names and some story details.
The game puts you in control of a crew member trying to escape the alien while completing various tasks around the ship. You move through different rooms using the keyboard, searching for weapons and items to help you survive. The alien moves randomly through the ship, and if it catches you, the game ends. Players must balance the need to explore with the constant danger of encountering the creature.
What made Alien special was its use of tension and atmosphere on the limited Apple II hardware. The game uses simple graphics with white lines on a black background to create the ship's layout. Each room appears as a basic floor plan viewed from above. The alien appears as a small moving dot, but the simple beeping sounds that play when it gets close create real fear. Players never know which door the alien might come through next.
The game includes several weapons scattered throughout the ship, including flamethrowers and laser guns. These weapons can temporarily drive the alien away but never kill it permanently. Players must also manage their oxygen supply and find keycards to access locked areas. The ship contains about 35 rooms, each with different items and hazards.
Alien uses only 48K of memory but manages to create a complete gaming experience. The programmer used clever tricks to fit everything into the Apple II's limited space. Sound effects play through the computer's basic speaker, creating simple but effective audio cues. The game saves high scores to disk, letting players compete for the best escape times.
While Alien received mixed reviews, with some critics calling it too simple and others praising its atmosphere, it helped establish survival horror as a gaming genre. The game proved that computers could create suspense and fear without advanced graphics. Many later horror games would use similar ideas about limited resources and an unstoppable enemy.
Today, Alien remains an important piece of Apple II history. It showed how creative programmers could work within technical limits to create new types of games. Though primitive by modern standards, it demonstrated that gameplay and atmosphere matter more than graphics. For Apple II owners in 1982, Alien offered something new: a chance to experience real tension and fear through their computer screen.