Remember Aliens: Colonial Marines? Remember how it spent years in development hell only to come out in a state worse than the E3 trailers? That game broke the hearts of tons of fans of the Alien franchise, but it really shouldn't have bothered them. There was, after all, already a damn fine game for blasting aliens that was playable on the Xbox 360 and even featured Bishop in the lead... or, at least, the guy who played Bishop. It's a largely forgotten game called Run Like Hell.
Run Like Hell, abbreviated as RLH, takes place on a space station. Players take control of Capt. Nick Connor, a mining surveyor, who heads off on a mining operation only to return later to find the station overrun with aliens. With most of the crew dead and his fiancee missing, Connor launches a one-man war against the not-quite-xenomorphs. The plot is relatively basic but engaging like any great sci-fi action movie. I didn't even mind that it ended with an unresolved cliffhanger. Helping sell the story is one of the best voice casts I've seen in a game not titled Grand Theft Auto. Alongside the always awesome Lance Henriksen, there's Biff from Back to the Future, Captain Janeway, the Kurgan, Sam Fisher, and Chucky. Awesome!
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The game is not one of the best looking Xbox games out there, but it still looks decent. The locations on the station are diverse enough to keep my bearings; I didn't get lost like I did with OverBlood. The atmosphere wasn't the thickest I'd ever seen, but it was good enough to instill some dread. The alien designs for the friendlies were creative, particularly the lobster-looking Dr. Mek voiced by Kate Mulgrew. In contrast, the ones you blast through the majority of the game are rather generic. The Scouts are such facehugger rip-offs that I'm suprised Fox didn't sue Interplay. The sound design is mostly very atmospheric. However, the metal from Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin that plays during the boss fights kills the vibe.
Most of the gameplay revolves around blasting aliens which is very easy to do. The controls are tight and simple enough to work with. Weapons can even be modded to become more powerful. In fact, the standard shooting can get too easy. The only times I got hit during standard encounters were when the Cutters fell on me from the ceiling and surprised me. Thankfully, the game is broken up with puzzles that are simple to solve if you take the time to explore the station and quick-time events for dealing with the Brutes. While the normal encounters with Cutters and Scouts didn't concern me that much, the times with the Brutes were tense enough to make up the difference.
RLH: Run Like Hell is a misnomer; I think I "ran like hell" barely a tenth of the game. Most of the time I was exploring the station, blasting aliens, and having fun. It's not the greatest shooter the Xbox has, but it's worth checking out for those disheartened by Aliens: Colonial Marines. Lock, load, and come aboard!
