Play Alien Trilogy in Your Browser

About Alien Trilogy

Alien Trilogy is a first-person shooter developed by Probe Entertainment and published by Acclaim Entertainment in 1996. It is based on the first three films in the Alien series. It was one of the first games Probe made after Acclaim acquired the studio, and it was the debut of Acclaim’s heavily promoted motion capture technology. Matthew Nagy designed it and Stephen Root composed the music.

The PlayStation version came first, in North America on February 29, 1996, followed by Europe in March and Japan in May. The Saturn version arrived that August, and the MS-DOS release reached North America on December 2, 1996. Critics liked how closely it recreated the atmosphere of the films and praised the depth of its gameplay next to other first-person shooters, and it sold well. It is a single-player game. DOS.Zone’s description has you fighting Xenomorphs and other alien creatures across three campaigns that mix horror, action and survival.

How it runs in your browser

DOS.Zone serves the MS-DOS release. Clicking Play takes you to the game’s page on dos.zone in a new tab, where js-dos, an open-source DOSBox build for the web that DOS.Zone develops, emulates a PC from the period and runs the game. This is the PC release only, so if you remember Alien Trilogy from a PlayStation or Saturn, expect the MS-DOS version rather than the console one. You won’t install anything or need a disc, and there’s no account involved, so you can skip registration entirely. DOS.Zone doesn’t show ads.

The listing tags the game as 3D action and first-person shooter, and it shows a five-star average from 91 player reviews. It doesn’t say whether your progress is kept between visits, so plan around that until you’ve seen how the game handles saves.

Controls and devices

On a computer you play with the keyboard and mouse. DOS.Zone doesn’t publish the control layout, so check the game’s options menu before you head into the first level, and click into the game window once it has loaded so the emulator receives your input.

Phones get DOS.Zone’s virtual on-screen controls, but a 1990s PC shooter built for keyboard and mouse isn’t a natural fit for a touchscreen, and a desktop or laptop will serve you better. Chromebooks are untested.

Who it’s for

Alien Trilogy is for fans of the films who want to walk through a version of their world, and for anyone curious about first-person shooters from the mid-1990s. There’s no multiplayer, so it suits an evening on your own rather than a session with friends. If you want more from that period, Doom and Duke Nukem 3D both run on DOS.Zone. Capcom’s Resident Evil, also from 1996, is there too.