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Shortly, the folks over at NASA are going to hold a press conference to discuss a “significant astrobiological finding” that will impact mankind’s search for extraterrestrial life. While we’re hardly expecting that the chief NASA science advisor will take the stage alongside some gift-bearing life-form from the planet Whatever, the possibility that evidence of life somewhere in the vicinity of our solar system might actually exist has gotten us thinking about…well…aliens. Largely because if aliens do exist, and have been monitoring our electronic entertainment for the last thirty years, they’d likely have an opinion of us as ruthless, blood-thirsty alien killers.
Hell, we’ve been shooting, stabbing and exploding aliens in videogames for decades. One glance at our game collection and they probably would not be coming in peace. Given that observation, we thought we’d take a quick look back at some of our favorite alien species in gaming.
The Akrid from Lost Planet
It wouldn’t be a list of deadly, man-eating aliens without there being a fair amount of giant, insectoid enemies. Native to the planet EDN III, the Akrid are broken down into a number of sub-species of various seizes and biological designs, ranging from creatures at average height to towering, hulking behemoths. They survive in the deep freeze of the snowbound planet due to the thermal energy that is carried inside their body, and subsequently harvested by humans in the wasteland. Advantageous in our struggle against these massive, carnivorous beasts is the fact that they quite conveniently glow orange exactly at their weakest points.
The Furons from Destroy All Humans
Sometimes, rather than killing aliens, it’s more fun to play as the aliens…and then kill some humans. In the aptly titled, Destroy All Humans, you play as a Furon tasked with the retrieval of samples of human DNA. Dropped into a retro, 1950’s, B-movie landscape, your little, green man (and we mean that literally) will travel the world with his raygun disintegrating farmhands, extracting brains, destroying townships and battling against your greatest intergalactic enemy: moo cows.
The Kilrathi from Wing Commander
Throughout the entirety of the Wing Commander saga, mankind’s fiercest enemy has always been reminiscent of the most powerful predator here on Earth, the African lion. The Kilrathi invaders are towering, feline bipeds with thick, lionesque manes and dark, distinct markings that distinguish tribe from tribe. So every awful, terrible dream you’ve ever had after watching too many hours of the Discovery Channel is about to come true in a few hundred years when The Sci-Fi Cats from Outer Space finally decide to invade.
The Locust Horde from Gears of War
Sometimes, the most dangerous threat doesn’t come from the night sky, but from the ground beneath your feet. Especially when your feet are standing firmly upon the bedrock of an alien planet that doesn’t truly belong to you. That’s when things like Emergence Day happen and massive, lumbering, ashen-skinned figures emerge from the ground with advanced weaponry and murder nearly an entire civilization of humans in a single, devastating attack. Ranging from mindless grunts to massive, tentacled, ten-story creatures, the Locust are perhaps the deadliest enemy in video game history. They are, however, thankfully non-resistant to chainsaws.
Space Pirates from Metroid
We’re not entirely sure if you’d call these biomechanical alien baddies “threats,” exactly,” considering that the iconic bounty hunter Samus dispatches them with relative ease, but they’ve certainly caused enough problems for anybody without a fancy, well-armed space suit. Read: The rest of humanity. That said, they’re a constant presence throughout the Metroid adventures, and whatever new creatures or villains might pop up from chapter to chapter – Dark Samus, for example – the most consistent opposing force have always been the Space Pirates. Cannon fodder that they are.
The Asari from Mass Effect
Not all aliens look upon humans with murderous ill-intent. Sometimes, just sometimes, they’ll even make sweet, sweet love to mankind – or to men, kindly – if you manage your dialogue tree well enough. Virtually sweet talking this blue-skinned, bi-curious race can often result in some rather positive inter-species relations. But as it turns out, after some zero-gravity shenanigans, they also have quite a bit to offer in the way of advanced technology and spiritual awakening, as well. But the terrestrial tantra certainly doesn’t hurt.
The Extraterrestrials / Ethereals from X-Com
The aliens in X-Com come in all shapes and sizes – usually both very strange – and are generally the kind of creatures that make you wonder, “How they hell did these mutants build entire spaceships and advanced micro-technology with no opposable thumbs?” But as part of the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, otherwise known as X-Com, it’s your job to strategically eliminate the alien threat as it emanates from Mars. The long-running series is getting a reboot next year and from what little we’ve seen, you’ll be battling anything from giant, all-powerful, monolithic ships to gelatinous creatures like the Black Oil from X-Files.
Space Invaders from Space Invaders
Never have deadly aliens from another planet – presumably somewhere just above the top of the screen – been so damned cute. Sure, they look like adorable cookie cut-outs, shuffling clumsily from left to right, but let ‘em get too close to your base, and you’re in a world of trouble. This fight between man and alien could literally cost you dozens of quarters…
The Zerg from StarCraft
Engineered as a near perfect biological specimen, the Zerg might look like ruthless, shapeless monsters on the outside, but their relentless pursuit and absorption of useful genetic material makes them the deadliest, self-evolving species in the universe. Or, at the very least, the universe of StarCraft. Created by the Xel’Naga and enslaved to the Overmind, the Zerg eventually broke free of their masters to scourge the universe for better, purer alien DNA, becoming ever stronger and more complex as they dominated entire societies.
The Flood from Halo
Certainly the worst, most pandemic threat in all of humanity’s struggle against digital aliens, The Flood represent the very essence of unchecked consumption. They spread; they devour; they procreate; they grow, so much so that the destruction of entire galaxies has been considered a sufficient sacrifice to halt their expansion into the universe. The Flood is simply an alien virus with vicious, gnashing teeth, looking to devour the fabric of the world until there’s nothing left but darkness…and the smallest Halo of light.
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Comments
Displaying 1–20 of 34
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sion8
the Specie that they found does need Phosphorus is just that when they can't find any they will use Arsenic as a substituted for Element P, and is found here on Earth in a lake that is full of Arsenic; is called GFAJ-1 the name and location of the lake is Mono Lake in eastern California.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wik i/GFAJ-1)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wik i/Mono_Lake)
sion8
the Specie that they found does need Phosphorus is just that when they can find any they will use Arsenic as a substituted for Element P, and is found here on Earth in a lake that is full of Arsenic; is called GFAJ-1 the name and location of the lake is Mono Lake in eastern California.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wik i/GFAJ-1)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wik i/Mono_Lake)
BoydofZINJ
Any article that hsa the Kilrathi gets A++++++++++++++++++ attention from me.
devilkimahari
duke nukem ??
implodinggoat
Honestly this list could be composed almost entirely of Alien races from Mass Effect.
schiffwreck
nope forgot body harvest for n64
Extremis
LOCUSTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSS!!!!
power-o-pwn
I think there were many more species that they liked but could only fit that many into the article. My personal favorite alien species is the Sangheili.
kojmz168
wait the asari but no reapers?!!
SourProphit
Yes, yes, they left out quite a few popular figures, but come on; if they listed all the video game aliens, the site would have practically doubled in size.
They covered a few obscure, a few classic, and a few iconic examples.
Talk about making something out of practically nothing, well done G4.
Duskulblaka
They also probably know that we like porn ...a lot.
Aldowyn
Yeah, if you pick the Asari you might as well just say "all the species from Mass Effect".
Zerg, Flood, and the Locust all definitely belong there, though.
HumanGiant13
Those space invaders look terrifying!
GalacticGG
Dead space Necremorphs need to be their. They are Frskin ZOMBIE ALIENS nothing is cooler than that...... well maybe a couple of things BUT STILL.
AntiquesRoadwarrior
Half-Life creatures are from another dimension, so they are not a traditional "Alien." Get over that, and make a list of your favorite extra-dimensional creatures: Vorts, Combine, Headcrab, those super-soldier guys, and Mister Mxyzptlk.
thinkblue124
GEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAARS!!!!!
DooMTacK
Akrid aren't aliens.. they are on their own planet....
Also.. are locust really aliens?
But the combine (Half Life Universe) should have been there for sure!
NDLSCW
This is just an opinion, but I felt it would have been nice to go deeper into the artistic meaning of the aliens you choose. I myself don't care much about the fictional species that are simply awesome, I like my science fiction to make me question who I am and what I find to hold value; The species that make us question what it means to be human and if that even matters are the ones that I will remember.
Oh and I would just like to inform you the announcement was about a type of bacteria on Earth that can use arsenic in place of phosphorous. This is news because it shows that one of six elements once thought needed for life, carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorous, can be substituted for something else and makes scientists question what is essential for life as we know it.
The paper:
http://www.sciencemag.org/co ntent/early/2010/12/01/science .1197258.abstract
Some links to articles:
http://www.astrobio.net/excl usive/3698/thriving-on-arsenic
http://www.space.com/science astronomy/arsenic-bacteria-ali en-life-101202.html
HALOHATER4LIFE
The Chimera from Resistance?
badomen567
What i am waiting for is them to put the aliens from Majors mask in the mix? anybody remember "Them" they scared me so much as a kid
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