Alien War

Alien War was a "total reality"^[1] experience in the United Kingdom that originally opened at the Arches in GlasgowCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). ==

A group of participants were escorted on foot by armed US Colonial Marines to view an "Alien Research Facility" which was an immersive dark set in the style of the films Alien and Aliens. The Aliens would inevitably escape and menace, chase and sometimes even capture both the colonial marines and members of the public. The adult Aliens were realised by performers in suits and the facehugger creatures were animatronic effects.

Technology

The marines originally carried blank firing pistols. For Alien War London, an innovative electronic system called Soundfire was developed to allow the weapons to sound like those used in the film Aliens. The system consisted of Pulse Rifles with infrared transmitters and small strobe lights (to simulate muzzle flash).^[2] When the trigger is pulled a signal is transmitted to receivers hidden in the set. A central computer then plays gunfire sound effects to speakers in the correct area of the set. The system also played other sound effects such as the Alien sounds. The system suffered teething troubles in the first months after opening meaning that the blank firing pistols had to be used for most early shows.

Alien War 2008

Gary Gillies, co-creator of Alien War, has announced that Alien War will reopen in London in April 2008^[3]. A previous announcement was made that it would open in October 2007 in Glasgow, but this has since been retracted. April 2008 has passed without Alien War reopening.

Footnotes

External links

[1] The Harry Harris Aliens Collection & Archive: About Alien War

[2] The Harry Harris Aliens Collection & Archive: About Alien War

[3] MySpace page with news of the 2007 Alien War tour

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