Strip-mining old and not quite classic movies for new versions has worked for Hollywood, but in the video gaming industry, this kind of source is not always advisable. In the case of Alien Syndrome, SEGA has made a good attempt to recycle an old nugget, but you come away feeling somewhat disappointed. With Wii technology, you should sense more freedom with your movement and shooting but Alien Syndrome does not provide that feeling of control and mobility. The IR aiming is acceptable but when combined with character movement, it falls short of satisfactory.

The story, set a thousand years beyond the original game, features Aileen Harding as a young but seasoned trooper setting out to explore why a distant station has fallen silent. Upon arriving, she finds that the ancient Alien Syndrome has taken over the outpost and she must enter and fight her way through the increasingly challenging levels. Here, Alien Syndrome falls into a run-of-the-mill dungeon game. The enemies are sluggish and look alike so that you become cavalier about them after a few encounters. Graphically, Alien Syndrome is bland with featureless room after room separated by long nondescript hallways, all awash in fuzzy textures.

What does work for Alien Syndrome is the number of weapons available and the upgrades Harding can accumulate. A guardian angel droid (SCARAB) hangs around her acting as a storage and supply shed where she can retrieve weaponry and armor for specific aliens. Once Harding is up to speed in hand-to-hand combat, you will enjoy blasting the aliens away as she progresses through the levels. When you go to the multi-player mode, you will find the enemy to be sitting aliens and not much fun to kill. It’s akin to four of you shooting a rabbit in its hole.

Alien Syndrome has some good points with the Wii technology but it needs improvement in the game play area.