Alien Wars 2008
We finally made it to Glasgow to experience the latest version of the UK’s first ever Scare Attraction. As confessed cowards when it comes to scary attractions, we were never brave enough to visit Alien War when it first moved from Glasgow to London’s Trocadero Centre. There was something about the screams emanating from within and the frantic hysterical punters running out the door that was just TOO menacing for us.
But then, all of a sudden it closed and we started to walk past the building looking longingly at the themed exterior wondering why we had never gone in and wondering if we were ever going to get a chance to experience it.
As years went by the attraction slowly gained cult status as people started to talk about their shared experiences. A smaller temporary, charity version was created at the Space Museum in Leicester and groups on social networking sites started to call for its return.
And then in early 2007, the rumours started to surface that maybe the attraction was coming back. We spent ages trying to track down the attraction creators and finally in June of that year we sat down with Gary Gillies and all was revealed: Alien War was about to be resurrected!
It took another 18 months of changing plans but in December 08, the Aliens returned to their spiritual home at The Arches in Glasgow, the place where it all started.
After a few delays of our own we eventually made it up to Glasgow this week to sample the attraction, and all we can say is “wow! why didn’t we get there sooner?”
All the things we had heard in the past were true. Alien Wars is imaginative, chaotic, crazy and bloody scary! In fact for something that is over 15 years old in concept it is still streets ahead of other attractions in the UK today.
The structured single file queue-lines we are all used to are thrown out the window as soon as the first attack happens. At times, guests make their way through the attraction in a state of blind panic virtually pushing each other out the way to get to safety. When the Marine guiding you tells you to run, you run. And you run bloody fast! You have to, as there is something very big and menacing running after you.
When you are not running, you are often waiting. Waiting for something to happen, and here the attraction excels in building the tension. There seems to be long periods when you just know an attack is imminent and when it happens it gets everyone screaming and running again.
The alien attacks come from all sides and sometimes from very unexpected places. A second trip through had us all on the floor at one point as we had realised where the alien was coming from and didn’t want to repeat the experience we’d had before!
The other interesting thing about the manic nature of the attraction is that you get split up easily from your friends but end up just grabbing anyone for comfort. We went through with 4 students and by the end of it we were all hanging on to each other for support!
The attraction is technically very impressive as it uses simulated gunfire throughout and it feels like your guiding marine really is pumping the alien monster with a bellyful of lead from his machine gun.
Also the attraction has been expertly designed to allow for total confusion for guests with different routes available for each tour, which makes it harder to remember where you are going. Beyond that though, the back stage runs and access areas mean that the whole attraction can play out with just two main actors – a marine and an alien. This fact shocked us afterwards, as the aliens feel omnipresent throughout the attraction and certainly don’t seem to be the work of just one person. The design team have to be praised for that (as well as the poor actor who puts on one of the most physical performances we have ever experienced!)
And talking of the alien, we should just clear this up now. The current alien is not an official HR Giger design as seen in the Alien films. Fox the owners of the copyright were only prepared to allow use of the design again if the creators watered down the attraction. The guys didn’t want to give in to these demands, so created their own unique design. This detracts NOTHING from the experience in anyway but true did hard fans will be pleased to know that the real Xenomorphs are on their way back for future installations!
So it’s pretty obvious that we really enjoyed it but were there any criticisms? A few times due to the strong Glaswegian accents and the way a lot of the script is delivered (ie shouting or whilst in motion) it was sometimes just a little difficult to hear what was going on. Having said that though – you didn’t really need to know the details – the actions and intensity were enough to make you realise that basically it’s time to run!
After two completely different experiences through, we were granted the chance to have a good look around and this meant we could really appreciate the attention to detail and theming that had gone into things. On our run throughs, we didn’t see the crashed flying saucer object or the subtle film references that are only appreciated on casual observation. All those things are there and add to the realistic nature of the whole experience but believe us – you really aren’t going to have much time to take them in!
So there we have it, the UK’s first scare attraction is back and it’s still as scary as ever. It has just a few months to run in Glasgow before it transfers to Liverpool later in the year. Other venues globally are currently being lined up, but the guys can’t confirm any official dates yet. Regardless of where and when they open, just make sure to get down and experience it for yourself. But be prepared to scream. If this one doesn’t scare you, then nothing will!
But then, all of a sudden it closed and we started to walk past the building looking longingly at the themed exterior wondering why we had never gone in and wondering if we were ever going to get a chance to experience it.
As years went by the attraction slowly gained cult status as people started to talk about their shared experiences. A smaller temporary, charity version was created at the Space Museum in Leicester and groups on social networking sites started to call for its return.
And then in early 2007, the rumours started to surface that maybe the attraction was coming back. We spent ages trying to track down the attraction creators and finally in June of that year we sat down with Gary Gillies and all was revealed: Alien War was about to be resurrected!
It took another 18 months of changing plans but in December 08, the Aliens returned to their spiritual home at The Arches in Glasgow, the place where it all started.
After a few delays of our own we eventually made it up to Glasgow this week to sample the attraction, and all we can say is “wow! why didn’t we get there sooner?”
All the things we had heard in the past were true. Alien Wars is imaginative, chaotic, crazy and bloody scary! In fact for something that is over 15 years old in concept it is still streets ahead of other attractions in the UK today.
The structured single file queue-lines we are all used to are thrown out the window as soon as the first attack happens. At times, guests make their way through the attraction in a state of blind panic virtually pushing each other out the way to get to safety. When the Marine guiding you tells you to run, you run. And you run bloody fast! You have to, as there is something very big and menacing running after you.
When you are not running, you are often waiting. Waiting for something to happen, and here the attraction excels in building the tension. There seems to be long periods when you just know an attack is imminent and when it happens it gets everyone screaming and running again.
The alien attacks come from all sides and sometimes from very unexpected places. A second trip through had us all on the floor at one point as we had realised where the alien was coming from and didn’t want to repeat the experience we’d had before!
The other interesting thing about the manic nature of the attraction is that you get split up easily from your friends but end up just grabbing anyone for comfort. We went through with 4 students and by the end of it we were all hanging on to each other for support!
The attraction is technically very impressive as it uses simulated gunfire throughout and it feels like your guiding marine really is pumping the alien monster with a bellyful of lead from his machine gun.
Also the attraction has been expertly designed to allow for total confusion for guests with different routes available for each tour, which makes it harder to remember where you are going. Beyond that though, the back stage runs and access areas mean that the whole attraction can play out with just two main actors – a marine and an alien. This fact shocked us afterwards, as the aliens feel omnipresent throughout the attraction and certainly don’t seem to be the work of just one person. The design team have to be praised for that (as well as the poor actor who puts on one of the most physical performances we have ever experienced!)
And talking of the alien, we should just clear this up now. The current alien is not an official HR Giger design as seen in the Alien films. Fox the owners of the copyright were only prepared to allow use of the design again if the creators watered down the attraction. The guys didn’t want to give in to these demands, so created their own unique design. This detracts NOTHING from the experience in anyway but true did hard fans will be pleased to know that the real Xenomorphs are on their way back for future installations!
So it’s pretty obvious that we really enjoyed it but were there any criticisms? A few times due to the strong Glaswegian accents and the way a lot of the script is delivered (ie shouting or whilst in motion) it was sometimes just a little difficult to hear what was going on. Having said that though – you didn’t really need to know the details – the actions and intensity were enough to make you realise that basically it’s time to run!
After two completely different experiences through, we were granted the chance to have a good look around and this meant we could really appreciate the attention to detail and theming that had gone into things. On our run throughs, we didn’t see the crashed flying saucer object or the subtle film references that are only appreciated on casual observation. All those things are there and add to the realistic nature of the whole experience but believe us – you really aren’t going to have much time to take them in!
So there we have it, the UK’s first scare attraction is back and it’s still as scary as ever. It has just a few months to run in Glasgow before it transfers to Liverpool later in the year. Other venues globally are currently being lined up, but the guys can’t confirm any official dates yet. Regardless of where and when they open, just make sure to get down and experience it for yourself. But be prepared to scream. If this one doesn’t scare you, then nothing will!
This review was written by Michael Bolton and originally appeared on Haunted Attractions UK.
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