The game was well-received by critics, who praised its recreation of the films' atmosphere and its gameplay depth compared to other first-person shooters, and was a commercial success.

[8] GamePro also commented positively on the sound effects but was not impressed by the graphics, remarking that though they are faithful to the films, they are overly monochrome and suffer from extreme pixelation.

The reviewer also complained of targeting problems but gave the game a strong recommendation due to "the fun of cruising the halls, wiping out aliens, and torching and detonating the area.

"[18] A reviewer for Maximum likewise was pleased with the sound effects but felt the graphics to be authentic to the films yet unimpressive, remarking that the animation on the aliens is a severe disappointment after Acclaim's considerable boasting about their new motion capture technology.

"[16] A Next Generation critic hailed the game as both a strong first-person shooter and an excellent adaptation of the film series, and said the opening full motion video "is one of the best intros we've seen."

[17][19] Alien Trilogy was a finalist for the Computer Game Developers Conference's 1996 "Best Adaptation of Linear Media" Spotlight Award,[20] but lost the prize to I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.

"[23] In a retrospective review, Irwin Fletcher of Game Revolution praised the high production values, commenting that "Alien Trilogy is nothing revolutionary, but it's a damn good shooter.