E.T.: Interplanetary Mission

Last updated

E.T.: Interplanetary Mission
E.T. - Interplanetary Mission Coverart.png
North American cover art
Developer Santa Cruz Games
Publishers
Programmer Mark Bell
Platforms PlayStation, Microsoft Windows
ReleaseDecember 30, 2002
Genre Puzzle
Mode Single-player

E.T.: Interplanetary Mission (known as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary in Europe) is a 2002 action video game based on the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial .

Contents

E.T.: Interplanetary Mission gained a surge of notoriety following its inclusion in a December 18, 2025 episode of the Angry Video Game Nerd , which highlighted a hidden message condemning Osama Bin Laden at the end of the game's credits. The easter egg reflects political discourse in America following the September 11 attacks, and despite containing profanity, the game was marketed with an "E" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, since they were unaware of the easter egg.

Gameplay

The player takes control of E.T. in an isometric environment. E.T. is able to heal using his glowing finger, stun enemies using his stomach and lift/throw enemies using telekinesis. [1] The game also features puzzle elements.

Credits easter egg

The game is notable for its crass hidden message contained at the end of the game's credits which require entering a cheat code to view. The credits list the individuals who worked on the game, all of whom are listed with humorous nicknames and at the end of the credits the message "Fuck Off Bin Laden" is shown, reflecting popular political discourse in America in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Since it was an easter egg the game still shipped with an "E" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), who were unaware of the message. [2]

The easter egg was featured in episode 229 of the Angry Video Game Nerd released on December 18, 2025 which sparked a surge of interest in used copies of the game disc. [3]

Reception

The game has a rating of 50 on Metacritic based on four reviews. [5]

TotalGames.net said "A lot better than anyone dared to imagine (damn that Atari 'classic!') – just don't expect the game to be as timeless and breathtaking as the movie and you'll have a good time".

PSX Nation wrote "A decent-enough scavenger hunt to amuse youngsters for quite a few hours of simple and repetitive item-gathering and level-clearing fun". GameZone commented "This is a nice little program, certainly not all that challenging, but delightful for its animation of a benign alien creature and its charming ways", and Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine said "It's dreadfully ugly and unredeemingly unfun". [5]

References

  1. 1 2 Official UK Playstation Magazine - Issue 084 (Future Publishing)(GB). May 2002. pp.  45.
  2. ↑ McFerran, Damien (August 8, 2025). "This PS1 E.T. Game Includes An Insult Directed At A Terrorist Leader, But You'll Need A Cheat Code". Time Extension. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  3. ↑ "AVGN Just Sparked a Market for an Obscure PS1 Game". Resell Calendar. December 20, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  4. ↑ "E.T. Interplanetary Mission (PS)". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "E.T. Interplanetary Mission (PS)". Metacritic. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.