What is it?

Men in Black Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida is a dark ride shooting game which puts you, a new MIB recruit, right in the middle of a mass alien jailbreak. You’ll need your reflexes, sharp aim and an itchy trigger finger to eliminate the aliens and save the day!

Shooting rides are a much-needed break from roller coasters and motion simulators and Men in Black Alien Attack is one of the best Orlando has to offer. As long as you’re ok with spinning (and there’s LOTS of spinning) Men in Black Alien Attack is one of Universal Orlando’s best rides.

What Can I Expect from Men in Black Alien Attack?

Shooting rides generally follow the same pattern. You’re in a ride vehicle that has some sort of gun, you go into rooms surrounded by targets and shoot as many of them as possible to increase your score. Where Men in Black Alien Attack really sets itself apart is the immersion in the story and how grown-up the ride itself feels. You can also expect a good amount of spinning in circles, so be prepared for that.

The Queue

Men in Black Alien Attack has one of the more fun and immersive queues at Universal Orlando Resort. There is an outdoor extended queue that is unthemed, but once you get into the building the rest of the queue is entirely indoors.

The entertainment begins in the first room as you meet your tour guide for the “Universe and You” walking tour. However, not everything is as it seems as the pre-recorded tour ends and the beginning of your MIB training begins. You first start by entering an elevator (really just a room with sound and light effects) which takes you deep underground and into the MIB headquarters.

After exiting the elevator you go down the hallway until you get to the immigration room, but don’t walk down the hallway too fast as you’ll miss some fun stuff. You can’t miss the break room with the worms, but pay attention to the signs on the wall and the bulletin board for some alien office humor.

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The next area is the immigration room. This is the first moment in the queue where you learn a little bit about the storyline of the ride. Zed (played by the late Rip Torn) talks to all the new recruits about the alien criminal transport ship that’s being launched soon. You’ll hear the background on some of the aliens as well as other encouraging words from the big boss.

(While you’re up here you may notice some people below you walking around the actual immigration room…but how did they get there? An Immigration Room tour is a hidden tour that you can do if you ask. It’s not always available as it’s heavily based on team member availability, but before you get into the queue be sure and ask the team members out front if they’re running tours.)

Exiting the immigration room leads you to the weapons room. This is a fun little room that has some MIB staples such as the noisy cricket, the neuralizer and even features the guns from the ride vehicle. While you’re looking at the weapons be sure and listen to the instructional video being played. Not only is the Doofus and Do-right video relatively entertaining, but it subtly provides helpful information for the ride ahead.

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The final room is the loading station where there isn’t much to do other than wait your turn to board. The ride has two tracks going at the same time. The only difference between the two tracks is the kinds of aliens you can shoot. One track isn’t any better than the other.

As far as queues go, Men in Black Alien Attack has one of the best-themed queues and really captures the look and feel of the original Men in Black trilogy.

The Ride

As the only shooter in the park, Men in Black Alien Attack doesn’t disappoint. As far as shooters go it’s actually one of the most challenging ones you’ll find. The instructional videos in the queue give you some insight as to how to win (shoot the head/shoulder area) but the bulk of the strategy is up to you. Different aliens have different point values and picking which aliens to shoot really do make a difference.

The ride starts in a familiar area: The Men in Black shooting range. This bit is a great place to see just how good your gun is. Most guns have a pretty straightforward aim, but the ride is a tad older and the aim can be skewed a bit. This is also a good place to establish your laser. There are five other people in the car with you and you can lose your gun’s laser pretty easily.

Men in Black Alien Attack Pro Tip

Your gun never runs out of ammo and you don’t need to actually pull the trigger to fire. Simply hold the trigger down and your gun will shoot. Want the most points in this area? Find a target and keep shooting it. All the targets in this area are for the same points so there’s no need to bounce around.

Your training session gets interrupted because the transport ship carrying all the bad aliens crashed and you have to shoot your way through them. This first area has the most variety of aliens of any other area in the ride, so keep your head on a swivel and keep shooting. There are a few aliens that are worth more points than others, including Frank the Pug and an alien version of Steven Spielberg. At the tail end of this first room is also the first spin area. You’ll travel down a hallway to another spin area and eventually end by a subway entrance.

Men in Black Alien Attack Pro Tip

This area has a lot of aliens in it and not all of them are one-shot “kills”. Keep your finger on the trigger and do your best to hit any alien that’s right in front of you. There’s no penalty for shooting the same alien more than once and oftentimes it’s easier to grab points where you can rather than pick and choose areas. The best aliens to shoot are the ones above you in the buildings and in the trees.

Entering the subway brings you to the next portion of the game where you need to shoot the car on the other track. There’s a bit of a pause here as the ride explains itself, so make sure you rest your trigger finger. However, the moment you’re able to fire, begin aiming for the lighted exhaust port above the other car.

Any time one of the ports is hit, the car will spin. How often your car spins depends on how many times your own port is hit. Sometimes we’ve gone on the ride and not spun once, and sometimes we’ve done nothing BUT spin. There is a spot where the cars don’t spin anymore as Agent Jay (Will Smith) introduces the next part.

Men in Black Alien Attack Pro Tip

At this point in the ride there are no more aliens to shoot, just the other car. However, just because you’ve reached the point where the cars stop spinning doesn’t mean you can’t still shoot the other car and get points. Continuing to shoot the exhaust port racks up massive points. You’ll know you’ve hit it when you hear a different “points made” sound than normal. This is where you can score the most points in the game. Really want to rack up points but have terrible aim? You can shoot your own car’s exhaust!

After your cars align you’ll see a massive alien in front of you. Shooting him has no effect and you’re making a bee-line for his mouth…what can you do? If you were paying attention to the videos you’d have heard to never press the red button unless it’s an emergency. There is no bigger emergency than this! As you enter the massive alien’s mouth you experience the final (and longest) spin section of the game until it’s done.

Men in Black Alien Attack Pro Tip

It’s at this point that Zed finally gives you permission to push the red button. Pushing the button gives you a whopping 100,000 bonus points. You need to push the button right after he says the word “push” in his “push the red button!” speech. It’s a rumor that only one person per car can get the bonus points, but as long as you hit the button at the right time, you’re good.

After exiting the alien you’ll see an average for your car’s points as it compares to the other car. Based on these point totals you’ll get one of three endings: Good, Bad, Worse. The differences in the endings are a different rank and a speech from an animatronic. Make sure and take a picture of your score so you can brag to your friends.

What’s the Verdict on Men in Black Alien Attack?

Men in Black Alien Attack is right up there with The Revenge of the Mummy as the best ride at Universal Studios Florida. Everything about this ride works. The theming is perfect, the gameplay is engaging and fun, the nostalgia gets better and better every year and the difficulty of the ride brings out the competitor in you which brings you back again and again. There’s never a time when we visit Universal that we don’t ride this ride.

If the ride has a downside it’s that there are way, way too many spins. We can forgive a spin or two within the ride, but with three scheduled spins and the potential for two or three more it gets a little ridiculous. We can understand one or two…but four or five? Not needed. Those with a weak stomach might want to stay away from this ride.

If you’re a fan of video games, shooting ranges or just have a competitive spirit about you, Men in Black Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida is an absolute must ride. The ride is made all the better if you’re a fan of the movie it’s based. Even better, is if you follow the tips we’ve given so you can get the most points in your car. Happy shooting!