Sci-Fi Presents SCI-FI.COM

Alien is a classic movie, that most agree, is a perfect blending of sci-fi and horror. From the intro, that’s what I thought Cerberus Rex would be. But, lo and behold, it starts out more like Arrival. By that, I mean it seems to be a thought-provoking, Mind-bending sci-fi adventure. The concept it comes up with is. Seriously the concept alone makes me give it 4 stars but let me start out with the positives.

All of the audio work is exemplary. The voice acting is professional and polished and I highly recommend buying the higher quality version on their site. It’s only $1.99 and it’s truly immersive. Not to mention I fully want everyone to support the creators with that small sum, because I want to see more adventures from them. The sound mixing is professionally done and the original score is reminiscent of John William’s Spielberg sci-fi scores.

Now the negatives. The story feels like it ends rather abruptly. And by that I mean it could have benefitted from a longer runtime or maybe just better use of it. The story is pretty lean and I would have enjoyed some meat on its bones. By that, I’m not referring to the amazing concept, but rather the narrative propulsion.

Some might say I’m unfairly comparing this to a movie too much, but I argue that this IS a movie. Really it only lacks the visual aspects but everything else is up to par with movie production. And I know that if this was a movie playing in theaters, the ending would probably be divisive among audiences. There’s a sense of feeling cheated when the ending feels like it isn’t tying everything up. I’m not saying there isn’t strength in an ambiguous ending but that has to be done right and this doesn’t. But really, to get into the meat of my review I have to go into spoilers. You have been warned.

*******SPOILER WARNING*******

Okay the characters in Cerberus Rex are not really developed. They work well as plot devices. Correia is a scientist of astrophysics which is pretty much all the development she gets. Of course she’s naturally curious and smart, because she’s a scientist. She does get an endearing love of sci-fi films, which allows for some humorous moments but in the end this is the “one thing” gimmick for a character where “she’s a scientist, but there’s this one thing”. That isn’t character development. I could go into detail on the other characters, but considering she’s basically the most fleshed out I won’t.

Like I said earlier the concept is intriguing and grabs your attention. The fact that there’s this phenomenon of this pocket of space underground is good enough. The fact that it is sentient and can move is terrifying and a great layer to add. However the horror aspect is the weak part of Cerberus Rex in my opinion. While the score works to amplify the scares and build tension, the plot grinds to a halt and becomes standard horror movie stuff. Characters get killed off for almost like shock value it seems. Sure, Wynguarde sacrifices himself for Correia but it does little good and then pretty much every other characters gets killed off abruptly too. Of course, when Rex gets free and Correia is offered a safe haven, she chooses to turn it down because she’s a scientist, naturally curious, and wants to communicate with the creature. The scene of her attempting to establish a dialogue with Rex is tension-filled and well done, but it serves to remind me of the “establishing communication with an alien creature” aspect that Arrival pulled off so well. It’s less fleshed out here, possibly due to runtime constraints.

The most perplexing thing is I can’t really find a strong moral that this story supports. Possibly “don’t shoot first, ask questions first”. Once again, this is a sub-moral of Arrival that is done much better. The ending is abrupt, with Correia finally establishing a basic dialogue with Rex and asking him to go back to the cave and to “follow her voice and find her”. Seems ripe as a cliffhanger ending and I would love that, but nothing in in the podcast suggested that there will be a sequel so I’m treating this as standalone.

To sum it up, I enjoyed this whole audio adventure. It was extremely well done in every aspect except the story, but technically it excels. Special shoutout to the sound mixing. The story grabs your attention and is intriguing, but leaves you with unanswered questions, does the horror aspect poorly (be aware this is only the story the horror music and sounds were excellent), and doesn’t wrap up in a satisfying way. But considering this is the creators’ first effort, it’s very well done and I’m sure they’ll only improve from here. I’ll definitely listen to anything else they put out.

Just a side note, I was led here by an ad for Cerberus Rex ran in the Blank Check Podcast so good job with the marketing there.

A whole story in one episode. Really great choice of protagonist. Excellent sound design. It’s nice to hear a big budget fiction podcast that seems to understand both the medium and the fans of the medium. Refreshing. Wish there were more shows like this one. A little too hard to find.

This has to be one of the best self-contained sci-fi horror dramas I've heard in a while. It kept me nervous and tense, the sound design is impeccable, and the acting is top-notch, all the way through. I am excited to see what else they make!