I already preordered my copy, I am a huge fan of Aliens movie and Alien vs. Predator 2 video game.
I was really disappointed by last AvP game from two years ago and I am hoping that this one will be sweet.
What about you guys? Who else is looking forward to it?
I wish it had more customisation, but ... ya, I'm looking forward to it. I like the franchise/setting, and any game that comes with a co-op mode to enjoy with friends sounds like it could offer tons of fun.
All I know about it is that they pulled off a cool marketing stunt at NYCC. That had an exoskeleton being attacked by an alien that you could sit in and a camera that would snap your picture.
I enjoyed AvP 2 in particular. I'm looking forward to eventually playing Colonial Marines at some point. Probably when it is 20 bucks on Steam or something.
I'm hoping it'll be abit like the marine campaign in AvP 2 (by monolith) but less frenzied, and with a squad. And longer obviously, with different choices you can make in the story possibly. Customisation would be awesome too.
I haven't really been following it because I'm not expecting it to be any good, but that's what I'm hoping for.
I've got an eye on this one but it isn't a priority right now - unless a demo changes my mind.
Am I to assume from the title that the single player is going to be entirely human-centric?
I agree, I think that this game will rock so it definitely deserve one.
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Skarwael wrote: I'm hoping it'll be abit like the marine campaign in AvP 2 (by monolith) but less frenzied, and with a squad. And longer obviously, with different choices you can make in the story possibly. Customisation would be awesome too.
I don't know about story but customization were confirmed and they ,dropped the squad based gameplay, but i am sure you will have AI controlled marines at some parts of the game to keep you company.
Basically, the game will consist of mission where you will go from point A to point B and kill everything along the way. With addition of 'last stand' parts where you must defend certain place for some amount of time.
But I also read that you will be able to play certain mission and gather points to upgrade your weapons and armor. I hope this will be for single player too.
Can't wait! Only a little more than a month until it arrives.
I agree, I think that this game will rock so it definitely deserve one.
I really, really want that power loader statue and all that cool stuff, but I never play my consoles anymore. No way I'm ordering this game for a console.
streamdragon wrote:No collector's edition for PC = mega failure.
lol - times like these it almost feels like there is some sort of conspiracy against PCs going on. I betcha the PC version's release will be delayed as well. Let's pray it at least uses full graphics and its own control scheme rather than being a gakky port.
Who is the genius doing these decisions? Do the publishers get money from console manufacturers or something? Is it part of some support contract they made many years back?
Some publishers do get console money. Others see it as 'safer' than PC because there is this mythology that consoles have less piracy. It's easier to a degree to program for, as you have to support less hardware, but you also have to work with the limits of that hardware.
BaronIveagh wrote:Some publishers do get console money. Others see it as 'safer' than PC because there is this mythology that consoles have less piracy. It's easier to a degree to program for, as you have to support less hardware, but you also have to work with the limits of that hardware.
The money bit I would understand, but if it were due to piracy or programming issues, I would assume they'd just not program/publish it for PCat all. Or are you implying that programming the PC version just takes more time even if the teams start simultaneously? ... I suppose that would make sense, especially as the PC guys would have to wait for assets from the console team all the time.
If only they wouldn't still release so many fugly ports where you feel compelled to eat your keyboard.
Skarwael wrote: I'm hoping it'll be abit like the marine campaign in AvP 2 (by monolith) but less frenzied, and with a squad. And longer obviously, with different choices you can make in the story possibly. Customisation would be awesome too.
I don't know about story but customization were confirmed and they ,dropped the squad based gameplay, but i am sure you will have AI controlled marines at some parts of the game to keep you company.
Basically, the game will consist of mission where you will go from point A to point B and kill everything along the way. With addition of 'last stand' parts where you must defend certain place for some amount of time.
But I also read that you will be able to play certain mission and gather points to upgrade your weapons and armor. I hope this will be for single player too.
Can't wait! Only a little more than a month until it arrives.
Wait what? When did they drop the squad based gameplay?!??! That was the main thing that made me interested in it! 4 player co op with Aliens would have been amazing!
Skarwael wrote: I'm hoping it'll be abit like the marine campaign in AvP 2 (by monolith) but less frenzied, and with a squad. And longer obviously, with different choices you can make in the story possibly. Customisation would be awesome too.
I don't know about story but customization were confirmed and they ,dropped the squad based gameplay, but i am sure you will have AI controlled marines at some parts of the game to keep you company.
Basically, the game will consist of mission where you will go from point A to point B and kill everything along the way. With addition of 'last stand' parts where you must defend certain place for some amount of time.
But I also read that you will be able to play certain mission and gather points to upgrade your weapons and armor. I hope this will be for single player too.
Can't wait! Only a little more than a month until it arrives.
Wait what? When did they drop the squad based gameplay?!??! That was the main thing that made me interested in it! 4 player co op with Aliens would have been amazing!
Yes if this news he mentioned is true i am greatly disappointed. I mean no team co-op?! That's total BS. The players should totally complain till they at least allow it through download or sequels (if there are any).
You must've been wrong. It looks like co-op is still in unless it's a change to the game they haven't updated on the site.
The only extra content i actually want in the super duper special collector's edition is the sonic ball breakers (yeah gross) and the plasma pulse rifle. I couldn't give a crap about most of it. Like the extra marine customization is nice but it's probably nothing special. Dunno why people feel an annoying need to tack on 10, 30 or even 50 dollars for crap that we don't care about that often just shows their smugness with their own game like it's a work of art. Hey jerk-wad i didn't pay an extra 30 dollars for a picture book and a creation story i never cared about. I dunno. I suppose it's kind of cool but i don't feel i need to pay so much extra crap to see it.
Perhaps a miscommunication? They've already explained in the preview videos back then that you won't run around with a full squad during the entire campaign, but instead team up with a couple Marines here and there to temporarily stick with them before you part ways again.
Which is different than "squad-based gameplay" being like Republic Commando where you are with AI buddies all the time.
Co-op is added on top of this structure, from what I understood.
I have no idea why they cheap out on customisation so much tho. I thought by now it would be considered a sort of industry standard.
@Lynata: Did you just change your login location from france to the U.S. in a little over 4 hours?! Holy crap man!
I'm not entirely sure what they mean by co-op but it's not like game developers don't stretch the truth at times. In 'star wars: empire at war- forces of corruption' they hyped up a ship that could destroy capital ships and even small ships with one focused shot every so often (and it was even in the trailer hyping up the game). Everybody freaked out about it till they found out it was only in the last mission of the campaign and at the end of the campaign due to lore restrictions the leader on the 'zann consortium' side just decides to leave it for some reason. Even though he kills everybody else in the battle they fight. At least the death star II had the capital ship killing ability and to be fair they added planetary bombardment which is something players begged for.
Lynata wrote: Perhaps a miscommunication? They've already explained in the preview videos back then that you won't run around with a full squad during the entire campaign, but instead team up with a couple Marines here and there to temporarily stick with them before you part ways again.
Which is different than "squad-based gameplay" being like Republic Commando where you are with AI buddies all the time.
Co-op is added on top of this structure, from what I understood.
I have no idea why they cheap out on customisation so much tho. I thought by now it would be considered a sort of industry standard.
Except that it was the main aspect of the game that was hyped up for a couple of years leading up to the game's release. I remember a GameInformer magazine from a couple of years ago that showed off several pictures of it and every description basically boiled down to "imagine if republic commando and Left 4 dead had a beautiful baby, and then made that game about the Aliens movie".
I don't know when they dropped that off, but that was the whole reason I cared about the game in the first place. I loved the movie Aliens, but running around solo pulling a master fething chief and gunning down xenomorphs left and right does not feel right AT ALL. It should be about relying on a squad to get out of there alive, because the moment you stray from the pack you WILL get picked off.
flamingkillamajig wrote:@Lynata: Did you just change your login location from france to the U.S. in a little over 4 hours?! Holy crap man!
Teleporters ftw! Watch ...
*zap*
Now I'm in Ireland!
MrMoustaffa wrote:[Except that it was the main aspect of the game that was hyped up for a couple of years leading up to the game's release. I remember a GameInformer magazine from a couple of years ago that showed off several pictures of it and every description basically boiled down to "imagine if republic commando and Left 4 dead had a beautiful baby, and then made that game about the Aliens movie".
I don't know when they dropped that off, but that was the whole reason I cared about the game in the first place. I loved the movie Aliens, but running around solo pulling a master fething chief and gunning down xenomorphs left and right does not feel right AT ALL. It should be about relying on a squad to get out of there alive, because the moment you stray from the pack you WILL get picked off.
Huh, seems I only ever knew the later version of the game.
But I feel ya, that's the exact same thing of what I'd look for in such a game as well.
That said, all is not lost. Get a few dakkanauts together and you have your squad of human Colonial Marines. From how it looks like, people are really supposed to "jump straight into a game" just like that. I wonder how that is supposed to work out in terms of story progress, but I suppose we shall see.
You must've been wrong. It looks like co-op is still in unless it's a change to the game they haven't updated on the site.
I am not wrong, you just misunderstand me. Co-op still exists, but if you are planing to play alone ( campaign only with no friends whatsoever ) you will play alone. You will not have AI controlled player that would take your command Republic Commando style.
flamingkillamajig wrote:@Lynata: Did you just change your login location from france to the U.S. in a little over 4 hours?! Holy crap man!
Teleporters ftw! Watch ...
*zap*
Now I'm in Ireland!
MrMoustaffa wrote:[Except that it was the main aspect of the game that was hyped up for a couple of years leading up to the game's release. I remember a GameInformer magazine from a couple of years ago that showed off several pictures of it and every description basically boiled down to "imagine if republic commando and Left 4 dead had a beautiful baby, and then made that game about the Aliens movie".
I don't know when they dropped that off, but that was the whole reason I cared about the game in the first place. I loved the movie Aliens, but running around solo pulling a master fething chief and gunning down xenomorphs left and right does not feel right AT ALL. It should be about relying on a squad to get out of there alive, because the moment you stray from the pack you WILL get picked off.
Huh, seems I only ever knew the later version of the game.
But I feel ya, that's the exact same thing of what I'd look for in such a game as well.
That said, all is not lost. Get a few dakkanauts together and you have your squad of human Colonial Marines. From how it looks like, people are really supposed to "jump straight into a game" just like that. I wonder how that is supposed to work out in terms of story progress, but I suppose we shall see.
So you have like an anonymous IP or something? I dunno how that works but yeah that seems likely.
@alexander: So what you're saying is that i can't order my squadmates around like a squad based game? Actually that probably would've been interesting if they had that rainbow six/ghost recon feel to the game. Not sure how squad based those games were but rainbow six 3 was very squad centered if i remember.
Hmmh, not bad. They certainly got the visual style right. Music sounds a bit un-Alien'ish and more like something I'd expect from a random military hero game, but that's pretty much the only thing I'd criticise on it. Bits of the footage looked a bit choppy, but that could simply be due to the video.
I like the tie-in to the original material @ Sulaco.
flamingkillamajig wrote:So you have like an anonymous IP or something? I dunno how that works but yeah that seems likely.
Sort of. I've got my normal internet at home, but I'm also using two proxies for stuff like, for example, watching Netflix' US range of movies and series (they've got a different one for each region). Finally, my company routes all its traffic over the continental HQ, so that's a fourth potential flag next to my posts.
@lynata: Yeah it does kind of annoy me youtube blocks things in certain regions and how some games don't allow people of different locations on the planet to play together erm *starcraft II* erm. Meh to be fair it makes things easier somewhat but it's more a language barrier than anything. Though i suppose it's to keep speeds optimal. You wouldn't want super lag now would you?
Hmmh, I guess it is easier for the respective companies, though in many cases (like with youtube) it's also just a legal or licensing issue.
As far as gaming goes, I tend to prefer to decide for myself whether lag or ping are too bad or I can bear with it. Generally, I like to imagine "the gamers" as one big, global community, and I dislike artificial barriers segregating them by geographical or even just political borders. That's not what the internet is for, imho.
Gaming companies are holding the players' hands way too much these days. Just give people the options!
Then again, I have to agree that a whole lot of people apparently can't handle them. The rest of us have to suffer from the limitations imposed to "help". :(
"Minimum Specs: Operating System: Windows XP SP3. Processor: 2 GHz Intel Dual Core Processor. RAM: 2GB RAM (XP),2GB RAM (Vista). HD: 20GB free hard disk space. Optical Drive: DVD. Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible. Video Card:NVIDIA GeForce 8500/ATI Radeon HD 2600 (256 minimum).
Recommended Specs: Operating System: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Windows 7. Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Quad CoreProcessor. RAM: 2GB RAM. HD: 20GB free hard disk space. Optical Drive: DVD. Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible. VideoCard: NVIDIA GeForce GTX560/ATI Radeon HD 5850 (512 minimum).
Other Requirements: Initial installation requires one-time internet connection for Steam authentication; software installations required (included with the game) include Steam Client, DirectX 9, Microsoft .NET 4 Framework, Visual C++ Redistributable 2005, Visual C++ Redistributable 2008, Visual C++ Redistributable 2010, and AMD CPU Drivers (XP Only/AMD Only).
Additionally, we can reveal that Aliens: Colonial Marines will be available for pre-purchase on Steam from Monday, January 14th at the game’s Store Page."
I was considering it, but I wasn't sure if that female marine on the cover was an actual playable character (and a RELEVANT one at that, rather than "well, she's a pilot and you get to fire her craft's guns...").
I mean, this is an Aliens setting, probably the best characters are female.
Well let's just hope this 'aliens' game is actually good. People weren't too terribly thrilled about the 'aliens vs predator' game although i thought it was mostly ok except for the alien. Alien was pretty limited i think. Interesting to play the aliens though.
@melissia: I suppose i understand points in your blogs how a video game wouldn't be appealing to girl gamers if they had to play as a guy all the time. It's probably confusing as well. I mean somebody needs a character to identify with and for a woman that'd be horribly confusing esp. if they get the girl at the end . Maybe video games are the secret to turning women into wanting other women ;P. In all seriousness i understand this concern esp. since the girl gamer community is pretty significant. I don't think they play nearly every game type ever since they were young like you probably did melissia though i wish more did.
Anyway i don't really read your blogs much anymore. I would like to see more on your 'sisters of battle' codex though as long as you throw in some artificer armored guys or refractor field/rosarious/iron halo (iron halo would make the most sense i think) seraphim or something. In return maybe i'll add to more ideas on a skaven army book i've been thinking up though i don't think you'd be interested. Sadly i don't think there's much hope for 'sisters of battle' anymore. I think there are probably quite a few D&D women out there but not too much on the war-gaming end. I dunno women seem to like rpg's more. I haven't seen terribly many female warhammer players and i think 'sisters of battle' will probably die out since that's the faction women would probably identify with better and not many play wargames where i am. Anyway i don't think 'sisters' will come back unless GW does a dark eldar major reboot with 'sisters' as well. Meh at least mat ward would probably be afraid of females in power armor and stick to his tree house with the 'no girls allowed' sign.
Anyway sorry about that off-topic rant but i felt you wouldn't read it otherwise.
-Takes place 17 weeks after the events of the Aliens film.
-Levels influenced by Syd Mead, one of the original set designers.
-New breeds of Xenomorph stay true to the hive hierarchy in James Cameron's film .
-With regards to vehicles, 'you'll be pleasantly surprised,' says Senior Producer Brian Burleson.
"And remember: we are not just fighting for the Human race - we are fighting for the title of baddest melon-fethers in the galaxy. And that's a battle I intend to win."
SO BAD ASS!!!
COLONIAL MARINES KICK ASS!!!
The facial expressions appear a bit wooden. I want this game to be good, but the constant stream of suck that followed the original AVP and the awesome AVP Arcade game has me too hesitant to impulse buy.
Brother Captain Alexander wrote: "And remember: we are not just fighting for the Human race - we are fighting for the title of baddest melon-fethers in the galaxy. And that's a battle I intend to win."
SO BAD ASS!!!
COLONIAL MARINES KICK ASS!!!
I'd pre order it but best buy screwed me into buying a warrenty that didn't cover damages, even though the told me it covered accidental. (it broke in my SUV when my sis rolled it)
I thought this was gonna be another lame-o modern combat/counter strike type online FPS. But with a story-driven singleplayer or co-op experience, my interest is piqued.
Big fan of Aliens, it's my favorite movie of all time, and as this is an extension of that storyline I'll be sure to get it.
Gee dunno, not overly impressed with that stream video, the Aliens look pretty poor imo and I fear it'll be extremely "set piece"-ish, therefore lacking any replayability.
Where the Dropship zooms into the hanger bay looked aweful imo, almost comical.
Very console-ish ho-hum.
Yeah, it's not top-of-the-line like Crysis 3 or Far Cry 3... but it's decent.
And IMHO graphic is not most important in the game - gameplay and story is. As long as the story is good and gameplay is decent the graphic is not to much of a issue, at least to me.
Of course, it's good thing to see improved stuff and nicer details but I know some games that have great graphic but faield because of awful gameplay or cheesy story ( AvP from 2010 and Far Cry 2 comes in mind ).
That looks absolutely amazing! My only criticism would be that it looks like its lacking in a bit of energy - when the aliens drop into the room, and the marines just calmly turn around and start shooting. Is it just the trailer hopefully? Comparing perhaps to something like Vanquish - yes I know you are in a robot fighting suit, but I would love it if this game has the same kind of feel and impact when you shoot stuff (with camera shaking, that kind of thing)
Also, what is the rational for it taking place after the events of Aliens? Surely therefore the action should be taking place on the inside of a nuclear blast crater or on an empty ship?
Finally, have any reviews of the game started to come through yet? I bought that Aliens Vs. Predator RTS game years ago without reading the review, and promised to myself I would never make the same mistake again
Still no reviews released? I have to be honest, it's not a good sign - usually it indicates that either a) the developers were working like crazy, right until the last moment of release (this could be for any reasons, but quite possibly because the game isn't up to scratch) or b ) they know the game is a stinker, and are hoping that people will go out to buy the game on the strength of license - review copies are withheld until the last moment for this reason.
I hope I'm wrong, and it's entirely coincidental that finished copies haven't been in the hands of journalists a few weeks before the release.
I wouldn't expect reviews until the day of launch. Usually part of the deal for reviewers getting the game early is that they agree not to release the review until the game is out. Sometimes you get it a little early, but not having reviews at this point doesn't mean anything.
Trondheim wrote: Not going to waste my money on it, it looks less than average
But what if it isn't? I understand not buying it at launch, but it seems a bit premature to hold such a concrete position before any reviews (friends or professional) can be proffered, and the game not being out yet either.
Trondheim wrote: Not going to waste my money on it, it looks less than average
But what if it isn't? I understand not buying it at launch, but it seems a bit premature to hold such a concrete position before any reviews (friends or professional) can be proffered, and the game not being out yet either.
It will be utter garbage, as the other games in the franchise has been. And what rewies say I do not care about, the opinion of other people is the last thing I take into consideration when deciding on what to use my money on.
Its been the standard with reviews for some time that if you release a game review before launch, well. You won't be getting anymore games to review (at least in regard to major releases). There's a reason the 4-Point phenomena appears in game reviews.
I'm probably gonna get A:CM. I doubt it'll be the greatest game I've ever played, but if it can at least live up to the standard of L4D with Aliens, I'll be content. I have friends I can enjoy the game with, and Gearbox does make a mean shooter when they put their minds to it. I suspect I'll have enough fun to warrant the investment.
Trondheim wrote: Not going to waste my money on it, it looks less than average
But what if it isn't? I understand not buying it at launch, but it seems a bit premature to hold such a concrete position before any reviews (friends or professional) can be proffered, and the game not being out yet either.
It will be utter garbage, as the other games in the franchise has been. And what rewies say I do not care about, the opinion of other people is the last thing I take into consideration when deciding on what to use my money on.
So if all your friends tell you that it is fun and you should try it you are going to say "feth YOU, I LISTEN TO NO ONE ON ANYTHING". How edgy. Good for you.
I suppose the irony of you being dead set in your review of a game you haven't played while dismissing any possibility of listening to anyone or anything about it is lost on you.
We all have some predisposition, but any reasonable person will not trick themselves into absolute positions before a game is actually available. Could it suck? Yes. Could it be great? Yes. Could it be mediocre? Yes. I hope it is good, but I recognize that it might not be, and I am not going to make an absolute proclamation before I've had a chance to play it in some capacity, and I have trouble understanding people who take rigid positions based on such limited exposure and play time, as well as hand waving away anything that might come up in the future that contradicts the pre-made assumption.
No and yes, I do not find it interesting to listen to other individuals when it comes to games. Time and experience has proven for my own part such things only lead to disappointment. A good example of this was Red Dead Redemption and the oh so horrid Assasins Creed series.
And you make better points by leaving the caps lock alone
What's wrong with AC? The game was kicking so much a**.
Never mind that, who said that you got to pay the game to play it? Sure, you can only play single player but most games today have celebrated because f it's singleplayer part so go ahead and try it before you write something so offensive without even looking into it.
I have played thousands of games during my lifetime and I only bought several originals thus far. Because I have limited amount of money and i have supported only those series that I think deserve to be supported, the rest, well....
I imagine he refers to Activision doing what they always do. Release game. Profit. Slap number at the end of games title. Make no other changes. Release game again. MORE PROFIT /Exaggeration
What's wrong with AC? The game was kicking so much a**.
Never mind that, who said that you got to pay the game to play it? Sure, you can only play single player but most games today have celebrated because f it's singleplayer part so go ahead and try it before you write something so offensive without even looking into it.
I have played thousands of games during my lifetime and I only bought several originals thus far. Because I have limited amount of money and i have supported only those series that I think deserve to be supported, the rest, well....
Oh where do I begin? The story line, the awe full controls or the idiotically characters in it, and learn to make yourself understood in a decent manner before you attempt to discuss with me.
And yes, Activision stands out amongst the crowd in that regard I suppose,
Trondheim wrote: Not going to waste my money on it, it looks less than average
But what if it isn't? I understand not buying it at launch, but it seems a bit premature to hold such a concrete position before any reviews (friends or professional) can be proffered, and the game not being out yet either.
It will be utter garbage, as the other games in the franchise has been. And what rewies say I do not care about, the opinion of other people is the last thing I take into consideration when deciding on what to use my money on.
What are things like in Norway with regards to computer games magazines? We have a good history of them here in the UK, with serious gaming journalists (who do it for a living) giving a measured review of games. Of course you get the likes of the official Nintendo and Sony magazines who will never give a big release less than 8/10, but most of them give a pretty unbiased review. There are a few other mags that have now gone online (computerandvideogames.com) but are pretty good also.
Of course such things wouldn't be the sole reason for buying or not buying a game, but over the years they have been an invaluable guide to me, and of course much more useful than just casual user opinion on the internet (even though that often gives a pretty good indicator also). I've picked up stuff that I would have otherwise missed because of a review, but also not bought something that was regarded as being a stinker.
Hence my concern that this game has yet to receive a review so close to release - its a time honoured tactic used by companies that know they are releasing a crap game (in some cases).
Oh where do I begin? The story line, the awe full controls or the idiotically characters in it, and learn to make yourself understood in a decent manner before you attempt to discuss with me.
Ok so you didn't like it? I am fine with that.
And maybe it is you who should try to understand other people a little better instead of ranting how everything is bad all the time.
@ : Pacific : The press in Norway is utter rubbish, the gaming magazines are bought and paid for by the publishers. And only serves as promotional front for the games they publish, This also extend to the rest of the press sadly when it comes to game revives and the same for movies.
So far they are quite negative, both for story and game itself. Only multiplayer was praised, I don't know - I will say my verdict when I play it myself.
Played it for about an hour (PC). Plot seems OK, some of the controls are a little wonky by default, and some of the textures have no place in a game released in 2013. Voicework is OK.
That's not a dealbreaker, just my first impression.
Apparently that is being somewhat disputed now, as the whole project was Frankenstein'd from multiple developers. An ex-Gearbox employee has said that Gearbox only did some work the mutiplayer part. To many different groups not coordinating well enough over to long a period?
I've got nearly 3 hours in now. I'm still pretty sick so I can't play it for very long - the headphones make my ears hurt - but it's very underwhelming. If you're a super diehard Aliens fan you might enjoy it - I am, and the bar to me enjoying a game set in that universe is pretty low - but otherwise you should probably avoid it. Not awful like Duke Nukem Forever, but not especially good either.
The really sickening part about the game is not only the lack of effort that seems to have been put into it, but that a horde/survival game mode, which really should have been integral to the game as a "well duh" item, will probably get sold as DLC.
But my two cents of Aliens: Colonial Marines
Whoever wrote the script has never watched Aliens to the end. Voice acting and story are otherwise acceptable barring the massive plot wtf of why the Sulaco was dragged back to LV-426 in the first place. The game mechanics are solid enough, the campaign is fun for a once through but otherwise not very replayable. I will echo the words of another review and say the game is so average its disgusting. No real glaring flaws here, its just... not good. Someone who liked the most recent AVP game is likely to enjoy it, though its not as good as that game was. It actually reminds me greatly of Star Wars: Republic Commando in that all the elements of a great game are there but the developer just didn't do much of anything to make a great game and settled for one that could go on store shelves.
Remember this is from a freaking CoD fanboy, even he doesnt like it
Actually ignore everything I said and just watch this. It it so right, I can't even come up with a good analogy to throw in here to explain how right it is.
EDIT: The real tragedy here really is that after years of being mishandled, the Aliens franchise really might die here, baring the presumed sequels to Prometheus. The hoped for sequel to AVP at the least may well be put into development hell as a result of this game.
LordofHats wrote: It actually reminds me greatly of Star Wars: Republic Commando in that all the elements of a great game are there but the developer just didn't do much of anything to make a great game and settled for one that could go on store shelves.
Republic Commando was a great game, the only bad thing about it being that SBD's were so tough.
And I agree with you on the last point, with the rumors I have seen today I will definitely play it being Alien fan and all.
And I actually liked Prometheus, it's a great movie ( even if some parts are quite stupid, but hey... not everything is perfect ) and I am waiting to see squeal to it as well.
But in this case when all ( and I mean all ) major game sites say that this game is bad and that only Aliens fans will enjoy I fell like I was beaten hard. But I will not assume anything until I play it for myself, witch will be in a few days.
Just one terrible note: this game is awful according to lot of people now, and we are talking abotu the same guys ( SEGA )who have licence for Dawn of War games.
You can start crying now.
I don't think it's SEGA solely. I'm also blaming Gearbox. honestly, maybe this should have been more obvious after what happened with Duke Nukum Forever. They didn't try. They just threw something workable together and pushed it out onto store shelves and made a killing.
Most of what I have played from Gearbox was Borderlands 1&2 which I have enjoyed.
Irritation at the punting of DLC to third parties, but still enjoy those games.
It is a pity the rest of what people are talking about from them is bad.
I remember when the original Duke Nukemcame out, so had no real thoughts that much good would come out of the reboot, regardless of who made it. I find it hard to hold it against them.
This though. . .AvP 1&2 were _phenomenal_ and messing up anything related to them irritates me. Does Prometheus count? /ponder
Trondheim wrote: I know, but some people seemed to have the illusion that this game would be anything else than what it turned out to be.
The point of contention wasn't whether the game was going to suck or be the best thing ever, it was about judging books by their cover vs actually reading the book. Making a an educated guess is fine, having empirical knowledge is also good, but conflating the two is problematic.
Trondheim wrote: I know, but some people seemed to have the illusion that this game would be anything else than what it turned out to be.
The point of contention wasn't whether the game was going to suck or be the best thing ever, it was about judging books by their cover vs actually reading the book. Making a an educated guess is fine, having empirical knowledge is also good, but conflating the two is problematic.
To be honest, I called this with the first few gameplay videos that came out. Just look at the animation quality for isntance and stuff like that and it was quite obvious this wasn't going to amount to much.
Trondheim wrote: I know, but some people seemed to have the illusion that this game would be anything else than what it turned out to be.
The point of contention wasn't whether the game was going to suck or be the best thing ever, it was about judging books by their cover vs actually reading the book. Making a an educated guess is fine, having empirical knowledge is also good, but conflating the two is problematic.
To be fair the development hell from switching developers constantly and holding back reviews until release sounded like a good clue in to how sh*t-tastic this game probably is. I was looking forward to getting this too. What a shame it's just a disappointment. I suppose i'll just plan on buying some other games.
Maybe i should wait till this game hits bargain bin prices.
I already knew that game won't be top of the line, I just never assumed it will be THAT bad...
And to be honest I was hoping for awesome story ( to me as long as story is excellent the gameplay can be decent and graphic can be even from 2003 ), but according to reviews the story is also bad.
I was never disappointing when it comes to video games... I will never trust pre-launch gameplay ever again until I see reviews. Pre-order is also history for me now.
The only game series I trust it will turn out fine without checking is Dawn of War, because Relic plays by GW rules there.
... well, guess there goes 30 Euros - still gonna tackle the co-op on weekend. I admit I am a bit shocked in that I did not quite expect something like this from Gearbox. Lesson learned, I suppose.
Also, lol @ last 30 seconds of kenshin's video.
Thank the goddess I can at least download the English version of the game, the German localisation is just hideous.
It was a real demo but it was only available to the press at E3 2011 (and the press right now is accusing Sega/Gearbox of fabricating the entire demo to deceive them into drumming up hype for the game). And to make it hurt more the demo has better graphics, and is apparently a better experience than the actual product.
EDIT: I will say this. Get three friends. Turn the difficulty to ULTIMATE BADASS and play. Some seriously funny gak happens when you have no cross hairs, full friendly fire, and aliens running and jumping around your friends. I've already incinerated one of my buds, gun down another in panic, and have been shot gunned to death because the alien got stuck on me. OH and we blasted one guys face full of bullets when he had a facehugger on him.
Automatically Appended Next Post: UPDATE: While it had previously been known that Time Gate Studios (maker of Section 8) was assisting Gearbox in developing Colonial Marines, it has apparently now been revealed that Time Gate made almost the entire game and Gearbox did nothing but put their logo on the box (and pretend to be the developer for the sake of boosting confidence). All Gearbox did was throw the Multiplayer together.
The majority of Gearbox Software's Aliens: Colonial Marines was not actually built by Gearbox, a report suggests.
Comments from an ex-Gearbox developer dug up by Superannuation suggest that the majority of the game was outsourced to TimeGate Studios, developer of downloadable console shooter Section 8: Prejudice and various FEAR expansion packs.
"Hate to say it, but I wouldn't get your hopes up too high for Colonial Marines," the ex-dev wrote last year. "I used to work at Gearbox, and the development of that game has been a total train wreck, going on what, six years now?
"Gearbox isn't even making the game, except for the multiplayer. Primary development was outsourced to TimeGate Studios, which has a less than stellar past."
The author of the comments indicated that he was one of the founders of Texas start-up Armature Studio, who are known to be Mark Pacini, Todd Keller and Jack Mathews, although it's not clear exactly who was commenting.
Sega refused to comment on the matter when approached by Eurogamer.
News that TimeGate - and others - have contributed to the game is not new. But the explanation above appears to contradict comments from Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford, who previously told Gamasutra that 80 per cent of the work on the game had been done in-house.
Speaking to IGN yesterday, Pitchford stated that TimeGate had contributed 20-25 per cent of the game, while Nerve worked on maps for the game's multiplayer.
Shoot Many Robots developer Demiurge worked on a prototype of the game for nine months, before taking control of the Wii U version.
Eurogamer's appraisal of the finished product suggests that at the very least Aliens: Colonial Marines wasn't the product of Gearbox's best team.
"Colonial Marines aims low and it still misses the target, and that's almost entirely because of the wretched game engine," Dan Whitehead wrote in Eurogamer's just-published 3/10 Aliens: Colonial Marines review. "The game feels like it's constantly on the verge of collapsing completely, and one of the only positive things that can be said about it is that it never quite does."
"What little hope Colonial Marines offers comes from multiplayer," Dan continued. "Neither mode is spectacular, but they are where the game comes closest to earning the Aliens logo on the box."
Watch the opening to Aliens: Colonial Marines below and you'll be presented with the following credit reel:
Sega presents
With 20th Century Fox
A Gearbox Software production of
A TimeGate Studios
Demiurge Studios
Nerve Software
and Gearbox Software game.
TimeGate's official site is still displaying a hiring poster for work on Aliens: Colonial Marines. The studio may be working on the game's four DLC add-ons. Publisher Sega yesterday announced a season pass for the content, priced 2400 Microsoft Points/£19.99.
Gearbox, meanwhile, is still pumping out excellent Borderlands 2 DLC on a regular basis.
LordofHats wrote: EDIT: I will say this. Get three friends. Turn the difficulty to ULTIMATE BADASS and play. Some seriously funny gak happens when you have no cross hairs, full friendly fire, and aliens running and jumping around your friends. I've already incinerated one of my buds, gun down another in panic, and have been shot gunned to death because the alien got stuck on me. OH and we blasted one guys face full of bullets when he had a facehugger on him.
That sounds like the way the game should have been normally.
LordofHats wrote: EDIT: I will say this. Get three friends. Turn the difficulty to ULTIMATE BADASS and play. Some seriously funny gak happens when you have no cross hairs, full friendly fire, and aliens running and jumping around your friends. I've already incinerated one of my buds, gun down another in panic, and have been shot gunned to death because the alien got stuck on me. OH and we blasted one guys face full of bullets when he had a facehugger on him.
That sounds like the way the game should have been normally.
What are you implying? That the game should play like an Aliens movie?
LordofHats wrote:UPDATE: While it had previously been known that Time Gate Studios (maker of Section 8) was assisting Gearbox in developing Colonial Marines, it has apparently now been revealed that Time Gate made almost the entire game and Gearbox did nothing but put their logo on the box (and pretend to be the developer for the sake of boosting confidence).
I could imagine that such PR shenanigans are going to bite them in the ass later on.
It probably was Sega's call, but ... sheesh. Premiere lesson in "how to dismantle a brand".
Well damn if this isn't turning into a fiasco. Best wait and buy the game after they slash the price a few times. I'll have to see, my interest has sharply waned after the brutal raking over the coals this game has suffered today! I mean, wow, rare to see so many negative reviews.
I love Aliens, but I'm not gonna pay 50 bucks for a game that is crap.
I think I'm about halfway through it now, maybe a bit more - 5 hours.
I haven't seen as many glitched animations as you'd be led to believe from these reviews, though I did see 2 or 3.
The textures are below average on the PC, but nowhere near as awful as they apparently are on the console.
Those weird-walking ones are working as intended, I guess they're supposed to be diseased or something? They're the exploding ones.
The Sharp Rifle is a lot of fun if you're fighting humans.
Spoiler:
I found Hudson's body! No sign of Burke, Apone, etc yet though.
The sound and music is quite good; excellent even.
It was very cool moving through areas from the movie, such as the hangar where Bishop got torn, seeing the ripped up floor plates from where Newt was hiding, etc, as well as the area in the Medlab where Burke tried to impregnate Ripley and Newt.
I played about two hours tonight and found it strangely compelling. Yes it is buggy and for a die hard PC head it is a blatant console port but its quite dam fun. The gfx are very pleasantly surprising-the engineering core us excellent, sound is solid although it could be better and the AI enemies arent as dumb as the reviews make out imho.
Yes there are bugs, you're AI budddies are woeful and the checkpoint system is tedious but so far I wouldnt slate it as much as some of the reviews I've seen. Funnily enough if you dont judge it as an Aliens franchise game and more a shooter in space it ticks along pretty well.
However time will tell.
In short its not aweful, just not great either and a waste of a great franchise name.
The textures are below average on the PC, but nowhere near as awful as they apparently are on the console.
It actually makes an abundant amount of sense. If you've played Section 8, you've been treated to some truly awful textures. They quite frankly are not only bad at making textures, but very lazy and there are several super wonky textures apparent throughout the game. It also explains the less than stellar gun play and game animations.
Section 8: Prejudice was a worthwhile buy because it cost $15, which is honestly about what they'd have to bring A:CM down to to make me think it's appropriately priced.
Those weird-walking ones are working as intended, I guess they're supposed to be diseased or something? They're the exploding ones.
I think the intention was that that area was a xenomorph graveyard, thpse blind exploding ones being the final stage in a xenomorph's life. I think...
As Soladrin already said, I think everyone suspected that this would be an underwhelming game. The initial videos for it looked very dated.
The ratings are much lower than I expected. I did not expect it to just bomb and get 4.5-5.5/10 pretty much across the board. You've really got to feth a game up to have anything under a 65/100.
It should be noted that the game supports LAN play. A step in the right direction, sadly the game itself is pretty much what other people are saying. If you REALLY like aliens, it will be decent enough to jump into. If you don't, then probably worth skipping over.
The feel of the game is wrong, and it's a bit too much like CoD.
Still, I'll buy it when it's on sale for the multiplayer potential.
Ahtman wrote: Review embargoes until day of release are common, and even happen to good games.
Actually, name a single triple A title that didn't have an embargo.
Yep, they pretty much all had it.
Yes but by the very concept of a 'triple A' game you know you're not going to get a stinker. Something like a Zelda or Metal Gear Solid will almost certainly be a good investment for fans of that genre. The embargoes there are more about maximising impact on something that is sure to sell massively regardless of any prior review.
On the other hand, movie-tie ins (even ones which have apparently been in development for about 20 years) suffer from the opposite effect - anyone trying to read a review of the game, but finding there is an embargo until day of release, would be fully justified in smelling a turd.
What actually happened to the game: in 2010 Gerabox sent A:CM to other development house called TimeGate to finish A:CM singleplayer for them while they work on Borderlands 2. The version that they sent them was the one they released in 2011 demo.
In the middle of 2012 TimeGate returned the almost finished product to them and this is what they have seen: game done from scratch, most of their rendering and graphics gone and they didn't like it at all. SEGA refused to gave another delay and they did what they could in this 6 months, rebuilding the game from scratch.
What is the point here: never give another developer house to do your work, especially if they are going to alter it.
Instead of one epic kick-ass game we got Frankenstein game that was built to be started from scratch, to be started from the scratch again and rushed in 6 months.
What have we good games did to God Emperor to deserve this? Maybe we didn't venerate him enough?
Ahtman wrote: Review embargoes until day of release are common, and even happen to good games.
Actually, name a single triple A title that didn't have an embargo.
Yep, they pretty much all had it.
Yes but by the very concept of a 'triple A' game you know you're not going to get a stinker. Something like a Zelda or Metal Gear Solid will almost certainly be a good investment for fans of that genre. The embargoes there are more about maximising impact on something that is sure to sell massively regardless of any prior review.
On the other hand, movie-tie ins (even ones which have apparently been in development for about 20 years) suffer from the opposite effect - anyone trying to read a review of the game, but finding there is an embargo until day of release, would be fully justified in smelling a turd.
Actually one of the main reasons for embargo's is to give reviewers equal opportunity to have a review ready when it gets lifted.
EGM saw fit to rate it a 9(!) in a review that only has the promotional bullshots and on the whole reads like a dressed up press release. Note also the Colonial Marines site skin, Kane & Lynch style.
EGM saw fit to rate it a 9(!) in a review that only has the promotional bullshots and on the whole reads like a dressed up press release. Note also the Colonial Marines site skin, Kane & Lynch style.
See this is what bugs me. The idea was there. The concept was friggin solid. That would have been a KICKASS game.
So where is it?
This is why I got mad when people were ragging on guys who had only seen this trailer for wanting to get the game. It made the game look awesome. There were really cool ideas there. It looked like a truly great game in the making. Yes, it was clearly not a finished product, but tons of other preview builds for games that have looked amazing were just like that. Remember the Halo 2 demo? Looked NOTHING like the game that eventually came out.
Proof for what I'm talking about. This trailer is probably just as much of an outright lie as the Aliens Colonial Marines Trailer.
Spoiler:
Only difference is that apparently Halo 2's changes were for the better, where as in Alien's case they either never existed to begin with or went for the worse.
Shame. Maybe some PC modders will fix the game up the way it was meant to be. I've heard of crazier mods. Knowing how diehard most Aliens fans are, I know it wouldn't surprise me in the least
EDIT: Also, read that review on EGM. It's hilarious and sad at the same time. A little tidbit for you.
The visuals are subpar in places, but the overall aesthetic makes creeping through the shadowy, blood-soaked wreckage with a group of Marines a real nail-biter. While the core Soldier Xenos should probably figure out that ramming bullets with their face isn’t the best strategy, Gearbox’s other baddies offer up a great deal of variety. This sets up some dreadful moments of anticipation, fearsome firefights, and even a few harrowing escapes, making Colonial Marines’ campaign an intense experience that’s sure to appeal to franchise buffs and shooter fans alike. Sure, you’ve got some definite dents in the hull here—such as the occasionally oblivious squadmate AI, the training-wheel cover system, and the woefully heinous cinematics—but the hits far outweigh the misfires.
It's like you can hear the writer going "Oh my god this game sucks, but if I say it does they'll fire me. I have to hint as much as possible that this game is bad without getting canned. Hope people can read between the lines."
Im still playing it and kinda enjoying it tbh.
I'll echo what I said earlier if you play it as a space shooter aliens game and not a space shooter Aliens game and take a deep breath relating to gak AI and some glitches its worth a go.
Downloaded it, installed and played last night, finished in 8 hours on Ultimate Badass, alone. The game was not actually that bad but most of the reviews were right about certain things.
My impressions:
-While graphic was not that bad it is not 2013 game graphics - it's more 2008 game graphics ( witch is in my opinion when the game should have been released ) with some 2011 light elements.
-There was a lot unfinished elements in the game like black holes from where xenomorphs come out to low resolution textures.
-Motion tracker was good only for finding audio logs and dog tags to collect, it was totally no needed for the rest of the game.
-Acting in this game was TERRIBLE, the script was TERRIBLE and everything seemed rushed. There is no epic or dramatic moments at all in the game because acting was terrible. I am a man who loves military and their talks, but this game.... an ordinary Guardsmen has more personality then all characters in the game combined.
-The most disappointing fact in the game is because you were fighting HUMANS WITH GUNS about half of the game if not more. And while I understand need to kick WY's a** - this is ALIENS game and in Aliens game I want to fight manly ALIENS. This kind of move killed not only Alien experiences but fear factor of the game, truly disappointing... they should asked people who made original AvP 2 to gave them some advice on when to actually put WY in the game to make it epic. God Emperor...
-Enemy A.I, is truly disappointing even for Ultimate Badass. I had aliens just go past me and stand still, same goes with Human enemies. And Humans here were actually STRONGER and HARDER TO KILL THEN ALIENS. While alien need to hit me like several times just to drop down my armor WY mercenaries did that in 2 shots. And with no cover system or the ability to lean over the cover I was sitting duck for them even behind cover because even if their A.I is terrible their shots miraculously hit me - even when they have no los!!! Same was with aliens, the difference being that some of them were magically teleporting to position and kill me in one hit. Some of them were coming from solid walls etc... truly disappointing...Ultimate Badass fell more like Solder then Ultimate Badass.
I should also add that your ally A.I was also terrible, they were barely able to kill single ordinary xenomoprh. The only thing they were good for was facehugger.
The game's good qualities:
-You visit Sulaco, Hadley's Hope and Derelict ship, and all of those places were transferred into the game quite accurately.
-Weapon customization is awesome. Lot of good options for upgrading.
-You are able to pick up legendary weapons from movie marines like Hick's shotgun or Hadson's pulse rifle.
-There were some moments where the game felt like true Alien game like the level in sewers or in Hadley's Hope last stand part ( not going to spoil any more ).
As for the game story... Aliens Colonial Marines fells like this: while scenarists were writing the script they had to make a break, the moment they left the room Matt Ward teleported in it, read it and said: "This is all wrong, let me show you how to do it." It's just like with the Necron codex - everything you know is WRONG. This is why:
Spoiler:
-They have rewritten the events of Alien 3: it's not Hicks that died down there - it was someone else because WY switched bodies before launching both Newt and Ripley onto the planet to collect Alien queen later. So Hicks is alive and he returns into Alien universe to kick WY in the ba**s and to kick them hard.
-How in the name of Holy Terra was Hudley Hope able to survive 40 kiloton nuclear blast that was some 5 kilometers from them? I remember Bishop telling that that entire area would be scorched, and yet the colony sustained minor damage only. So the marines, Ripley and Newt only had to hide and survive for 17 weeks before Marines send another ship to rescue them, thanks guys for killing that part for us.,
-They have totally rewritten part that was in Alien canon for decades ( like Matt Ward did with GK and Necrons ) - the fact that you can remove alien from your body and thus survive the chest busting. I have seen that in various comics ( that are canon by the way ) and Alien: Resurrection where they get the queen out of Ripley. We also saw this in Prometheus, true while not via facehugger it is still the same thing. In the game they actually tell you that is impossible because embryo is living behind himself some matter that develop cancer all over you internal organs if he is removed. We should ask Ridley Scoot and James Cameron if they are ok with this because this is going against their fluff.
And the ending was terrible, no emotions, no big fight, no challenge... you just push several buttons and that's it. Look like someone was taking Mass Effect 3 lessons.
Final Verdict: 5/10. And that's deserved grade.
Note that if the game actually came out in 2008 it would get maybe 7 or 8.
Big disappointing...I wonder when will someone take Aliens universe seriously and make a serious game?
Imho, I like this new game. It is the best we have right now.
I do agree the original trailers were better, sigh. Also counter on both sides of gun? Straps missing on armor? I noticed several other missing details....
Imho, I like this new game. It is the best we have right now.
I do agree the original trailers were better, sigh. Also counter on both sides of gun? Straps missing on armor? I noticed several other missing details....
I have no hope or expectations. I've pretty much given up on them ever doing something worthwhile with the franchise. I mean, we just got fed a gak movie and 2 gak games. Brand loyalty my arse.
If something good comes out I'll be pleasantly surprised, otherwise. Feth it.
I finished the campaign a few days ago after a couple hours and I have to admit, it's pretty terrible.
I'm a huge fan of the alien franchise besides avp and Prometheus, but oh man was this game bad. To be fair it's not the worst I've ever played but I went back to playing game of thrones and never looked back.
Multiplayer is very laggy and feels incomplete, a few times as host I couldn't hit aliens point blank with a shotgun, but sometimes while lagging horribly I can hit a marine with spit from a mile away while he's sprinting. Hit detection seems off.
Campaign was okay, but half way through I was over it. Finished it and took the game back, some of the marine unlocks are through challenges but since they are one at a time through a list you can spend awhile on one and then minutes later get the next one that could be something you have done 100 times already.
Coop campaign was okay, but playing with random people was not very fun.
Finished the campaign - no matter how bad this game was, I was going to finish it after pre-ordering it.
Not the worst I've ever played, but very poor. I said earlier the sound was excellent, and that remained so, but I also said the voice acting seemed OK. That was less so as the game went on. I imagine I heard the phrase "No marine left behind" about 400 times by the end of the game.
The commanding officer of the Colonial Marines refers to a fellow Marine as a "fellow soldier". FFS, guys.
Brother Captain Alexander wrote: Just one terrible note: this game is awful according to lot of people now, and we are talking abotu the same guys ( SEGA )who have licence for Dawn of War games.
You can start crying now.
Yet another example of someone not understanding the difference between a developer and a publisher. SEGA published this. They did not make it. Gearbox (and about 50 other studios, it seems) made this game.
Publishers have a lot of control over how a game is developed. From this, it really seems like SEGA didn't have a problem with pushing the game through production quickly and getting it gone and done with (much like Duke Nukem Forever) and not caring at all about its quality. It's not lacking understanding to be wary of such an attitude.
Yet another example of someone not understanding the difference between a developer and a publisher. SEGA published this. They did not make it. Gearbox (and about 50 other studios, it seems) made this game.
Yet another example of someone not getting the joke.
I know Gearbox and 2 other companies made it and that SEGA published it. I just wanted to make a joke on 40k tab...
I'll be honest. I'm liking the game, simple shooter and so far nothing has screwed up for me.
The legend weapons are a nice touch, and playing it through co-op with brother in law is great fun as he catches up to my progress solo.
My only wish was you got the smartgun more as it is such an awesome fun gun, and also maybe a sniper type gun as trying to scope shoot with the pulse rifle for example is not the best in prolonged combats.
overall though i'm loving the game for this hop in play a level or two and hop out approach. That and maybe my tolerance for bad games is huge when it's something related to things I like.
LordofHats wrote: Publishers have a lot of control over how a game is developed. From this, it really seems like SEGA didn't have a problem with pushing the game through production quickly and getting it gone and done with (much like Duke Nukem Forever) and not caring at all about its quality. It's not lacking understanding to be wary of such an attitude.
It was in development for a long time (7 years?) so I imagine that Sega simply cut their losses and released it in its current state. Its a horrible mess and it doesn't reflect well on Sega for allowing this to run (and run) through multiple developers but this was never going to end well.
My two biggest problems with the game are the lack of time with the Smart gun (Im not even a huge fan of it but lets face it, you should have used it 2-3 more times)
and the way Co-op is designed. For some WEIRD reason I pictured Co-op to be like you are actually in a squad with one guy with the motion tracker, one with the smartgun, etc...
Me and my friends were really intersted in a roleplaying opportunity for co-op. (Especially would have been nice if the game reflected your co-op missions refering to your squad instead of you individually)
I might pick the game up, partly as a bit of solace to poor Gearbox for having their game ruined by TimeGate. They put a lot of work into it, and I feel they deserve my support. Also, whilst the final game is nowhere near as good as the demo, it's still a pretty good game.
Also the multiplayer looks awesome. I would buy the game for the multiplayer alone.
Galdos wrote: My two biggest problems with the game are the lack of time with the Smart gun (Im not even a huge fan of it but lets face it, you should have used it 2-3 more times)
and the way Co-op is designed. For some WEIRD reason I pictured Co-op to be like you are actually in a squad with one guy with the motion tracker, one with the smartgun, etc...
Me and my friends were really intersted in a roleplaying opportunity for co-op. (Especially would have been nice if the game reflected your co-op missions refering to your squad instead of you individually)
Yeah closest you actually get to that is the competitive multiplayer modes for Escape and Survival (Whatever the last stand one is) Both of those are a ton of fun, especially if you have really good xenos players. I would kill to get to play this game with everyone using a mic, but nobody wants to turn theirs on If I could find any friends who owned the game I think that would be the main gamemodes I would play.
The other two modes, Deathmatch and Extermination, aren't quite on the level as Escape and Survival, but being able to be killed in only one or 2 hits by a skilled player definitely adds a bit of tension there as well. Some of the most tense moments I've had in multiplayer were on those two modes, holding out in a corner with a couple other guys and just trying to hold out till the rest of the players met back up with us. Also, getting good enough with the pulse rifle and motion tracker to actually hunt the aliens as a marine is probably the most badass I've felt in a game in a long time (granted, the alien players weren't very good, but when you see aliens running from you that is pretty awesome )
The game is growing on me, but only the multiplayer. The singleplayer is still a mess sadly. I'll probably end up buying this when it drops in price after a little while.
Yet another example of someone not understanding the difference between a developer and a publisher. SEGA published this. They did not make it. Gearbox (and about 50 other studios, it seems) made this game.
Yet another example of someone not getting the joke. I know Gearbox and 2 other companies made it and that SEGA published it. I just wanted to make a joke on 40k tab...
Jokes like that only work when there's an element of truth to them. SEGA not only didn't make this game (since it's a publisher), SEGA doesn't even have the rights to 40k (that we know of yet). So the joke failed on both counts.
It's hard even saying SEGA have the Warhammer Fantasy license, because the press release made it sound very certain that it's gone to The Creative Assembly, and SEGA are only involved because they own The Creative Assembly - they wouldn't have the rights to hand it to any of their other studios.
Galdos wrote: I meant to try the multiplayer, I couldnt get it to start.
I feel like my game is set to only create a party out of my friends on steam which would prevent me from find a room obviously lol.
Check your settings when you're in the matchmaking menu. If I remember right, it defaults to trying to find people on your friends list (for xbox at least)
I had to switch mine over to public to get it working.
What actually happened to the game: in 2010 Gerabox sent A:CM to other development house called TimeGate to finish A:CM singleplayer for them while they work on Borderlands 2. The version that they sent them was the one they released in 2011 demo.
In the middle of 2012 TimeGate returned the almost finished product to them and this is what they have seen: game done from scratch, most of their rendering and graphics gone and they didn't like it at all. SEGA refused to gave another delay and they did what they could in this 6 months, rebuilding the game from scratch.
"At some point in 2008, SEGA temporarily pulled the plug on the game," he said. "They caught wind of Gearbox shifting resources (despite still collecting milestone checks as if the team were full size) and lying to SEGA AND 2K about the number of people working on each project. This led to the round of layoffs at Gearbox in late 2008."
Despite my happy go lucky optimism earlier, this had by far and away, without fail, and doubt, the worst ending to a game I have ever experienced in 25 years of gaming.
Ratius wrote: Despite my happy go lucky optimism earlier, this had by far and away, without fail, and doubt, the worst ending to a game I have ever experienced in 25 years of gaming.
Oh well.
I was in shock, mainly because I was still trying to figure out how the hell they call that an ending. That was the most pitiful excuse for a bossfight ever, and this is coming from a guy who finished Bulletstorm's campaign.
Also, whoever did the voicework for hicks has got to be the least expressive voice actor I've ever heard. I could almost hear him saying "I'm not getting paid enough for this."
It screamed, "BUY THE SEQUEL! WHICH WILL NEVER COME BECAUSE WE"VE DRIVEN THE ALIENS FRANCHISE INTO THE GROUND TROLOLOLOL!"
Yes, I mad.
Oh well, only paid 10 bucks to rent it, and the multiplayer is fun. I'll probably buy it when it's 20 bucks in a couple of months. 20 bucks says this game gets voted as biggest letdown of 2013, not so much because it's bad, so much as it could have been so much better.
Still playing this, completed the campaign and running through again with brother in law. if anyone wants to hop in (We play UK time usually 8-10pm GMT, though I do some more online stuff during days at weekends and sometimes 6pm gmt onwards before bro in law gets on) feel free to add me, Duce00, the more the merrier imo for the campaign as it makes it more fun when things screw up.
Online gameplay is great fun, though I see some people are really deadly aliens already... time to get some levels to get the good gear.
Melissia wrote: So I heard this really sucks... how have you guys found it, the storyline especially?
The game has bad A.I. , tons of bugs, black holes, texture that is mix from 2008 and 2010 games, more than 1/3'rd of game is Call of Duty: Weyland Yutani.
As for the story, it's canon alright and most of people wish to God it wasn't.
If you really want to hear how 'good' the game is go to Youtube and watch Angry Joe's review, the guy nailed it.
If they were going to bring Hicks back they should have just pretended Alien3 never happened. Perhaps they should have done that anyway.
I also don't understand how parts of the colony were still intact. The colony was a prefab construct and the atmosphere generator was like a 40 megaton nuke going off? (can't remember the dialogue from Aliens) How did any of this stuff survive?
The E3 trailer was cool enough to let that pass, but now that the game has proven itself to be a steaming pile of gak the story doesn't get any kinds of "rule of cool" pass.
Medium of Death wrote: If they were going to bring Hicks back they should have just pretended Alien3 never happened. Perhaps they should have done that anyway.
I also don't understand how parts of the colony were still intact. The colony was a prefab construct and the atmosphere generator was like a 40 megaton nuke going off? (can't remember the dialogue from Aliens) How did any of this stuff survive?
The E3 trailer was cool enough to let that pass, but now that the game has proven itself to be a steaming pile of gak the story doesn't get any kinds of "rule of cool" pass.
Melissia wrote: It was hollywood summer blockbuster style bad-- bad, but enjoyably so?
Some parts yes, other parts no.
The sewers level is awesome. Probably one of the cooler levels in an Aliens game that I've ever played.
Every "boss fight" though makes you want to chuck your xbox out a window. I don't know which made me more furious though, the laughable "fight" in the power loader, or the "fight" against the queen.
And I hated all of the Weyland Utani (can never remember spelling) bits. They handled that very clumsily, both storywise and gameplaywise.
But that's just me, some people actually liked the story a bit. My problem was more the voice actors and dialogue being very VERY fake and made it hard to take seriously.
The game is easily worth a rental though, and once it drops to around 20 bucks or so I would buy it. It's bad, but it had some cool moments that were worth experiencing.
Kotaku has written a second recap to the development of this game with some additional information. Manchu quoted Brother Captain Alexander's link to the first one somewhere above this if you'd like to read that first.
Medium of Death wrote: If they were going to bring Hicks back they should have just pretended Alien3 never happened. Perhaps they should have done that anyway.
Spoiler:
Alien 3 definitely happened, you could heard that at the beginning of the game. The Hicks explained in HH that their ship was boarded and he was captured. After that WY put some random dude into his capsule and attached facehugger to Ripley and drop them down to the planet. They were out there from the beginning, they just 'came' later to pick up Ripley and queen. But after she trolled them and kill herself along with the specimen they went back to LV-426 to try again with the derelict ship.
I also don't understand how parts of the colony were still intact. The colony was a prefab construct and the atmosphere generator was like a 40 megaton nuke going off? (can't remember the dialogue from Aliens) How did any of this stuff survive?
Spoiler:
If you remember from film the Bishop said hat the size of the explosion would be 30 km, but he also mentioned that it will be netron explosion. And as we know neutron nuclear explosion destroy biomater but keep everything else intact. It is discussed that Aliens in the sewers are the ones that attacked the colony in the movie and that's what was left of them.
Wow, reading through the article Ouze linked, it sounds as if all parties are to blame for the fail - mostly Gearbox, followed by Sega.
Also, seems like PC users once again had to bite the bullet, if the differences between the demo and the actual game are due to console optimisation.
Personally, I'm still playing the campaign - a few missions with a friend every weekend. It's enjoyable so far, in part because experiencing the bad stuff together with another person, and then joking about it, somewhat alleviates the issue. You really notice how the campaign was not meant to be played by more than one person tho.
Female Marines are playable only in multiplayer, btw. In the campaign, you've got a squad of clones.
[edit] Oh, and for some reason the FeMarines are not allowed to wear helmets.
It isn't all bad, tbh, it's just like ... well, MrMoustaffa said it best: it could have been so much better. And when you read the (apparent) reasons as to why it isn't, it only hurts even more.
Lynata wrote: It isn't all bad, tbh, it's just like ... well, MrMoustaffa said it best: it could have been so much better. And when you read the (apparent) reasons as to why it isn't, it only hurts even more.
I agree. I dont actually find its that bad. The problem is that we expect much more
Melissia wrote:You have high expectations from an Aliens game?
The footage and images we had seen so far looked promising, and we all know that the setting itself offers ample material for intrigueing stories and unique, thrilling visuals.
It should not have been difficult to make a good game out of it. And it wouldn't have been a premiere, either (AvP2 was rather good if I remember correctly).
In fact, I think there are many things in A:CM that were begun in the right manner, before the beancounters (Gearbox with "let's just focus all our resources on another game for a few years", Sega with "make it more like CoH!") jumped in and messed everything up. That's the truly tragic thing. All that potential ... wasted.
Man, I had no idea how right I would be. With no PC CE I saved myself abunch of money. Still will probably pick itup for $5 on Steam though. I LOVE the Aliens IP even if this game sounds awful.
Even looking at the game from walkthroughs gave me a hemoroid. It's a terrible game. The gameplay is clunky, the graphics dated to other games from this year and it's terribly buggy.
Wouldn't recomend anyone to buy this game, but you'd rather want to go and rent it. It saves you quite some money.
Melissia wrote: I'm really glad I didn't get this game now...
Ditto! I've never seen such a brutal lambasting of a release. And jeez, I LOVE Aliens. I really love that movie, and was very interested in this game. I'm glad I didn't pre-order it. And this fiasco pretty much puts the nail in the coffin on me ever pre-ordering a game until I see live gameplay footage and reviews.
Look at the bottom of the last page. Machu pretty much has a post about how Sega is trying to blame Gearbox, Gearbox is trying to blame Timegate, we who are not dead brained not Gearbox is as much at fault at Timegate for lying about the game's development etc etc. The Blame Game is strong with this one
Just rented it. Finally got off the Sulaco and Im calling it a night. Im really enjoying it so far, but hey Im easy to please. Sorry to see people getting so upset over it.
Well I've played through. The campaign was decent, liked the references and tie ins, including the bring back, but I did return my copy pretty much after I finished the campaign, the multiplayer Xenos controls were disappointing as heck and I'm generally in the Jim Sterling camp that Gearbox let us down over all, though I did enjoy what there was. Here's hoping for next time.
Finished the campaign last weekend also. It's not "unenjoyable", and as I said they really got the visuals right (with exception of the WY goons - wish they'd stuck to the cool retro Alien3 design) ... but damn was that ending anti-climatic.
Also, those plotholes were easily big enough to fit the Nostromo through, twice. It's almost hilarious how it's even pointed out in the dialogue:
Character 1: "But .. that makes no sense at all!"
Character 2: "No time to explain!"
- a few hours later -
Character 3: "How is that even possible?"
Character 4: "Long story."
LordofHats wrote: Look at the bottom of the last page. Machu pretty much has a post about how Sega is trying to blame Gearbox, Gearbox is trying to blame Timegate, we who are not dead brained not Gearbox is as much at fault at Timegate for lying about the game's development etc etc. The Blame Game is strong with this one
Well taking into account the last few expansions for BL2 having been farmed out to companies such as Treyarch, I'm not surprised. GearBox usually just puts in the time to build the initial game and then moves on from the property rather than supporting it in the way that make sense.
I'm hoping the PC community can get a hold of it and mod it into a good game. The framework is there, who knows, maybe they can make the game that Gearbox was supposed to make in the first place!
That said I wouldn't exactly hold my breath.
In other news, as if I didn't have a good reason before, this is all the reason I need to never preorder again.
VermGho5t wrote:Well taking into account the last few expansions for BL2 having been farmed out to companies such as Treyarch, I'm not surprised. GearBox usually just puts in the time to build the initial game and then moves on from the property rather than supporting it in the way that make sense.
Which is ironic, at least for me. I still remember Gearbox as being the company that used to have stuff farmed out to them - from Half-Life OpFor to KotOR2. Loved both games, though. They did a good job on them, even if KotOR2 was a horrible mess that obviously had a ton of stuff cut from it due to release pressure.
The A:CM debacle really is a shocker, given all the things that apparently went wrong throughout its uberlong development cycle - then again, I guess Gearbox would by far not be the first studio to have become "corrupted" by success. I'm interested to see what consequences all of this is going to have, for Gearbox's reputation as well as whether or not they change their approach to future products. Not to mention any potential lawsuits filed against one of the companies (though I have a feeling this might be settled out of court).
VermGho5t wrote:Well taking into account the last few expansions for BL2 having been farmed out to companies such as Treyarch, I'm not surprised. GearBox usually just puts in the time to build the initial game and then moves on from the property rather than supporting it in the way that make sense.
Which is ironic, at least for me. I still remember Gearbox as being the company that used to have stuff farmed out to them - from Half-Life OpFor to KotOR2. Loved both games, though. They did a good job on them, even if KotOR2 was a horrible mess that obviously had a ton of stuff cut from it due to release pressure.
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The game is horrible, but hilarious when played in coop. The so-called horror and terror is instantly gone when you play with some other people.
My brother would take point, shouting out loud how he hoped he didn't get a face full of alien wing-wong, while I trailed behind him with an assortment of weapons with flamethrower attachments. Whenever he'd get stuck in a QTE I'd hose him with fire, no need for him to mash buttons.
d3m01iti0n wrote: Just rented it. Finally got off the Sulaco and Im calling it a night. Im really enjoying it so far, but hey Im easy to please. Sorry to see people getting so upset over it.
I'd like to say that I'd be less upset if I had rented it as well, instead of buying it. Part of me is super pissed that I pre-ordered it and paid full retail for a game I bet you'll be able to get on sale on Steam for $5 within 90 days.
But, you know, it's not even the money. Really, it isn't.
Part of it, obviously, is the lying trailer full of lies that Randy "Lieface" Pitchford put out that was full of lies. I mean, that was just a giant middle finger to everyone. Did he think that no one would notice when the game came out that none of that was there? It's mind boggling. He had to have known that eventually, people would find out what they did. But even that is only a small part of it.
The biggest part, for me at least, is the fact that this was supposed to be the canon sequel to Aliens. All the other AvP games were all in fun but you knew it was just a one-shot game with a tenuous to nonexistent connection to the universe at large. This was the one that was The Story, Continued! Like, for realsies. And now... and now they dropped this big stinking turd in our hands, and that's it. There are no take-backs. You'll always remember this as walking into one of the greatest sci-fi stories in modern history, and then, the office ending to it is always going to be a confusing mess that totally screwed up the story and didn't make any attempt to explain anything. They're never going to get another at-bat for this, that's how the Aliens tale ends now. With a really annoyed sounding Hicks saying, "That's a long story, shrug, whatever".
I know Yahtzee's right that if you look at every single product in the brand post-Aliens that really, we shouldn't have expected any better. But I still did. It's like you're a little kid who believes in Santa, and then Santa comes over to your house and rings the bell, and you open the door and you're like OMG it's Santa! And then he runs in your house and rapes your mom and then on the way out rips off his fake beard and says, "you dumb bastard, there's no Santa, I'm just an escaped mental patient".
KalashnikovMarine wrote:Heh you okay Lyn? Some more sleep maybe
Guess so - I'm a nights person, but there does come a time when I'm switching into energy savings mode.
Splattered a few heads in ME3 after patching it all up again in response to reading the corresponding thread. At least my reflexes are still in order. Now, though ... off to bed, finishing the day with another chapter of a Battletech novel.
KalashnikovMarine wrote:I'd happily put ANYTHING Gearbox has done over anything Gearbox has dropped out though. KOTOR 2 and New Vegas alone...
Was that a test?
BrookM wrote:Whenever he'd get stuck in a QTE I'd hose him with fire, no need for him to mash buttons.
Doesn't that cause damage to friendlies? I got yelled at for doing this.
... come to think of it, that might be a bit of a habit of mine, tho. People also got scared when I wielded a flamethrower in Alien Swarm. I say that's just karma for certain "grenade incidents" in Saints Row 3. For some reason, most of my gamer friends seem to have a weapon you just cannot trust them with.
I'm hoping the PC community can get a hold of it and mod it into a good game.
I've heard there are some mod teams already gearing up to give a game a total overhaul. Haven't found anything on google though so I'll have to hunt down a buddy who's all about mods and see if he's heard anything.
I know Yahtzee's right that if you look at every single product in the brand post-Aliens that really, we shouldn't have expected any better. But I still did. It's like you're a little kid who believes in Santa, and then Santa comes over to your house and rings the bell, and you open the door and you're like OMG it's Santa! And then he runs in your house and rapes your mom and then on the way out rips off his fake beard and says, "you dumb bastard, there's no Santa, I'm just an escaped mental patient".
Actually I felt Yahtzee heard what people said but honestly took them at their word and didn't realize what they meant. What people really seem to mean when they say that it is "the last great betrayal" is that this will be the end of the franchise. That from this point there may be no return and no chance that it will ever be redeemed.
Time will tell either way.
I'm interested to see what consequences all of this is going to have, for Gearbox's reputation as well as whether or not they change their approach to future products. Not to mention any potential lawsuits filed against one of the companies (though I have a feeling this might be settled out of court).
Honestly, I'm skeptical anything will come of it. I think gamers threw their chance to reverse this trend away when they sued EA over ME3's ending. That fiasco possibly wasted any credibility that could be mounted against publishers for the time being. Gamers got viewed as whining babies who will complain about anything before that happened and after it happened that idea just got reinforced so powers that be are even less likely to care now.
I'm interested to see what consequences all of this is going to have, for Gearbox's reputation as well as whether or not they change their approach to future products. Not to mention any potential lawsuits filed against one of the companies (though I have a feeling this might be settled out of court).
Honestly, I'm skeptical anything will come of it. I think gamers threw their chance to reverse this trend away when they sued EA over ME3's ending. That fiasco possibly wasted any credibility that could be mounted against publishers for the time being. Gamers got viewed as whining babies who will complain about anything before that happened and after it happened that idea just got reinforced so powers that be are even less likely to care now.
While a fair point, do you know any other industry that holds it's customer base in such disdain?
I don't even know if I called it disdain. More like indifference. Gamers complain a lot (I know I do) so they just stopped listening because not listening didn't hurt their bottom line.
....oooh fair point! I don't think the music industry outright despises it's customers though.
Depends on who you talk to and what genre they're in. Although it's definitely in the ballpark.
Also, I agree that the lawsuit over Mass Effect 3's ending probably shot us in the foot if we wanted to make a serious lawsuit.
I mean seriously, you wanted to sue them because the ending wasn't sunshine and rainbows? SERIOUSLY? (that's why people got mad right? Never played the games, but unless that game photoshopped in a picture of your mother and sodomized I can't see the ending being bad enough for people to seriously try and sue them)
Oh well, I guess all we can do now is try and convince people to never preorder again and tell them to just be patient and wait for the reviews before they buy something.
Because as bad as this game is, I guarantee you it still made a good chunk of money. And as long as the companies can trick consumers into buying their crap games, they won't give a damn how bad it is. Heck, if we keep doing this, it won't be long till they make a game with a 2 hour story and a single multiplayer mode and try to charge 60 bucks for it, because they know they'll get away it, because nobody can get refunds for a crap game.
LordofHats wrote:Honestly, I'm skeptical anything will come of it. I think gamers threw their chance to reverse this trend away when they sued EA over ME3's ending. That fiasco possibly wasted any credibility that could be mounted against publishers for the time being. Gamers got viewed as whining babies who will complain about anything before that happened and after it happened that idea just got reinforced so powers that be are even less likely to care now.
There's supposed to be a four player mode called bug hunt coming out soon, which pits four marines against hordes of aliens, something the game should've had right from the start IMHO.
BrookM wrote: There's supposed to be a four player mode called bug hunt coming out soon, which pits four marines against hordes of aliens, something the game should've had right from the start IMHO.
Agree. It's seems like an obvious inclusion but this was also what I was really hoping for. I'd like it to be a free add on, and maybe just maybe, it'll make the buy worth it for me XD Of course that assumes anyone is still around to even try the game mode with
BrookM wrote: There's supposed to be a four player mode called bug hunt coming out soon, which pits four marines against hordes of aliens, something the game should've had right from the start IMHO.
Agree. It's seems like an obvious inclusion but this was also what I was really hoping for. I'd like it to be a free add on, and maybe just maybe, it'll make the buy worth it for me XD Of course that assumes anyone is still around to even try the game mode with
Right now the game is still fifty and the season pass is still thirty, not worth it for me. Plus, what else can we expect in this season pass from a gakky game?
purplefood wrote: I love how the title to this thread still hasn't been fixed...
I actually hit the yellow triangle and started typing, then decided bugging a mod over a typo is dumb, even if it's annoying me, so I reloaded the page instead.
I can only imagine how they're going to come up with post-release content for the season pass. I have to think they'd want to cut their losses and move on.
Had the chance to give the Bug Hunt DLC a try just now. Colour me surprised, it's pretty damn good. Not €15 / $15 good, but still really good and again, something that should've been in the game for free from day one really. Nice big maps, ever increasing difficult waves of enemies (both bug and Wey-Yu sadly) and well, good fun.
I'll probably pick up Bug Hunt when it's $1.99, or when you can buy all 4 of the DLC's for $10, whichever comes first. I think I need Bioshock Infinite to cleanse my palate of this before I can even think of revisiting it.
Liking Bughunt, the costs for opening some doors could be lowered, it's really tough to save up for opening them AND keeping ammo / health up. got to wave 20 something last night, and I think I had no ammo bar pistol for 5-6 waves in a row a few times.
£8k is alot to save up while trying to live and shoot.
Stil love it though and glad it surprised with being fun.
Now they need to make a mode where you team up as a team of 6 marines and work your way through levels to end objectives, allowing 1-2 smartguns / flamers for the team to pick up to add some interesting plays.
It could be like the aliens film / some of the single player with multi routes to places, objectives needing done and supplies along the way with possible turrets able to be setup for command centre setting up so players can link into things.
I hear you, I played a few times and when one player doesn't share some of his cash to further the game because he wants THE SMARTY GUN it can make the rounds really painful. Even more hilarious is when the little witch gets the smart gun, goes off on his own, threat level at 155%, gets downed at the other side of the map, then rages at us for not leaving the safety of our sentry guns to revive him.
But yeah, the cost of opening doors and blowing obstacles should go down a notch, it makes it really hard to hang on when you need to rely on your sentries when some f*cknut used up all the ammo and health stacks carelessly.
Bug Hunt looks fun, but I wouldn't pay for the DLC. It really should have been on the disk in the first place, and I feel bad enough giving Gearbox $60 for this tripe.
Im still playing, got all the achievements finally now working to lvl 60 and playing some bug hunt and even campaign through again on badass for the laughs.
Duce wrote: Im still playing, got all the achievements finally now working to lvl 60 and playing some bug hunt and even campaign through again on badass for the laughs.
How did you get those multiplayer achievements? I cant get the lurker pounce on 3 enemies one. I have no idea how to do it without be ing popped full of lead after the 2nd guy
Duce wrote: Im still playing, got all the achievements finally now working to lvl 60 and playing some bug hunt and even campaign through again on badass for the laughs.
How did you get those multiplayer achievements? I cant get the lurker pounce on 3 enemies one. I have no idea how to do it without be ing popped full of lead after the 2nd guy
the three pounce one, the crushers one and 2 others I HAD to get private game and friends in to achieve, they are literally some of the damn most annoying to try to complete achievements I've done... in normal games I found it impossible to get 3 in a row as you jump on guy and rest kill you.
Still loving the game even if it is considered bad, always on look out for more poeple to play through with.
Re the DLC i' hopeful for the campaign one to come out, it may not be next though as it could be some skins or another map type or maps for current types, but I'm guessing it will come out after that one.
If I could find any friends who owned the game I think that would be the main gamemodes I would play.
