Aliens: Colonial Marines Loves the Corps

[Fanghawk]

Aliens: Colonial Marines Loves the Corps

The new Aliens: Colonial Marines trailer calls on a few good soldiers to kill all the Xenomorphs.

In my experience, there are two kinds of enjoyment people take from the Alien movies. The first is <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/movie-defense-force/6678-Alien-3>an appreciation of sci-fi horror in which Xenomorphs are death incarnate. The second kind is an adoration of Colonial Marines, the macho war heroes who kick ass, take names, and are ready to kill all of the things. Sega's new Aliens: Colonial Marines trailer is geared very much towards the latter, and features soldiers shooting Xenomorphs, blowing up Xenomorphs, and for one brave marine, wrestling Xenomorphs with their bare hands.

For those unable to watch the trailer, here's the quick-and-dirty rundown of what you're missing: two minutes of muscular, battle-hardened marines engaging Aliens in combat while a gruff commanding officer provides incredibly obvious tactical advice. "First, if it moves, kill it," he orders. "If it's not moving, kill it again! Second, you've each got more firepower than an army platoon. So use it. All of it. Third, you don't die unless I give you a direct order." It's a wonder the crew of the Sulaco didn't follow that sage advice in Aliens so they could live to see another sequel. (Although I have to admit, the shot of the marine blowing himself up to kill his own chest-buster looked pretty badass.)

From a logical perspective, I get that this trailer is marketing Aliens: Colonial Marines to audiences who prefer their shooters to be non-stop explosion-fests like Call of Duty, and that's fine. Still, this is Aliens we're talking about. Marines never succeed heroically in Aliens, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_176/5480-Woman-Mother-Space-Marine>they die alone and screaming. That's the point. The horror of Aliens comes from the fact that no matter how well-equipped the marines are, biologically superior Xenomorphs always pose a far greater threat. If you strip that away, all you've got is just another testosterone-driven shooter.

There are still several <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/trailers/6681-Aliens-Colonial-Marines-Story-Trailer>tense, horror-themed trailers out there so hopefully Gearbox will find the middle ground that made Aliens so engaging when it was first released. We'll find out when Aliens: Colonial Marines launches for PC, PS3, XBox 360, and Wii U on February 12th, 2013.

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I'd love to comment, but I have to go wash off all the testosterone and machismo oozing from this trailer.

 

[gardian06]

[quote = Trailer]We're not fighting for the human race. we are fighting to be the baddest Mother Fuckers in the galaxy[/quote]
See this is why the marines don't survive they don't know how to take on a scalable problem that they can achieve.

 

[InsanityRequiem]

Having seen that trailer, all I can think of when Gearbox made this is 'Ya know, we need some ham. How shall we include some ham into our game?' And you know what? It works. I laughed heavily. And if you take it from just the Colonial Marines perspective, that is what they're supposed to be.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

I'd love for this to be the pre-title intro level. Then all these marine tossers get wiped out and the real game starts.

That'd be lovely.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

Why do people call the aliens Xenomorph as if that's the species name? Surely it can't be. That would be a preposterous name and make no sense in the context of the second movie.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Meh. The last AvP game was just no fun, and it felt like it was because they were making weak attempts to ratchet up the horror side of the equation. Early on the marine is stuck in a dark room while aliens attack from various directions, and it's not scary - it's boring. There's no building of tension, there's just the knowledge that aliens are gonna pop up somewhere and attack. Part of the horror in Aliens was that the Colonial Marines were so pumped-up and thought they were ready to take on the world, so when they discovered just how badass the Xenomorphs were it threw them into total panic and they died in droves.

If they go in all-guns-blazing and it doesn't turn around and bite them in the arse, it's just not the same.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Why do people call the aliens Xenomorph as if that's the species name? Surely it can't be. That would be a preposterous name and make no sense in the context of the second movie.

I think in the second, they just call them 'bugs', don't they?

 

[teh_gunslinger]

Why do people call the aliens Xenomorph as if that's the species name? Surely it can't be. That would be a preposterous name and make no sense in the context of the second movie.

I think in the second, they just call them 'bugs', don't they?

Well, the word xenomorph is used in the briefing scene on the ship in the beginning. Someone asks if the mission will entail dealing with xenomorphs and references a previous engagement where that happened. But from that context and the fact that later they haven't a clue what they're facing it's clear that he's just using the word xenomorph as a generic term to describe unknown life forms, not the aliens of the movie. Xenomorph is Greek and simply means alien/foreign shapes.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Why do people call the aliens Xenomorph as if that's the species name? Surely it can't be. That would be a preposterous name and make no sense in the context of the second movie.

I think in the second, they just call them 'bugs', don't they?

Well, the word xenomorph is used in the briefing scene on the ship in the beginning. Someone asks if the mission will entail dealing with xenomorphs and references a previous engagement where that happened. But from that context and the fact that later they haven't a clue what they're facing it's clear that he's just using the word xenomorph as a generic term to describe unknown life forms, not the aliens of the movie. Xenomorph is Greek and simply means alien/foreign shapes.

It might be that 'bugs' is also a generic term - I seem to recall Hudson (maybe?) raising his hand to ask if the mission is going to be "just another bug-hunt"

Given that their existence is largely denied in the canon (except those parts of the canon where they invade the fuck out of Earth and everything goes a bit wrong, sort of a pseudo-sequel to Aliens where the characters don't die in part 3 but get back home instead. Even though the novels used different names it's pretty obvious who everyone is) it kinda makes sense that most people don't have a name for the species.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Stopped watching as soon as I heard dubstep.

That looks okay I guess. I like what I've seen of this so far, I hope the game will have a good sense of atmosphere and dread against the Xenomorphs.

Maybe this trailer is ironic in the sense that Marines always get fucked by the Aliens anyway.

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

The most worrisome part about this trailer, for me, is that no one is getting melted with blood-acid. It doesn't seem to be a big problem any more, but I thought it was a pretty cool aspect of the Xenomorphs.

 

[Ashley Blalock]

Doesn't feel like Aliens so much from that trailer as it does something like Halo that just happened to have the creatures from Aliens thrown in and the loader.

Might be fun in the mindless shoot 'em sort of way. But I'm guessing at this point it's easier to make an Aliens movie than an Aliens video game. The point of a video game is to win and there isn't so much winning in an Aliens film as there is hey I didn't get killed and we limited the damage the Aliens could inflict on humanity.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Still pumped into getting this when it comes out regardless of hearing dubstep.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Yay. This game looks like a good time for me. As for pacing, I say have parts that, no matter how well prepared you are, you still end up having to run for your life while your unit gets torn apart behind you, only turning to fire to slow down your pursuit. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works out.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

Why do people call the aliens Xenomorph as if that's the species name? Surely it can't be. That would be a preposterous name and make no sense in the context of the second movie.

I think in the second, they just call them 'bugs', don't they?

Well, the word xenomorph is used in the briefing scene on the ship in the beginning. Someone asks if the mission will entail dealing with xenomorphs and references a previous engagement where that happened. But from that context and the fact that later they haven't a clue what they're facing it's clear that he's just using the word xenomorph as a generic term to describe unknown life forms, not the aliens of the movie. Xenomorph is Greek and simply means alien/foreign shapes.

It might be that 'bugs' is also a generic term - I seem to recall Hudson (maybe?) raising his hand to ask if the mission is going to be "just another bug-hunt"

Given that their existence is largely denied in the canon (except those parts of the canon where they invade the fuck out of Earth and everything goes a bit wrong, sort of a pseudo-sequel to Aliens where the characters don't die in part 3 but get back home instead. Even though the novels used different names it's pretty obvious who everyone is) it kinda makes sense that most people don't have a name for the species.

I'll admit that I don't really have a clue about Alien canon. I've just seen the movies and played the old Rebellion game. But sure, it makes sense that there's no set name for the species.

I'm more confused why, on a meta level, people call them Xenomorphs. That's basically just calling them the Aliens, only in Greek. And I think it makes a hell of a lot more sense to just call them the Aliens then.

Anyways, minor thing. It just confuses me. But then, people caring about canon and fluff always confuse me.

 

[One of Many]

Why do people call the aliens Xenomorph as if that's the species name? Surely it can't be. That would be a preposterous name and make no sense in the context of the second movie.

I think in the second, they just call them 'bugs', don't they?

Well, the word xenomorph is used in the briefing scene on the ship in the beginning. Someone asks if the mission will entail dealing with xenomorphs and references a previous engagement where that happened. But from that context and the fact that later they haven't a clue what they're facing it's clear that he's just using the word xenomorph as a generic term to describe unknown life forms, not the aliens of the movie. Xenomorph is Greek and simply means alien/foreign shapes.

It might be that 'bugs' is also a generic term - I seem to recall Hudson (maybe?) raising his hand to ask if the mission is going to be "just another bug-hunt"

Given that their existence is largely denied in the canon (except those parts of the canon where they invade the fuck out of Earth and everything goes a bit wrong, sort of a pseudo-sequel to Aliens where the characters don't die in part 3 but get back home instead. Even though the novels used different names it's pretty obvious who everyone is) it kinda makes sense that most people don't have a name for the species.

I'll admit that I don't really have a clue about Alien canon. I've just seen the movies and played the old Rebellion game. But sure, it makes sense that there's no set name for the species.

I'm more confused why, on a meta level, people call them Xenomorphs. That's basically just calling them the Aliens, only in Greek. And I think it makes a hell of a lot more sense to just call them the Aliens then.

Anyways, minor thing. It just confuses me. But then, people caring about canon and fluff always confuse me.

In the movies, they are never given a proper name and are called either "The Alien" or "Xenomorphs", which is why fans/general populace call them Xenomorphs. However in official canon (by which I mean the movies) they do have a proper name, Internecivus raptus

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Stopped watching as soon as I heard dubstep.

That looks okay I guess. I like what I've seen of this so far, I hope the game will have a good sense of atmosphere and dread against the Xenomorphs.

Maybe this trailer is ironic in the sense that Marines always get fucked by the Aliens anyway.

For the record what you were hearing was gun fire not dub step.

And yeah game is still looking alright. Would love to support Gearbox on this but I'm still going to have to wait and see what the final verdict is on this before I drop any cash.