Aliens: Colonial Marines Review - Game Over, Man

[Eclectic Dreck]

I have just one question: Would my dad and I, both big fans of Aliens, enjoy the co-op?

Possibly. There are segments that really turn the nostalgia knobs especially once you reach planetside and there are plenty of call backs to the film. The game is is a functional shooter that, from time to time, actually manages to entertain through mechanics but mostly ends up being little more than tedious. Without the desire to consume all things Aliens, I don't think you'd actually want to struggle through all the boring bits.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Everyone's ragging on about the campaign but how is the multiplayer? And yes, I know about the AvP games but in AvP2, multiplayer wise, the predator is overpowered and the first one is just too old.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Everyone's ragging on about the campaign but how is the multiplayer? And yes, I know about the AvP games but in AvP2, multiplayer wise, the predator is overpowered and the first one is just too old.

The 1999 version of AvP had the most egregious example of unbalanced gameplay I've ever seen in a game. Every weapon the predator had could kill a marine in a single shot. Of those, two were auto aimed and one couldn't actually be dodged in most circumstances (the Disc). Combine that with fact that no weapon a Marine could muster could claim the same level of power and it gets really scary. That marines also had to either decide to use a single type of weapon or rely on simply collecting them around the level was just a nail in the coffin.

In all the time I played (dozens of games) I only managed to get two kills against a predator. The first had a predator following me through complex terrain as I hit him with grenade after grenade (it took about a half dozen hits from the weapon). The second required a few dozen smart gun rounds, six proximity detonated grenades, a 30 round burst from my Pulse Rifle and a final killing shot from the grenade launcher attachment to actually kill him.

Still, in answer to your question, I've yet to delve into the multiplayer offering. Balance has always been the franchises weak link however so I'm not particularly optimistic.

 

[Infernai]

Mike and I spent much of the day discussing this game. There was rage. So much rage.

Did the rage sound particularly like this at all?


If so, remain calm: It's apparently quite a natural reaction to this game.

 

[Kahani]

What makes the Alien franchise great for the silver screen is the emotional personal struggle of Ripley, and while the massive firefights are a nice backdrop, putting the carnage front and center - such as in Aliens: Colonial Marines - is not as compelling as you might want to believe.

The only problem with that it's that we already know that it can be compelling. AvP and especially AvP2 managed it very successfully. Clearly there's nothing inherent in the franchise that makes it unable to translate to an action/horror game, it's simply that recent attempts to do so have sucked.

 

[cerebus23]

Everyone's ragging on about the campaign but how is the multiplayer? And yes, I know about the AvP games but in AvP2, multiplayer wise, the predator is overpowered and the first one is just too old.

The 1999 version of AvP had the most egregious example of unbalanced gameplay I've ever seen in a game. Every weapon the predator had could kill a marine in a single shot. Of those, two were auto aimed and one couldn't actually be dodged in most circumstances (the Disc). Combine that with fact that no weapon a Marine could muster could claim the same level of power and it gets really scary. That marines also had to either decide to use a single type of weapon or rely on simply collecting them around the level was just a nail in the coffin.

In all the time I played (dozens of games) I only managed to get two kills against a predator. The first had a predator following me through complex terrain as I hit him with grenade after grenade (it took about a half dozen hits from the weapon). The second required a few dozen smart gun rounds, six proximity detonated grenades, a 30 round burst from my Pulse Rifle and a final killing shot from the grenade launcher attachment to actually kill him.

Still, in answer to your question, I've yet to delve into the multiplayer offering. Balance has always been the franchises weak link however so I'm not particularly optimistic.

seems about right for a predator, they just needed a marines vs predator mode one pred vs your squad to balance it.and that actually sounds like fun mp mode. do one for the alien also while we are at it.

 

[Bindal]

You run around locations on LV-426 after Aliens?

Spoiler: um

Ok, the derelict spaceship could have been way, way away for all we know, but otherwise everywhere else on the planet they went to...um...no.

That was supposed to get explained why Hardleys Hope isn't a smoking crater. Not sure if they did as I still have to play the game myself...

 

[Frankster]

The multiplayer is a lot of fun, though, so as long as you're fine with the game COMPLETELY BETRAYING CANON, you'll have a fun enough time.

That statement has been true for me and my friends.
I and my social circle bought this game for the coop and multi, and we have been LOVING this game.

Like seriously, we played it in isolation from reviews and the general net opinion (though a glance at steam forums showing page after page of "worst game of 2013?" style topic titles clued me in), and we really enjoyed the game and did not regret our purchase.

If anything our own complaints were campaign was too short and ends on a cliffhanger which is dlc bait and when playing coop campaign you can only play 1 out of 4 predetermined marines rather then playing the one you made for multiplayer.

We weren't really bothered with the "cannon breaking" moment in the game, but admittedly im the only one of my friends who has dipped his toe in the aliens extended universe and frankly.... There are much siller things in there, so this games controversial moment got a shrug of indifference as being unnecessary, but no worst then some of the stupider stuff from the extended universe.

So yeh me and my friends enjoying this game and well... Lets just say we have been a bit taken aback by the general hate.
Heck we've even had people joinning our multi games not to play, the guys character would just stand there, and he would spend entire game spamming in chat about how much he hates the game, its a betrayal to the franchise and bladiblada.
Oh well, guess will be adding this to my list of controversial gaming opinions.

 

[Fursnake]

Yahtzee is going to rip this one apart isn't he?

Can't wait for his review on this but it almost seems too easy for him.

In space, no one can hear you sigh.

 

[Snotnarok]

I Think everyone should have a good look at this vid


I'm sorta at a loss for words, I know devs touch up screen shots sometimes with antialiasing (gears of war did this plenty) but this is all kinds of bullshit.

 

[maninahat]

3 Stars? Huh, this is the most positive review I've seen so far. Everyone else is setting fire to the thing. I'm disappointed myself, I was hoping this would be a great game, but I guess not.

In some ways, a 3 star rating is its own punishment. I know the Escapist sees 3 stars as being better than most reviewers, but 3 stars tends to imply an utterly mediocre, insipid, boilerplate, painfully average game. A bland average game is probably worse than a game that's so bad you can end up laughing at it, or a game you outright hatr. In the former case it becomes fun again, and in the latter case you can easily stop playing. If something is unobtrusively average though, it not only takes more of your life away, but it also leaves you feeling unfulfilled.

 

[McFazzer]

I just want to say that when I had a go, the Aliens came out of the walls, they glitched their way through the walls and ate my mates face.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

i skimmed through the comments and couldnt see it, could anyone share "the alteration of one particularly popular character's personal storyline"?

 

[hino77]

Whould someone mind to place some spoilers for the story? Specificaly the canon breaking parts, im interested, but i dont want to waste money to find out XD .

 

[Firia]

The lead character's name is Winter? As in "Stay Frosty" winter? :| Was nothing left unmolested from the movie? Goodness.

 

[Frankster]

i skimmed through the comments and couldnt see it, could anyone share "the alteration of one particularly popular character's personal storyline"?

Whould someone mind to place some spoilers for the story? Specificaly the canon breaking parts, im interested, but i dont want to waste money to find out XD .

Spoiler

Hicks survived and appears in game, even joins your squad at one point. Sadly, he isnt even that interesting in the game, hudson would have been more fun if they truly wanted to bring back a supposedly dead character xP Also when you ask him whose body is it that is went with ripley and newt he simply says "its a long story" as convenient way of not explaining

 

[plainlake]

Why cant they recreate this?



Not my experience of the game offcoure, I was a bit more...defensive.

 

[NardBasket]

The fact that you can level up in the single-player campaign is the only thing that catches my eye about this game. I don't know much about the Aliens movies (and have fallen asleep during two of them) but I'm willing to give this game a try