Gearbox: Colonial Marines Is Not Brothers in Arms in Space

[The Wooster]

Gearbox: Colonial Marines Is Not Brothers in Arms in Space

Gearbox execs want Aliens: Colonial Marines to be an "accessible experience" and not Brothers in Arms in space.

Speaking to OXM, Randy Pitchford and his entourage wanted to make it clear that even though Aliens: Colonial Marines [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aliens-Colonial-Marines-Xbox-360/dp/B001ASUMNG] is about a bunch of foul-mouthed ingrates being hunted down by terrifying, acid-spewing, chest-bursting monsters designed to be eerily sexual by an equally terrifying surrealist artist [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/H._R._Giger.jpg], there's no reason why it can't be fun for everyone. Apparently, the folks are Gearbox are concerned that customers may look to their past efforts, Brothers in Arms in particular, and expect Colonial Marines to have the same tactical controls and steep (for a shooter) learning curve. I'd say that these days, Gearbox is mostly known for Borderlands, which, despite hurling numbers at you like some kind of demented spread sheet simulator, was as dumb as a sack of hair. Gearbox co-founder Brian Martel doesn't' seem to agree.

"I would say that it's an easy leap to say, hey, these are the guys who made Brothers in Arms, they're likely going to have squad control and those kind of things," he commented. "The issue with that is that it's really hard to flank an alien."

So, while Colonial Marines does have AI companions, you won't be able to boss them about like they're gruff house servants. However, like minded tactical players can get together and play through the game's campaign in 4-player co-op mode, doubtlessly dropping as many obvious Aliens references as they can in the process. Indeed, the references will be coming outta' the goddamn walls.

"We actually wanted it to be a very accessible experience," chimed in Randy Pitchford. "The goal is not to have complicated interfaces, we're not worrying about having things like squad command, you don't need fire manoeuvres... there's no manoeuvring on an alien."

A shame because the interplay between a heavily armed, well organized force and a numerous, but stupid one, can make for some very tense gameplay, as anyone who's played EA's Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels can attest. While the two games have very different universes, I think there's some thematic overlap there. Sadly it seems the only tactical decision you'll be making In Colonial Marines is whether to equip yourself with tactical smart missiles, phase-plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, sonic electronic ball breakers, nukes, knives or sharp sticks.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is set to arrive in spring 2012 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Nintendo DS and Microsoft Windows. None of the Gearbox staff would confirm if they had ever been mistaken for a man.

Source: OXM [http://www.oxm.co.uk/32305/interviews/gearbox-talks-aliens-colonial-marines/]


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[Doclector]

What kind of person was making that link in the first place? Seems obvious that aliens cm would be different to me.

I'm looking forward to colonial marines. Hopefully duke nukem forever wasn't a bad omen of things to come.

And space hulk? I was looking at that game a while ago, it was on the ps1, right? Anyone know if it was any good?

 

[UmbrellaAssassin]

I want this to be good so much. Been looking forward to it for ages.

 

[The Wooster]

What kind of person was making that link in the first place? Seems obvious that aliens cm would be different to me.

I'm looking forward to colonial marines. Hopefully duke nukem forever wasn't a bad omen of things to come.

And space hulk? I was looking at that game a while ago, it was on the ps1, right? Anyone know if it was any good?

It's absolutely brilliant, if kind of clunky.

 

[duedmen]

little did they tell you there will be no mic chat and only one audio clip for the enitre game "GAME OVER MAN GAME OVER!"

 

[Corporal Yakob]

Ah brillant-more chances for me to just span the headset with "GAME OVER MAN! GAME OVER!!".

 

[Thyunda]

So...did anybody bring up Brothers in Arms, or did they just want to perform a needless self-comparison?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Hey, I LIKE Brothers in Arms thank you very much. At least, I liked the game series before they decided to shoot it in the head and replace it with a rip off of Inglorious Bastards. Idiots.

Anyway, yeah, I'm pretty sure no one thought, "Oh, an Alien that has no weapons besides itself and therefore has to use hand to hand combat. Yeah, best way to fight that is to dig in and not move from cover while it rushes our position." I'm worried about the people running Gearbox if this is what they think their fans are thinking.

That said, four player co op has my attention. I'll wait to see if the game is worth it, but I'm hoping it is. Need more co op campaign games out there.

 

[Albino Boo]

So pretty much L4D in with aliens instead of zombies. Oh dear Lord Jesus, this ain't happening, man... This can't be happening, man! This isn't happening!

 

[uzo]

Once they have this shipped, I'd like them to make a Starship Troopers game, please. That doesn't suck. The Starship Troopers FPS was godawful. The RTS was alright though ... although I went damn near through all of it as regular troopers, rather than upgrading to the ol' mobile suit stuff.

 

[Inkidu]

Yeah, they need a Starship Troopers game, but base it off the book not the movie.

 

[Nurb]

"accessible experience" and not Brothers in Arms in space."

"Accessibility" is another way of saying "We're going to stick as much to standard formula as possible". People seem to roll their eyes whenever anyone says anything against a dev saying they're making a game "More Accessible", and then complain about how boring they are on release once you get past the shiney graphics. Just like how they get annoyed about other gamers' unreasonable standards, and then complain about games being watered-down and generic feeling.

I forget who it was now, but a Reviewer or writer here (I think) had an article about how RPGs are a niche market and they don't make the oodles of cash COD games do, so we just have to accept that they're "evolving" to just be an element of action games. Then they wrote about their disappointment that Dragon Age 2 had lost a lot more of those elements for mass-appeal after EA took control.

 

[GothmogII]

That gameplay aspect sorta makes sense, I just hope they don't also mean that there isn't going to be an opportunity to interact with and become involved with your squad emotionally. If this is 'just a shooter' I'll be sorely disappointed, as the Alien universe has great potential with regards to keeping an eye out on your friends. A lone Marine should be mincemeat to be honest, thought I'll admit this is something even the AvP games didn't get quite right, I hope that won't be the case with Colonial Marines.

Going back to the squad commands. Gearbox have obviously never played Freedom Fighters. It's not that difficult: Attack, Defend and Follow.

Captcha: Ten TaDowl Chapowww!!

 

[elilupe]

"We actually wanted it to be a very accessible experience," chimed in Randy Pitchford. "The goal is not to have complicated interfaces, we're not worrying about having things like squad command, you don't need fire manoeuvres... there's no manoeuvring on an alien."

Man I hope Shamus Young never sees this, he would tear it apart.

Personally, Brothers In Arms in space sounds awesome, and adding the Alien to that formula could have created an incredibly tense and riveting game. But if they want to create a more linear game, then that is their choice. (Not that Brothers In Arms wasn't linear, it just had more player choice in battle)

 

[INF1NIT3 D00M]

Who exactly are they enabling by making the game "more accessible"?
My mother and grandmother are not interested in Colonial Marines. Making the game "more accessible" is not going to get their money. As for people who are interested in your game, they're mostly going to be shooter vets anyway. If this statement is intended to let us know that we'll be mowing down legions of black aliens while someone on the fireteam shouts "GAME OVER MAN LOLZ!" in my ears, I'll pass on this game. If anything, trying to kill a hidden, more numerous opponent that has almost every advantage over you should be the MOST tactical kind of shooting game. If the only strategy this developer can come up with is "half your guys sit in cover and the other half flank", then I'm pretty certain that this game will suck. Just like the last 3 or 4 licensed Aliens games.

Of course I'm still going to play it, I play everything. I'm just pissed off that after nearly two decades of playing games, developers have the balls to tell me they need to make this game "accessible" for me. It's an Aliens game, we're SUPPOSED to get picked off one by one and ultimately fail. That's half the goddamn premise! Success should be damn near impossible, with the fun coming from the unwinnable battle itself and the attempt to do better than you did last time. It should require me to rethink my tactics after every attempt, in order to better draw out and eliminate my foes. I should walk away thoroughly beaten but richer for the experience.

 

[Phlakes]

I can't wait to play this with friends. Hearing "stay frosty" between every battle, shouting "GAME OVER MAN" every time we die... Dear lord, this game better be awesome.

 

[Dense_Electric]

See, now I'm less inclined to buy it because they told me that it's not Brothers in Arms in space. Why the hell would they tell me it's not Brothers in Arms in space? Okay, guys: Brothers in Arms. IN SPACE. That's like having sex while playing Portal and listening to Metallica while flying an F-22. Why would you tell me it's not like that? That's like telling me, this movie is not awesome, you shouldn't go see it. I think they got the concept of a selling point completely backwards.

Now I'm thinking it's just gonna be Halo, and if I wanted to play Halo I would just play Halo.

 

[ethanizaak]

In internet space no one can hear you scream (without a browser plugin)? (But everyone can read you troll?)

The co-op sounds like a good time.

Space Hulk is limited in controls (and AI) by its age. I thoroughly enjoyed it at least a decade and a half ago. Very, very, very difficult it is. I maybe completed one or two levels, but the claustrophobic setting was frighteningly fun so I returned to it many times.