I wanted to start this thread because there's way too much negativity being leveled at this game, much of it from people who haven't even played it, although that's pretty much business as usual.
To begin with I'm a fanboy of the expanded AvP franchise and have been since I was seven and saw ALIEN 3 for the first time back in 1993, of course it took a while for the younger me to recover from the horror of that film before falling in love with it's far more approachable predecessor.
I've played just about every Aliens game made, most through emulators, I generally rank AvP2+Primal Hunt as the best game despite its aging graphics, and unlike many others I hated Rebellion's AvP 1999 with a passion.
But now to the point of this thread, I personally enjoyed and continue to enjoy AL()ENS Colonial Marines. Sure it's not the best game in the series, but it's hardly worth the hatred being thrown at it. In my opinion the attention to detail with the sound, weapon, creature and environment design perfectly replicate the film it claims to be the continuation of.
In my playthrough of the campaign I took my time and clocked it in at around 10 hours, twice the game's reported length, but maybe that's because I wasn't just rushing through it so I could write a review. The stealth section of the game in particular, which Jim Sterling was far from impressed with, had some of the most tense moments for me. I was slowly checking over every inch, mainly to avoid any scripted jump scares (total: 0), but instead my pace resulted in a few instances of genuine fear as one of the crippled blind aliens managed to catch up with me.
I was also grateful to finally drive a powerloader around, sure the scenes with it were limited, but it was still something no previous FPS in the series has delivered on (ignoring AvP2's ALICE suit). It was also great to have reusable sentry guns and a welding tool which actually sealed doors, and even if which doors it can seal is completely subjective it's still more than AvP2 had where it did little more than burn through a handful of pad locks or bolts.
The animations aren't up to modern AAA standard, although they're better than all predecessors excluding AvP (2010), but that's great because it makes dealing with Aussie internet speeds easier during co-op and means more of my casual gamer friends can play it on their older computers, just like with Source Engine games.
The ability to modify and tailor, your armor (including appearance) and weapons was also a great new introduction, with options like swapping the Pulse Rifle's grenade launcher with a flamethrower, which will hopefully make multiplayer strategies more varied and interesting.
Also those willing to shell out the extra wages on the Collector's Edition were in for a real treat, with the impressive 8" tall, highly detailed, but so-so painted "Marine in powerloader fighting a warrior alien" model; then there was the massive box that was big enough to fit my head in, with the nice alien swarm protective collar; and to add to that was the sealed envelope stuffed with all kinds of fan-love documents, patches and other goodies. In my opinion, even without the game, the contents of the Collector's Edition were worth the higher price-tag alone.
I'm sure there's more I could comment on which is clearly in the game's favor, but I think that's enough for now to suggest that people should still give this game a chance.
Cheers
Rowan/LSWSjr
Edit 1 - Thread Name Altered
Edit 2 - A few grammar errors fixed
To begin with I'm a fanboy of the expanded AvP franchise and have been since I was seven and saw ALIEN 3 for the first time back in 1993, of course it took a while for the younger me to recover from the horror of that film before falling in love with it's far more approachable predecessor.
I've played just about every Aliens game made, most through emulators, I generally rank AvP2+Primal Hunt as the best game despite its aging graphics, and unlike many others I hated Rebellion's AvP 1999 with a passion.
But now to the point of this thread, I personally enjoyed and continue to enjoy AL()ENS Colonial Marines. Sure it's not the best game in the series, but it's hardly worth the hatred being thrown at it. In my opinion the attention to detail with the sound, weapon, creature and environment design perfectly replicate the film it claims to be the continuation of.
In my playthrough of the campaign I took my time and clocked it in at around 10 hours, twice the game's reported length, but maybe that's because I wasn't just rushing through it so I could write a review. The stealth section of the game in particular, which Jim Sterling was far from impressed with, had some of the most tense moments for me. I was slowly checking over every inch, mainly to avoid any scripted jump scares (total: 0), but instead my pace resulted in a few instances of genuine fear as one of the crippled blind aliens managed to catch up with me.
I was also grateful to finally drive a powerloader around, sure the scenes with it were limited, but it was still something no previous FPS in the series has delivered on (ignoring AvP2's ALICE suit). It was also great to have reusable sentry guns and a welding tool which actually sealed doors, and even if which doors it can seal is completely subjective it's still more than AvP2 had where it did little more than burn through a handful of pad locks or bolts.
The animations aren't up to modern AAA standard, although they're better than all predecessors excluding AvP (2010), but that's great because it makes dealing with Aussie internet speeds easier during co-op and means more of my casual gamer friends can play it on their older computers, just like with Source Engine games.
The ability to modify and tailor, your armor (including appearance) and weapons was also a great new introduction, with options like swapping the Pulse Rifle's grenade launcher with a flamethrower, which will hopefully make multiplayer strategies more varied and interesting.
Also those willing to shell out the extra wages on the Collector's Edition were in for a real treat, with the impressive 8" tall, highly detailed, but so-so painted "Marine in powerloader fighting a warrior alien" model; then there was the massive box that was big enough to fit my head in, with the nice alien swarm protective collar; and to add to that was the sealed envelope stuffed with all kinds of fan-love documents, patches and other goodies. In my opinion, even without the game, the contents of the Collector's Edition were worth the higher price-tag alone.
I'm sure there's more I could comment on which is clearly in the game's favor, but I think that's enough for now to suggest that people should still give this game a chance.
Cheers
Rowan/LSWSjr
Edit 1 - Thread Name Altered
Edit 2 - A few grammar errors fixed
