Aliens: Colonial Marines (At Last!)

[-Snafu- 78]

Thought this video was pretty funny:

ADqIh9_zAp4

Serious question, why is this game in particular getting hammered? Playing it so far it doesn't seem any worse in terms of gameplay or story than your run of the mill shooters (bugs aside) most of which have been highly rated by the same gaming press. Well, last standard shooter I played was Medal of Honor 2010 but I can't remember any huge difference in execution - same usual corridors and scripted events.

Did it not stay true to the films? I only got this since a mate wanted to do coop so I haven't seen any of them.

EDIT

J....Ju...Just watch it. FPDR

Well, damn, that is pretty bad!

Edited February 13, 2013 by Snafu

[jeza 5416]

Serious question, why is this game in particular getting hammered?

Did it not stay true to the films? I only got this since a mate wanted to do coop so I haven't seen any of them.

For me, big aliens fan, all the hype they put around ect, and to come out with this, I and others actually thought it was a pre-alpha build they accidentally put out going on what we were lead to believe at e3, here's my brief review:

In Dev for 6 odd years, pitchford saying how its the first video game to be a direct sequel to a movies(s), and they come out with that campaign, ai squad mates dont die, so you feel no danger (in an aliens game!) my ai dude wont fire his smartgun inside on one mission, had a turret gun shoot at me through 8 separate walls on the other side of the level. Further more the marines in alien 2 were not all battleLA yes sir no sir follow orders ect, god awful shocking crap. Then they had the audacity to show that demo at E3 claiming this is what your in for...if i had my way they'd be in for a court case of misrepresentation. And what was this crap about differed lighting and dynamic shadows and all other graphical goodies!? more lies. Thankfully have AVP2000 and AVP2 on steam and disc, the last true representation of aliens. I mean Sh*t gearbox AVP2010 trumps this.

HOWEVER to the people who do enjoy it, good for them its one more game they get to enjoy, just really not for me.

[bangtail 0]

I mean Sh*t gearbox AVP2010 trumps this.

HOWEVER to the people who do enjoy it, good for them its one more game they get to enjoy, just really not for me.

I'm no apologist and I'm not going to tell you that CM doesn't have some issues although I do feel that people are being way too hard on it (The same people who will forgive the same problems in other games).

Granted, there were high expectations and Gearbox have definitely dropped the ball here.

As far as AvP 2010 being better, as I've stated before, absolutely not, that game was bloody awful (nice textures though ;) )

I've finished CM now on 'Ultimate Badass'. I found it challenging and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I only had a couple of issues with pathfinding and a couple of graphical glitches (nothing gamebreaking).

At any rate, to each their own at the end of the day, I'm not here to sell anyone the game but if you are thinking about picking it up, maybe better to wait for a few patches and hopefully (fingers crossed), a high res texture pack.

Another bonus, the price is likely to drop fast given the frosty reception. This will be on a Steam sale in no time flat.

Something tells me we won't be seeing an SDK.

They may have to refund the 'season pass' money they have taken as well as I really don't see any development beyond the 'Bug Hunt' DLC which I have no doubt was part of the original game that was held back in order to generate more revenue.

That burns my ass way more than the game not being as good as it could have been and it illustrates that these guys are primarily interested in money rather than quality - again illustrated by the outsourcing etc.

Funny thing is, as much as most people seem to love Borderlands, I've never really cared for it. I did like the original BIA quite a lot.

At any rate, CM may be the end of Gearbox.

Mr. Pitchford may well be wondering what strange and unforgiving land he has arrived in.

It's no credibility country.

Edited February 14, 2013 by BangTail

[Smurf 12]

http://kotaku.com/5984068/how-aliens-colonial-marines-fell-apart

Makes sense.

[bangtail 0]

This really cheeses me off as well - why make it look worse than it did a year ago?

And a lot of that is not subtle. About the only thing I disagree with is the body cracking the glass.

In reality, I doubt a human body would crack the kind of glass you would need to construct an umbilical like that but the rest of the points they make are spot on.

Bottom line: I liked it but it could have been a GOTY and sadly, it was not even close.

In all honesty, it makes me glad that we have BIS who concentrate on a quality PC experience and don't port their games over from 7 year old hardware.

Edited February 14, 2013 by BangTail

[max power 21]

This is the key phrase and it's basically the main feature of xenomorph,since they don't use weapons they're lurking predators,moving very fast in the dark,ambushing the prey.When they do get close it's pretty much game over.This is taken from wiki:

-Apone taken by an xeno and impregnated later(ambush)

-Burke attacked from behind(ambush)

-Crowe indeed killed by explosion

-Cynthia taken by an xeno and impregnated(ambush)

-Drake killed by xeno blood when Vasquez shot one xeno near him

-Spunkmeyer and Ferro(dropship pilots) killed by sneaky alien(again ambush)

-Frost accidental death

-Gorman and Vasquez being trapped decide to have one awesome death:p

-Hudson taken by an alien through a floor grating (ambush)

-Wierzbowski barely seen on the screen,attacked or killed by alien

So 6 deaths(without including Wierzbowski) are specifically from aliens getting close and ambushing the marines,seems pretty "owned" to me.I wouldn't say they bested the aliens 100% in CQC at all but it's your opinion.I would even say in close quarters like buildings the only effective weapon is the smartgun.Also I doubt the marines kill hundreds in every combat scene,the only exception is like I said earlier the hq scene with sentry guns.

Now of course the marines kill more than being killed by xenos,it's pretty logical too otherwise if the ratio was 1/1 we would have had a 10 min movie.My original point was that xenos are a fearsome enemy and Colonial Marines shouldn't be a Cod in space where you advance a room and 20 xenos jump at you,advance the next room another 20 pop up and so on.It takes out the fear and tension.One of the praised points in the classic AvsP 1 was exactly this feeling,that basically as a lone marine you'll have brown pants when the motion tracker starts to "beep beep".More than 2 aliens coming at you at the same time you would have been in trouble with only your pulse rifle due to their speed and fast movement on the walls.

I take your point about the marines being ambushed. And how many aliens were killed?

Edited February 14, 2013 by Max Power

[andersson 285]

Fuck. This game deserves a properly spelled fuck in this official forum.

I knew it probably wouldnt be what they first envisioned and I hoped for. Even so, as long as the engine is good looking and we have the textures/sounds/models some clever person will come up with a way to alter/build our own levels. Right now it seems its not worth it, AvP 98 looks better when it comes to lightning.

When will I be able to build / experience a true aliens level? I dont care for cinematics, I want to be immersed in that universe with a couple of good friends shitting our pants before we die.

Anyone know where I can get my hands on 3d studio max 3.1? That is the last program I need to find in order to continue my AvP project, which I now will pick up after I see that this is not up to spec.

[metalcraze 290]

Serious question, why is this game in particular getting hammered?

Did it not stay true to the films?

It didn't stay true to being a (good) game.

And I don't remember Aliens having collimator sights on every gun. And aliens being completely blind in the dark (considering they have thermal vision). Exploding aliens. Spitter aliens. Left4Aliens.

[krycek 349]

It didn't stay true to being a (good) game.

And I don't remember Aliens having collimator sights on every gun. And aliens being completely blind in the dark (considering they have thermal vision). Exploding aliens. Spitter aliens. Left4Aliens.

Also a slight addition:teleporting marines,teleporting aliens,dumb alien AI,AI that initialize only when you're near them.

@Max,I already answered "Now of course the marines kill more than being killed by xenos,it's pretty logical too otherwise if the ratio was 1/1 we would have had a 10 min movie."

I still doubt they kill hundreds in every scene.:p

[-Snafu- 78]

Just finished the game in coop - worst ending ever.

[jblackrupert 14]

Interested video that uses Colonial Marines as an example for not pre-ordering games.

[Flash Thunder 10]

I love TotalBiscuit.

I have stopped preordering games Ive been burned enough and lied to enough.

Examples

Dragon Rising (Dragon Crap) This game CM lied through their teeth hyped me to high heaven and then was the biggest disappointment in my gaming life. Horrible graphics even maxed on PC, horrible multiplayer and a whole host of missing content that was previously "promised" to be in the final game.

Starcraft 2 (to some degree) mainly because of Battle.net 2.0 (really more like .5) a whole host of missing features crippled the experience and now I have to buy Heart of the Swarm (another 40 dollars) if I want those features unless they're patched into the Wings of Liberty...

Mass Effect 2 this game was disappointing on PC.

Anyways I will never preorder a game again not even for Arma 3.

I remember watching the pre release demo and how the developers were showing off the deferred rendering they had worked on for the game. Yes this whole operation was bait and switch. It doesn't take a big company like Gearbox Software 5+ years to develop a game unless its always on the back burner and only 50 or less people working on it at once. I remember waiting for BIA HH to release (also another bait in switch in some ways if you watch the old E3 2006 demo) then compare it to the actual release of BIA HH in 2008, bad multiplayer, bugs like crazy, generic graphics.

I lost faith in Gearbox over the years.

Edited February 16, 2013 by Flash Thunder

[froggyluv 2136]

2 games I will preorder without question or worry: Arma III and Mount and Blade II

[krycek 349]

Well I don't understand why people gave so much credit to Gearbox anyway,in my eyes they were always an average(mediocre?) dev.True they did the awesome Opposing Force HL addon ages ago and I heard they got Borderlands 2 finally right but other than these?It's seems when they get something right it's by sheer luck.

[Trapper 0]

about those video.

Did anybody else got the feeling when it came to being lured into becoming a diehard fan boy (for self protection) that the same happens a lot since Arma1 with our community here?

With the "pre-purchase"-phase beeing the long time from release until the last patches just before the next title is released, probably bug-ridden again.

:rolleyes:

[andersson 285]

As a BIS fan-boy I know that bug ridden or not it will improve and I know that the core of the game is what I want. So its not a completely blind purchase.

I dont pre-order games of obvious reasons. A BIS product I could pre-order as I wouldnt mind the risk to waste a few bucks on them as they have given me so much the last decade and all I had to do was to buy 3 (4) games. Feels like the bang-for-bucks is in my favour. Still I dont pre-order, simpler to buy it when its there.

[nodunit 397]

Since it seems to be topic, Angry Joe review

Pros seem to be multiplayer, sound design, sewer level without gun and alien customization.

Cons: Atomsphere in most levels, AI (enemy and friendly), characterization, enemy humans in half of the levels.

[On_Sabbatical 11]

As a website said,the best thing in this game is the installation process ...

[roberthammer 582]

This is funny > http://ukie.info/content/ukie-week-7-2013-uk-video-games-charts - i wonder how many of them are happy with the game :D

[jw custom 56]

I was really looking forward to this title. Money not spent, money saved!

[REDFORActual 10]

Devs did a great job tricking the consumers. (Scripted rendered gameplay.)

[Sabot And Heat 10]

Aliens Colonial Marines is an alright game in its own right.

However, it still suffers from serious Xeno AI issues. If anyone has ever played AVP (circa 2010), I think they nailed the Xeno behavior. They tended to slowly stalk you, in the shadows and behind objects, as long as you aren’t shooting at them or have your flashlight aimed at them. Once you triggered the fact that you are aware of them....they pounced, dodged or ran full tilt to get you. It really amped up the mood when you couldn’t see them and your motion tracker was going nuts.

Fix the Xeno AI and 50% of the problem is fixed. All animations need some polish too.

I played through the entire game and then re-watched the demo videos from a year ago. The shame is, it was only then that I realized how heartbreaking the final product really was compared to the promised version. Gearbox and Pitchfords credibility has severly been damaged over that simple fact.

Edited February 21, 2013 by frostybowman

[bangtail 0]

I think this might kill Gearbox.

Pitchford isn't doing himself any favors by keeping quiet and now with SEGA alleging that Gearbox misappropriated money earmarked for A:CM, there isn't much light at the end of the tunnel.

It's a shame that people are so shortsighted and always go for the easy buck while ignoring the consequences of this type of nefarious behavior.

[Flash Thunder 10]

Was conned the same way with Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising. Prescripted canned demos of the game running with non existing game assets.

Gearbox is putting itself on my developer shit list.

Sucks because I was really looking forward to a good Aliens game.