Can you imagine a more ready-made game mechanic than Aliens' motion tracker? That iconic, beeping box of menace is like having tension on tap. It's useful enough that players are forced to lower their guard to gaze at its rather crappy sub-Game Boy screen, yet vague enough that there's no way of knowing exactly what that terrifying cluster of blue dots heading towards you represents, or when and how they'll arrive. It's hard to imagine how a first-person shooter with that device and James Cameron's alien horde at it's core couldn't be at least a little scary.
Well, it was hard to imagine, but then we played Aliens: Colonial Marines, a game that takes some of the most viciously terrifying beasts in movie history, straps them to a veterinary table, produces a really sharp pair of scissors then sends them home markedly better behaved than before. A rather impressive feat for a race that doesn't even reproduce sexually, we think you'll agree.
Yet Colonial Marines is a superficially faithful clone with little of the films' spirit inside. In Aliens, the xenomorphs were always threatening, the tension was always raising, the marines always outgunned (well, outclawed). But for Colonial Marines to offer the COD-style rhythms of running and gunning it wants to, the aliens themselves have been reduced in threat to the point where - on normal difficulty, at least - they might as well be pack of shiny, skittering dogs. A bit scary, in other words, just not scary enough.
It's hard to imagine getting within melee range of an aliens' claws and not coming away with at least some of your face removed, but it happens in Colonial marines time and after time, a mash-X QTE being all that stands between you and survival unless only a sliver of your health bar remains when they lunge. There's no weight or intelligence to these beasts, either, which dumbly charge at you in waves and pop like balloons.
That nasty acidic blood meanwhile, has been nerfed to the point it might as well be sour milk, temporarily stopping your segmented health bar from recharging but otherwise leaving you unscathed. Increase the difficulty and some of the challenge is restored - but it's a purely mechanical need to aim better, shoot faster and dodge more. The terror never returns. It's telling that the gun-toting mercenaries representing Weyland-Yutani's sinister corporate interests are more dangerous.
Turrets, for instance. Early on Colonial Marines sends you to fetch and place a turret in a sequence that feels rather like tutorial, your marine squad's commander telling you exactly where the gun should be placed before the aliens test their might against your scrappy, ragtag forces. But the conceit of establishing perimeters and defending them is never really revisited, bar a couple holdout scenes that creep upon you unaware.
28 comments so far...
Gazisdaman on 12 Feb '13 said:
Somehow I always knew it would end up like this, the games that you want to be the best end up being the worst. It's disappointing but it can't be helped, it seems like all the games that I thought would be good recently have been a massive disappointment. I can't help but feel like developers have lost their way somewhat when it comes to making a good game.
Maybe it was just my naivety in the past that made the games seem better or maybe it is the nature of how games are made nowadays, with huge sums of money and a small margin for error, either way it's a depressing system and not one I care to be a part of.
FishyGinger on 12 Feb '13 said:
Sad but also expected really.
Metalrodent on 12 Feb '13 said:
A shame, I was so hoping this would be good.
Still, at least i now know i'l have the money to get Bioshock Infinite
OXM ETboy on 12 Feb '13 said:
All eyes on Creative Assembly and their mystery Alien project. Creative Assembly, the Total War developer. The developer of historical real-time strategy games. This is going to end well.
RetroDad on 12 Feb '13 said:
"It's game over man! It's game over.."
I never had high expectations for this title. How you can explore Hadley's Hope after the Atmosphere Processor went nuclear was an alarm bell to me. Clearly, Gearbox are not in the pipe five by five. Too many simulations and not enough combat drops ladies and gentlemen. Might pick it up for a fiver in pre-owned later in the year, just for shits and giggles.
scotty on 12 Feb '13 said:
Ahh bugger, that is a shame
CunningSmile on 12 Feb '13 said:
Do I detect a note of sarcasm good sir? Or possibly a symphony of sarcasm?
FishyGinger on 12 Feb '13 said:
Could it actually get much worse? It sounds as though zynga could have done a better job with Snailiens, a game about marines going onto an alien planet and shooting xeno-snails.
baggieal on 12 Feb '13 said:
Trying to keep postive, considering i was expecting 3/4 out of ten... 6 isnt bad
Think ill still pick it up, see what the crack is, if its rubbish ill just trade it in for something else at CEX or sell it for £30 cash etc, id be seriously worried if it was a 3/4 out of ten game but considering its 6 and does seem like there is some good points ill give it a go, ive played a lot worse by the sound of things ( namely the last Aliens game ), it just seems a solid shooter that isnt that scary, wasnt expecting miracles anyway.
How long is the length of the game roughly out of intrest?
We talking a 8/9 hour campaign?
schwepterbrowser on 12 Feb '13 said:
As expected. This is actually the highest I've seen it scored - gamesTM 4/10, GameSpot 4.5/10, GameTrailers 5.9/10.
As I said in the Aliens thread, this comes as no surprise to me as I think Gearbox are massively overrated. I'm not a fan of their games and see this as more of a continuation of form, rather than a misstep.
Metalrodent on 12 Feb '13 said:
lol Jim Sterling (The Escapist's Jimquisition) gives the game a healthy 2.5/10.
So obviously OXM are just nice guys
jimh on 12 Feb '13 said:
Couldn't agree more more with the score for this game.
Pre-ordered this on a £30 price and the fact i've always liked Gearbox games, Brothers in Arms and Borderlands.
Played a couple of the first missions on my own and a couple of later ones on co op and this is easly the most disapointing and worst game played on my xbox. And I finished Dark Void and Wanted.
The graphics are from an N64, the animation is terrible, the weapons feel underpowered, and a lot of the time the aliens or NPC's just stop moving or teleport in front of you but only if they don't get stuck on the scenery.
The online modes are okay but nothing that Singularity didn't do better
Being traded in for Gears or Army of Two for my co op gaming.
Grummy on 12 Feb '13 said:
I'm afraid I agree. As I've said elsewhere, I beginning to find the original Borderlands to be a fluke, as nothing they've done since then has been all that great, and some of it has been outright poor.
Metalrodent on 12 Feb '13 said:
well except Borderlands 2 - which was a bundle of fun and joy
Lancer Armstrong on 12 Feb '13 said:
I agree. Don't forget, this is the company that gave us Duke Nukem Forever. They're shameless cash grabbers.
And as a fan of WW2 shooters, I find this worrying, because I really want Brothers in Arms: Furious Four to be good. Not that I'm gonna pre-order it. I'm not that dumb.
SkinnerChinner on 12 Feb '13 said:
Seems my faith was misplaced
This could (and should) have been a lot better.
I am having fun playing it by all means, but was expecting a lot more. Of all the talk about little details & nods to the film (of which there are), no reload animation for the pulse rifle grenade launcher? Welding doors shut grossly under-used? Use & placement of sentry turrets extremely limited? There could have been some excellent "last stand" sections a la Hudson - hold out for x amount of time using those abilities. I can overlook less than top of the range graphics, but these are extremely rough textures, those of Dead Space (which I recently played through) were much better & that was released in 2008! Then there's the abundance of human enemies...
Fortunately I saved a £5 pre-ordering from Blockbuster instead of online.
battfink83 on 12 Feb '13 said:
how can this possibly only be one point less than dead space. wow
its shockingly bad, a pile of dog mess if ive ever played one. another reason why i believe a score rating on reviews shouldnt exist.
this game deserves nothing more than a 4 imo
EdDeRs1 on 12 Feb '13 said:
i still really like the 2010 Aliens vs. Predator, i still dont know why it didnt sell very well or was not particularly populated online, as while yes sometimes it can be a bit disorientating playing an Alien none of the classes were overpowerd and the game ended on a cliffhanger so its open to a sequel, hopefully they will get Rebellion in instead of Gearbox, just look at what happened to this game.
Blackie252 on 12 Feb '13 said:
Sadly after reading this review, I still went out and bought the game, only because It ALIENS!!!! After reading the review I thought 'If my expectations are not that high, how can I be disappointed!' How wrong was I, the graphics are terrible and are even worse on that sack of rubbish called multiplayer!!!! No polish whatsoever, I have been waiting for this game for ages and they have missed so many tricks! Why wasn't smartglass incorporated, I would love to lift my phone and have a motion tracker just there!
I am not even off the Sulaco yet and I am bored with fighting identikit humans!!! Not a Alien film I have watched!
Will smash it out then trade it in at the weekend before the price drops rapidly!!!!
fracturedrich on 12 Feb '13 said:
Will smash it out then trade it in at the weekend before the price drops rapidly!!!
Whoever read/watched the story, and though "yeah that's an okay end" is an idiot.
Johnbhoy69 on 12 Feb '13 said:
Just a thought but an Aliens game set during the initial Xeno infestation of Hadleys Hope would make a far more compelling and suspenseful experience that yet another Call of Duty clone.
It could borrow ideas from Tell Tales 'The Walking Dead' where a group of survivors are desperately trying to make their way to an out of the way hangar where they hope they could find a fully working ship to get them off LV 426. The main character could be a Security guard type person who reluctantly takes on the monumental task of leading the survivors to safety. Obviously it would be more action orientated than The Walking Dead game, making use of all the classic movie moments like the power loader, and automated turrets.
But in terms of how to add more suspense, imagine leading your group of survivors down a blacked out corridor with only the rotating flashing amber light to guide you. Your can hear the heavy breathing of the survivors behind as you all slowly inch your way further and further down the corridor, steam shoots out of a nearby vent startling you and causing an impulse reaction to fire off a few rounds that you really couldn't afford to waste. In the faint flashing amber light you think you see something moving at the far end of the corridor...you check your rifles ammo counter, only 12 rounds left.
It happens before you even have a chance to react, Xenos burst out of vents and drop from the ceiling, their tails whipping and slashing through the air. The screams are deafening, In the chaos you fall to the ground, looking behind you see survivors, men and woman being dragged into the vents leaving nothing but bloody clawing hand prints in their wake. Some lucky few are killed instantly whilst others desperately fight off the Xenos with what limited fire arms the could scavenge.
Then a blinding light shoots through the corridor as the door at the far end squeals open. You scream to the group to make for the door as you scramble to your feet.
Now caught in a life or death sprint with so few remaining survivors you realize you have one grenade round left, falling back to the end of the group spinning around with deadly accuracy jumping backwards and firing towards the ceiling. The explosion causes a complete collapse of the corridor, debris falls crushing xeno skulls underneath as you land with more than a bump through the door as its slams shut.
schwepterbrowser on 12 Feb '13 said:
Furious Four's no longer a Brothers in Arms game, it's a new IP. They did announce there's a realistic Brothers in Arms on the way today, though.
I don't even like the Boderlands series, Grummy, seriously boring and mediocre for me.
Huffy1968 on 12 Feb '13 said:
Another perfect example of why games based on movie IPs are nearly always bad. I avoid them usually. The worst part is that the events of this mediocre game are supposedly canon to the Alien franchise.
RetroDad on 13 Feb '13 said:
In fairness, the Alien franchise has been tarnished for many years in my opinion. Mediocre would be a kind way of describing Alien 3 and Resurrection. Best not mention the Alien vs Predator spin offs! It's no surprise to hear that they've fluffed the story for Colonial Marines when the rest of the game has, "creative issues."
Dave101 on 13 Feb '13 said:
well i thoroughly enjoyed alien trilogy on the saturn at the time, and it can still give chills today, so this CANT be worse......
CookieG on 14 Feb '13 said:
seriously ... "Game over man, Game over"