Nerve-crawling as it was following Hudson, Ripley and the rest of the Aliens cast into the belly of an Alien hive, the wait for Gearbox's hyper-nerdy adaptation Aliens: Colonial Marines has been worse. The game has been in development since December 2006 - it'll finally see release on 12th February - and has weathered almost as much dubiety as its eventual stablemate, Duke Nukem Forever.
What we've seen of preview builds suggests that the game will be a film buff's paradise, stacked with memorabilia, but not, alas, a shooter worthy of Call of Duty's throne. Having tried out the single and multiplayer, I approached cinematic director Brian Thomas for his thoughts on where Aliens goes next, understanding the needs of fans, and how the industry will change once next generation consoles arrive.
I think it's actually bigger than a lot of people give credit for. If you look at the canon of the movies, if you look at where Alien was versus Aliens versus Alien 3 versus Alien: Resurrection, they all share a common genealogy but go off in different directions. If you look at the expanded universe, including the comic books and those sorts of things, they go off in even farther directions - water planets, sky planets and xenomorphs of all shapes and sizes.
So I think it's actually a broader universe than a lot of people pin it down to - and usually people want to pin it down to 'there's a xenomorph running at me, I should hide or kill it'. Hopefully there's going to be lots more stories. I think we've picked an interesting bit for ours, and I hope other people are going to continue to make more stories with this universe in the future.
Were there any alternative premises you considered before pushing ahead with Colonial Marines?
It's hard to sort of define that because we've been spinning ideas in our heads for a while! We began by looking at the end of Aliens - we've got them getting off the planet, we've got that atmospheric processor going off... where can we pick up that thread? What are the repercussions of that?
That's sort of where we come in, because as storytellers it's always fun to figure out where someone else left some dangling threads in their story. That's another cool thing about this universe: all the stories do that, they always leave a few dangling threads for somebody else to pick up. So we've run with a few of those, and created our own fiction from that, and left a few dangling threads of our own for other people to hopefully pick up one day, and expand the universe even further.
Lance Henrikson actually reprises his role as Bishop - Bishop exists as an android in this universe, and he's not the only Bishop. So he reprises his role and was gracious enough to come back and provide his voice and his knowledge of the universe for this game. Definitely, for fans of the series everybody's going to find pieces of the universe we've brought back and really tried to embed in the game.
There's going to be lots of hidden surprises that people weren't going to be necessarily expecting, but for those diehards that do understand all that stuff, they're going to get a real kick out of not just what we're bringing to it but what we're able to bring back. Not all stories are as cut and dry as people think they are.
31 comments so far...
Gazisdaman on 6 Feb '13 said:
I see Aliens as turning out to be a massive disappointment, don't get me wrong I don't want it to be but it just feels like one of those games that has been over-developed. It's the same problem that duke nukem and future soldier had and look how they turned out.
Clanger67 on 6 Feb '13 said:
Hmmm quite an interesting interview that.What he has to say about dev. teams changing and not needing millions of dollars to think you can make something that stands up today.From what i know the new Dredd film is a prime example of that.
He's def. right about the untapped potential of the alien universe.There are so many things you can read between the lines on in the movies and all the comics,graphic novels.Hope this game lives up to the hype and really does deliver an experience us die hards have been yearning for for years.
CunningSmile on 6 Feb '13 said:
Once again I'm left wondering; If the Aliens universe is so vast and diverse (something I fully agree with) then why do developers insist on trying to make the same Marines v Xenomorph game every time?
Show a bit of originality guys and give us a survival horror, an RPG, a squad shooter or an RTS. Even if you must insist on robbing Camerons tomb how about a game that follows Newt for the three months she was alone before Ripley et al arrived? I can imagine that making a fantastic claustrophobic horror game.
Plamsa wing on 6 Feb '13 said:
Is it me, or did he not really answer that question? It seems as though he worded his way around it.
Anyway, what's the deal on the acid blood? Can't remember hearing anything about it, it'll be pretty stupid if the aliens don't have it
Getting worried about this now actually, can't decide if I should cancel the pre-order and get it when cheaper or not.
Clanger67 on 6 Feb '13 said:
The early vids. showed there was no splash damage from the Alien blood.That might still be the case as i understand they have introduced the spitter alien that causes acid damage.That and a couple of other things put me in the mind of L4d when i first heard about it.
As regards where they could take it an rpg in the universe would be mint.Maybe not even as a soldier but a scientist with hardly any weapon skills etc.You have to build yourself up on skills find things left lying about and survive from day to day.
NinthGeorgesw on 6 Feb '13 said:
The game does have acid blood, but the marines have some kind of medi gel that can be used to stop the acid damage over time. Anyway, I'm still hopeful that this game could be great. I'm sure it will be better than AvP 2010 was anyway.
Droidsbane on 6 Feb '13 said:
Would really like a Predator game without a 'Aliens VS' before its title.
Maverick_McCool on 6 Feb '13 said:
Please don't make a Predator game Gearbox , let Rocksteady do it instead. A Predator game with the Arkham engine would be pants wettingly good!
SidTheSloth on 6 Feb '13 said:
I'm sure Rocksteady could do a good job, but i want them instead to be busy with my Turtles/Spiderman/Thundercats/Transformers game... I'd quite like to just control a predator in Far Cry 3, i felt like one most of the time sneaking around! Maybe they should bring that out as DLC?
kevicus12 on 6 Feb '13 said:
That, Sir, is a stellar idea.
SkinnerChinner on 7 Feb '13 said:
Personally I'm rather optimistic about Aliens: CM as a huge fan of the films, admittedly the "acid splash" damage was a concern seeing as its a pretty vital aspect of the xenomorph's physiology, and wasn't too sure about the competitive MP at first (although from the footage I've seen, it appears to have come along reasonable well).
Looking forward to playing, guess I'll find out on Tuesday if that faith was misplaced.
FishyGinger on 7 Feb '13 said:
I want to have your babies good sir.
Maverick_McCool on 7 Feb '13 said:
Wouldn't Platinum or Ninja Theory be a better fit for a Turtles/Thundercats game?
Maverick_McCool on 7 Feb '13 said:
Only if we can call them MaverickFishy and GingerMcCool.
CunningSmile on 7 Feb '13 said:
By Law all children conceived on these forums must have "Danger" as a middle name
Clanger67 on 7 Feb '13 said:
Surely that's a contradiction though Ginger and cool.
FishyGinger on 7 Feb '13 said:
Why I oughta....you fiend you.
GingerMcCool Danger MaverickFishy is a fine name if you ask me. And you would because despite the horrible lies, Ginger people are cool. So long as they're me....
Rocksteady would make a good turtles game too, not really a fan of ninja theory though so they can have thundercats
Clanger67 on 7 Feb '13 said:
Good name for one of your kids though.
Maverick_McCool on 7 Feb '13 said:
Hey! That's the mother of my unborn child you're insulting!
FishyGinger on 7 Feb '13 said:
Oh so you wear the trouser do you? Fine. Skirts allow more air flow so I'm fine with that.
Maverick_McCool on 7 Feb '13 said:
Oi , get back in that kitchen you!
Just kidding , tell you what , I'll give birth to one , and you can squeeze out the other one...
GingerMcCool on 7 Feb '13 said:
Whhaaaaa! Whhaaaaa!
CunningSmile on 7 Feb '13 said:
There there freaky little ginger troll spawn don't cry
msbhvn on 7 Feb '13 said:
Has Ed spawned yet another personality?
FishyGinger on 7 Feb '13 said:
I can only assume that this was a massive coincidence that GingerMcCool really exists. What with that and Gertrude your powers, o'forum of the oracle, are incredible.
Clanger67 on 7 Feb '13 said:
OXM ETboy on 7 Feb '13 said:
This thread is a den of scum and villainy.
GingerMcCool is no son of mine, I'm happy to say. As for Gertrude, I hear she's holidaying in Sicily with Skynet.
Clanger67 on 7 Feb '13 said:
Maverick_McCool on 7 Feb '13 said:
What the hell man! Clanger dissin' my woman and Cunning dissin' my little 'un! I used to like you guys!
battfink83 on 7 Feb '13 said:
oh god we got a fanta pants up in here......
FishyGinger on 7 Feb '13 said:
http://www.the-tune.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/captain-james-t-kirk-i-m-sorry-i-can-t-hear-you-over-the-sound-of-how-awesome-i-am-demotivator-motivational-hd.jpg