Aliens: Colonial Marines

DarthParametric · 05-27-2011, 12:54 AM

Couldn't see an existing thread on this.

Seems the long gestating Aliens: Colonial Marines by Gearbox is finally getting a full blown unveiling at this year's E3:

A teaser has been released, along with a release window - Spring 2012. The game will be demoed at E3.

YouTube Video

Not much to see in the teaser, but the setup is apparently you play as one of a group of Marines that boards the U.S.S. Sulaco after the events of Alien 3. Presumably it will explore why Ripley, Newt, Hicks and Bishop (hibernating in their cryo beds at the end of Aliens) were ejected from the ship at the start of Alien 3. There is also going to be a trip to LV-426 (which the Sulaco is apparently in orbit around) and the colony of Hadley's Hope, which the teaser briefly depicts. I find that a bit odd given that it was nuked in Aliens, but I guess we'll see how it turns out in due course.

Also, it sounds like the play style is essentially Borderlands in space, with a focus on drop-in/drop-out 4 player co-op.

DarthParametric · 08-23-2011, 10:53 PM

Ahah, at last some actual gameplay footage:

YouTube Video

***Lynk Former*** · 08-24-2011, 12:54 AM

Awesome.

I really hope this turns out well and it's more suspense than SHOOT EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME!

Also, I hope it turns out to be awesome on Wii U. I want to get my motion tracker on...

DarthParametric · 08-24-2011, 07:48 AM

Multiple signals!

beanlord56 · 08-24-2011, 10:55 AM

It looks promising. Hopefully the entire game will be good, and not just the first two levels like AVP3's Marine campaign. I'm also hoping to see more xenomorph strains than just facehuggers, chestbursters, drones, runners, warrior, praetorians, and queens.

DarthParametric · 09-01-2011, 08:59 AM

Interview with Brian Martel at Gamescom about A:CM -

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/pa...olonial/719769

Right?

***Lynk Former*** · 09-01-2011, 09:20 AM

<3 Gearbox.

Darth Payne · 09-09-2011, 08:57 AM

Just got the shipment confirmation in my email today.

Game will be in my hands in 2-5 days.

I am *very* exited.

DarthParametric · 09-09-2011, 09:04 AM

Wrong thread I'm guessing. Unless you are speaking to us from the future. Or maybe I have experienced some sort of alien-induced time loss. I hope I wasn't probed.

Darth Payne · 09-09-2011, 09:11 AM

Oh blast it.

I thought i'd fixed this problem.

And yes, wrong thread, it was supposed to be in the W40K: Space Marine thread.

DarthParametric · 09-30-2011, 10:50 PM

YouTube Video

Darth Payne · 09-30-2011, 11:22 PM

Man, i guess being a Colonial Marine is kinda like being a 'red shirt' in star trek.

***Lynk Former*** · 09-30-2011, 11:24 PM

Holy ****! I love it... plenty of shooting but there was some nice "running for your life" moments as well. Also, hell yes @ 4-player co-op.

Also XD I love Randy.

beanlord56 · 10-01-2011, 01:52 AM

That was incredible. I love that new crusher strain. I hope they include the ravager from AVP: Extinction (with a better design), or a winged xenomorph.

**jonathan7** · 10-01-2011, 08:21 AM

Looks awesome! Gotta love Aliens.... Loved these guys since I was a kid!

Ctrl Alt Del · 10-02-2011, 02:40 AM

I know this is somewhat wrong considering how much Halo borrowed from Alien on the first place, but the beginning of the walkthrough, while still on the ship, reminded me so much of the first Master Chief game.

I must say I'm really impressed with that walkthrough by the way. In less than twelve minutes the player went from a bad situation to a really ****ty one. And in that time length I felt overwhelmed thrice! Feels like no matter how big is your arsenal and no matter how powerful are your vehicles, you can't hope to beat the damn aliens. And I was just watching, as all of us.

Plus, the way these aliens move... It's not completely new and I'm not sure how much of it was preprogrammed, but it was very groundbreaking. And it feels like an Alien/Predator movie. The gory action, the funny character, the chuckles. This has just come from a nice looking game to something with seemingly GOTY potential. Well done so far, Gearbox.

DarthParametric · 10-02-2011, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ctrl Alt Del

I'm not sure how much of it was preprogrammed

Quite a lot of it comprised scripted events by the looks. All the squad NPC deaths - getting pulled into vents and such - were obviously scripted. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing if used well. It's all part of the "cinematic" thing. I'd suggest it might take some of the tension out of subsequent playthroughs though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ctrl Alt Del

but it was very groundbreaking.

I'm not sure I'd go that far. I seem to recall battling hordes of wall-running, vent bursting Aliens as a Marine many moons ago in AVP 1 & 2. AVP2 did the mech thing too, in the final Marine level, so there's nothing really revolutionary in what CM has shown so far.

***Lynk Former*** · 10-02-2011, 04:55 AM

Another thing to consider is that this is also very early in the game where there tends to be a lot more scripted material to get the player started with the scenario of the story, etc. I'm sure there are quite a lot of scripted events throughout the game but this changes over the course of the game.

Just as long as they use these types of events to guide instead of dictate, then it should be good.

Rtas Vadum · 10-02-2011, 05:32 AM

They certainly made that queen look impressive. In the AVP games, she doesn't look very difficult, and of course, even as a Marine, it isn't that complicated to take her down(even the pistol can do it, provided you have the ammo). With this though, even just watching it, I likely feel the same worry that most will, either when she barges in the room(if that scene is part of the final game), or whenever she does appear.

The only snag this seems to have - if WY knew full well of what happened to Ripley and the others through their communications with the Prison planet, and the likely reports of the Medical team, why do they need a team to find out? Maybe it's a reason the game might not present so soon.

DarthParametric · 10-02-2011, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lynk Former

Another thing to consider is that this is also very early in the game

Actually, I think he said it's in the second act. That gels with info that was released earlier which said the game starts out with the Marines boarding the Sulaco in orbit around LV-426. Judging by the very brief clip of it in that video, at some point shortly after it would appear the Sulaco (and possibly the second ship that the Marines came into the system in) crashes to the surface. Presumably beforehand some of the Marines at least get off via drop-ships and end up groundside in the remains of Hadley's Hope. It looks to me like the demo video starts not long after that, with you cut off from the main group and having to find a way to link up with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rtas Vadum

The only snag this seems to have - if WY knew full well of what happened to Ripley and the others through their communications with the Prison planet, and the likely reports of the Medical team, why do they need a team to find out? Maybe it's a reason the game might not present so soon.

It could be that they want to ascertain if the Alien source vessel is still intact and the whole Sulaco/Ripley thing is just a way of getting the Marines in there (I'm pretty sure we'll be making a trip to it in the game). Also, it's possible that this mission could be completely independent of Weyland-Yutani and purely a military operation. In Aliens it was mentioned that they could expect a rescue party to be sent out after they were 17 days overdue, so possibly this is that rescue party. I expect though that there must be some fairly long flight times involved on top of that (months at least) as there is no hyperspace/FTL travel in the Aliens universe.

DarthParametric · 01-28-2012, 04:18 AM

New pre-rendered trailer out:

YouTube Video

Looks like we can expect it some time around September/October.

Darth Payne · 05-24-2012, 06:45 AM

Just found out that this game has been delayed until around february next year, at least where i live.

DarthParametric · 05-24-2012, 11:39 AM

Yeah it got pushed back globally to February 12th, 2013. New trailer:

YouTube Video

Darth Payne · 05-25-2012, 02:03 PM

Whoa, i am *not* regretting pre-ordering the collectors edition right now.

Pho3nix · 05-25-2012, 02:38 PM

I'd probably play it if my laptop could run it

DarthParametric · 06-01-2012, 12:59 AM

I usually think collector's editions are a scam, but damn if that loader miniature hasn't piqued my interest.

DarthParametric · 02-12-2013, 01:16 PM

Wow, so this thing is a complete and utter train wreck judging by all the reviews. Good thing I never pre-ordered it.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/al...critic-reviews

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-...critic-reviews

http://www.metacritic.com/game/plays...critic-reviews

You know you are in serious trouble when the likes of IGN are giving you 4.5/10.

Pho3nix · 02-12-2013, 03:32 PM

That's a shame...

I might still pick it up at some point when it gets cheaper though

Q · 02-12-2013, 04:27 PM

Dammit.

Darth Payne · 02-12-2013, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthParametric

I usually think collector's editions are a scam, but damn if that loader miniature hasn't piqued my interest.

It is very cool... It has a place of Honor in my collection...

Sabretooth · 02-12-2013, 10:28 PM

Don't listen to the corrupt press. Voice of the people, EGM has declared the game is a strong 9/10. Spread the truth, raw raw fight the powah.

beanlord56 · 02-12-2013, 11:40 PM

My friend and I were really excited for this game. He has it now, and is saying it's as bad as the critics are saying. I'll see if I can go to his house tomorrow between classes or after school and see for myself.

GeneralPloKoon · 02-13-2013, 02:26 PM

Its bad? I was so hyped for this game.

DarthParametric · 02-14-2013, 02:34 AM

Interesting comparison between the demo footage showed off like 18 months ago (? I think that's it in a post of mine above from Oct 2011) and the shipped PC version of the game:

YouTube Video

A common consensus seems to be that the game blew the console memory budget (specifically the PS3 version, judging by a supposed Gearbox employee's post on Reddit) and so in the final hash together Gearbox did over the last few months to shove something out the door, they scaled the whole game back (including the PC version) to get it functional enough to pass console certification.

Sabretooth · 02-14-2013, 02:53 AM

And for good measure let's have the Randy Pitchford video where he enthusiastically shows us things that are not in the final game. The characters, the dialogue banter, the cutscenes, just about the entire level shown in this demo is an outright fabrication.

YouTube Video

beanlord56 · 02-14-2013, 10:07 AM

So the half-assed it because current consoles supposedly couldn't handle it? Bullcrap. And even if that weren't bullcrap, wouldn't the smart thing to do be wait until next gen or make it PC exclusive?

***Lynk Former*** · 02-14-2013, 10:45 AM

So it's the dreaded "duh, consoles aren't powerful enough" excuse crappy developers use often when trying to justify their games suckiness... come on, Gearbox. I love Borderlands but don't give me that.

There are plenty of games released on consoles that are way more ambitious that manage to pull it off perfectly compared to Colonial Marines. Just look at Dead Space 3 as the most recent example.

If you made sucky code that chugged on consoles, that's your fault for being totally ineffcient with your coding and design, don't blame it on the hardware.

Sabretooth · 02-14-2013, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beanlord56

So the half-assed it because current consoles supposedly couldn't handle it? Bullcrap. And even if that weren't bullcrap, wouldn't the smart thing to do be wait until next gen or make it PC exclusive?

No, this has nothing to do with console capabilities. [At least, Gearbox has made no idiotic comments in that direction]. The game presented in the demo looks easily attainable in current-gen. The unfortunate news is that this game just was half-assed through and through.

This Reddit post by a supposed Gearbox member seems to imply that Gearbox bit off more than they could chew and ended up focusing on Borderlands 2 and Duke Nukem Forever. (Keep in mind we have no way to verify this guy is legit)

***Lynk Former*** · 02-14-2013, 10:55 AM

Gearbox didn't really do much on Duke Nukem Forever since it was the ex-3D Realms folks who did most of the work "finishing" their game. Gearbox just gave the funding and opportunity for it to happen.

I can see Borderlands 2 taking up all of their time though, they're not a bad developer but they obviously don't seem to know how to manage making more than one game at a time.

DarthParametric · 02-14-2013, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beanlord56

wouldn't the smart thing to do be wait until next gen or make it PC exclusive?

The game had been in development for 6 years and already delayed at least twice. Sega was threatening legal action for breach of contract, so Gearbox triaged it into something apparently sufficient to pass certification by Sony and MS (which, given the bug reports and general poor quality, shows you the worth of the certification process).