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Aliens: Colonial Marines Review – I’m Having Chest Pains

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Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Gearbox Software (supposedly), Demiurge Studios, Nerve Software, TimeGate Studios
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release Date: February 12, 2013
ESRB Rating: Mature

The Aliens franchise has suffered through ups and downs in movies and video games over the years. It seems more down than ever after Aliens: Colonial Marines. Gearbox has been involved with picking up the developmental wreckage of two games in recent years. Duke Nukem Forever landed with a resounding thud, but Aliens: CM was to be the triumphant return of the Aliens franchise shepherded by Gearbox. It’s a good thing they still have Borderlands…

The whole concept seems like a no-brainer. There isn’t a better jump on point than following up on the events of Aliens (the second movie.) We can just pretend the garbage occurring after it never happened. The USCM aboard the USS Sephora receive a distress call from the USS Sulaco orbiting LV-426 seventeen weeks after the events of Aliens. The marines sent to investigate find the Sulaco infested with xenomorphs born of USMC hosts and the Weyland-Yutani Corporation at the forefront of the conspiracy. Fighting breaks out between the two sides and both the Sulaco and Sephora are destroyed with our marine heroes escaping to Hadley’s Hope on LV-426. Things sound pretty good so far, but it’s all in the execution and that kills any good faith in this project.

It all starts with you, Corporal Winters. You are a stereotypical, lifeless, mean green killing machine. I suppose that is the point of a marine and it speaks to the conventional themes in shooter games’ character designs. But, one of the strongpoints of the first two Aliens movies were the characters like Ripley, Ash, Bishop, Burke, and the unforgettable Hudson. Aliens: CM is rife with generic marines like Winters. Their stories and characterizations are forced. That makes it hard to build meaningful bonds with gamers.

Aliens: Colonial Marines Screenshot 3

The problems don’t end with the story. The xenomorphs depiction as proficient, intelligent hunters has been thrown out of the airlock. The gameplay is simple, point and shoot. I don’t think anyone expects anything groundbreaking when it comes to first-person shooter gameplay, but more intriguing level design might have made this experience more palatable. It seems the developer’s (whichever developer was seemingly truly behind this game) sole purpose was to push the gamer through linear levels highlighted by chokepoints and last stand gameplay, forcing to take on equally mindless groups of xenomorphs and mercs. Arguably, the most stimulating part of the entire campaign is a level designed around sneaking past new exploding xenomorphs attracted by sound.

Things go from bad to worse when talking about the graphics. This game looks like it should have come out years ago. The demos and trailers seen in the past grossly misrepresent the end product. It’s almost fascinating how different the two concepts are and how badly things turned out especially when you have concept artist from the movies, Syd Mead. What’s the point of making sure the ships and Hadley’s Hope are an accurate representation of old set designs when everything is too dark or muddy to make out any details? There’s a lot of screen tearing in cutscenes or moments where the action gets too heavy. Textures load terribly slow as it tries to catch up with you pushing through the levels. Six years in development hell and this is the best anyone could come up with?

If there is one piece of authenticity that I can find a positive in, it’s the sound. The distinguished hissing and screeches of xenomorphs is present and accounted for. The motion trackers thump like heartbeats and the beats increase as the xenos close in on you. The pulse rifles and smart guns retain their signature thrumming sound effects. It seems like a reach, but you have to look for hope when faced with such bleak odds.

Aliens: Colonial Marines Screenshot 2

There is another side of this game that isn’t quite so dismal. The multiplayer isn’t groundbreaking, but it does enough to pull this mess out of the trash heap. The out of box play modes are limited to Team Deathmatch, Escape, Extermination, and Survivor.  Deathmatch pits teams of marines versus xenos. Extermination is the garden variety capture point game mode. Escape is an objective-based mode where xenos attempt to stop the marines. Survivor is just as it implies, marines surviving a round against a team of xenos. Each game type gives players the opportunity to play on each side. You know the drill as marines. Point. Shoot. Reload.

Playing as xenos is much more fun. Their “classes” are limited to three, Soldier, Spitter, and Lurker. The only distinguishing factors between them are the Spitter’s ranged combat ability and the fatality animations. Using tactics to try and separate marines is the key to winning. That’s where the thrill of the hunt comes in. Pouncing on a straggler from the ceiling and disabling him in the hopes someone else might break off to revive him is a brutally wonderful tactic. Any form of close combat will likely result in being stuck at a respawn screen too often.

Matches are contained to smaller teams which is probably a blessing because of connectivity issues and framerate loss. It does promote a more intimate gameplay experience though. Stick with your team as a unit and you have better odds at surviving or winning out. The lone wolf mentality just doesn’t work well in these situations.

Aliens: CM does offer unlockable equipment, weapons, and character customization options for both marines and xenos by ranking up. Frankly, in a game that employs a graphics engine this bad, having customized tribal tats doesn’t mean much. Ranking up is the typical carrot-on-a-stick reward system to keep gamers engaged, but this is a game whose population won’t win out over the more popular releases.

Gamers had lofty expectations for Aliens: Colonial Marines, maybe unfairly so. It’s hard to think about this game and how it should be something like Dead Space. If only it had the same type of atmosphere and gameplay. If only it employed the horror or suspense of the first two movies. Aliens: CM isn’t quite forgettable and that’s only because it is so dreadful in so many areas. This game was a misfire that might not have even been any good if it came out six years ago. Congratulations Gearbox, you had one of the best games released last year. You just might have put out one of the worst games of 2013.

1.5 out of 5 star rating1.5 out of 5 star rating

This review is based on a full retail version of the game for Xbox 360.


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