CVG 'big up' Aliens: Colonial Marines

Is this the biggest shooter licence ever?

 

CVG have published an impressive preview of our soon-to-be-released most-anticipated shooter, and dropped some bombshells over details we'll see in game.

"Pitchford prefers to muse out loud about how cool things would be than confirm actual details, but his nodding and winking makes clear that, if you can remember something from the film, it'll be here.

You'll see everything from that scorpion-esque dropship to Bishop's blood in the cargo bay to the vent where Gorman and Vasquez explode (Gorman always was an asshole). However, you aren't playing as Hicks, Hudson and squad."

There is elation over the inclusion of four-player drop-in campaign co-op, but some miserable news regarding crushing xeno skulls in the iconic powerloader.

"The horde-style last stand firefights will be all the better for having friends on your team, although only non-player characters (controlled by AI) get to use the power loader. Boo. On the other hand, they get eaten when the big Alien smashes the hangar door open. Serves them right."

It's not all great though, with CVG saying that "the biggest problem" is that:

"We've already had 25 years of games ripping it off, plus 25 years of watching the VHS/DVD/Blu-ray. That might be why all this action looks strangely unexciting."

Perhaps they're right. We all certainly know that Aliens has been at the core of at least one *Halo* major *Halo* FPS *Halo* series, and we've all lived and breathed Aliens for a quarter of a century. But will this familiarity put us off?

Source: Preview: Aliens: Colonial Marines - The biggest shooter license ever? Gameplay Preview - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

[Guirec]

Gearbox? Let you down?

Well, there was the crummy bug-ridden Half Life Expansion Blue Shift, and then there is the ending to Borderlands, which is the worst ending to anything in media history, and then they announced that Brothers in Arms 4 is gonna be some stupid tongue-in-cheek over the top nonsense, and the whole Duke Nukem thing...

In my eyes, Gearbox doesn't do much RIGHT. I just hope they don't fuck up hard enough to ruin Colonial Marines...

[Mustafuck]

Originally Posted by Guirec

Gearbox? Let you down? Well, there was the crummy bug-ridden Half Life Expansion Blue Shift, and then there is the ending to Borderlands, which is the worst ending to anything in media history, and then they announced that Brothers in Arms 4 is gonna be some stupid tongue-in-cheek over the top nonsense, and the whole Duke Nukem thing...

and what's worse, one of them talking about how some other companies (much older, bigger and more important than GB) are going to fail in his eyes. Well, let's think he just lost his cool during that interview and that's all.

Originally Posted by Guirec

In my eyes, Gearbox doesn't do much RIGHT. I just hope they don't fuck up hard enough to ruin Colonial Marines...

never liked GB even their Half Life game. Their first brothers in Arms was certainly good, but well..., anything else?, they do good jobs when It comes to tell a story based on real events mostly, or their own custom stories too, and I though this was one of the main reasons for them to be hired by Fox, and then Sega in order to develop this game.

I don't really think they are screwing this game, furthermore, I think this is going to be the first good game of theirs since Half Life and the first Brothers in Arms.

[marioeh]

Look, Gearbox has had some hits and misses, but seirousally, if the founder of Gearbox loves aliens enough to build a working pulse rifle, i think he won't let anything shit happen to it

[Guirec]

All of the Brothers in Arms games have had reasonably good experiences within them, but the first was certainly the strongest entry in the series. None of them were particularly smooth or even competent sometimes as games, but the experiences transcended game "fun" more often than not in my case. As far as I am concerned the series is (was?) their opus.

[Maphisto86]

Originally Posted by Mustafuck

I don't really think they are screwing this game, furthermore, I think this is going to be the first good game of theirs since Half Life and the first Brothers in Arms.

Glad to see you being more optimistic these days Musta. Though once again I have to object as I felt the second Brothers in Arms was a lot stronger then the first in both gameplay and storyline. The "Hell's Highway" one though left more than a little to be desired despite strong ideas such as destructable cover and calling in air strikes. Still Gearbox has shown a lot of weaknesses past and present, though to be fair Duke Nukem Forever took so damn long (appropriate) to make that even if it didn't suck balls it was bound to be "meh" instead of "AWESOME!". I liked what little of Borderlands I have played but I will assume for now that Guirec did not overreact about it's ending.

[Bigapps17]

I haven't played any gearbox games and aliens will be my first, but their work doesn't seem too bad! I have high hopes and hopefully they aren't crushed!

[Guirec]

Maphisto, the ending of Borderlands will not disappoint you if you expect nothing. The game is simply gameplay for the sake of gameplay and does not succeed from a standard storytelling perspective, or even from a basic game experience standpoint (the final boss's loot is not specific to your character...I got no ending and a bunch of mediocre gear for someone else).

As for the second BiA, I agree that it was a strong narrative, but it had massive glitches and bug issues. It also led the series away from the incredibly specific historical accuracy of the first. At the end of the day, I could see the argument being made that it was a better experience for you, personally. I thoroughly enjoyed it myself.

[M41Aconner]

well I love the Halo series, however i will say theirs Alot of similarites between the Colonial Marines and the UNSC.
Like how the UNSC battle ships look like the USCM Boats. and certiant parts of the pelican are similar to the UDL-Drop ship. but honestly the Halo series is amazing so I wont juge...

[Mustafuck]

Originally Posted by Bigapps17

I haven't played any gearbox games and aliens will be my first, but their work doesn't seem too bad! I have high hopes and hopefully they aren't crushed!

yeah they shouldn't let us down really. It is just DN outcome that make some of us feel anxiety xD. GB ain't nOObs, but It is also true that these aren't good times for everyone really, not even for game developers. Besides, things are gonna get worse.

[Guirec]

It's not just Duke Nukem for me...but I outlined my issues with them above last year.