Author Topic: Aliens : Colonial Marines  (Read 1241 times)

Offline Jimi Hendrix

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Re: Aliens : Colonial Marines
« Reply #15 on: 14-02-2013, 23:02:49 »
 I'd like to see a game based on Prometheus....


 ;)



Offline Kelmola

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Re: Aliens : Colonial Marines
« Reply #16 on: 15-02-2013, 00:02:04 »
The irony is, they could (read: should) have dumped the entire "Colonial Marines" aspect (or maybe portray the first "bug hunt" of said establishment ever) and place the game on LV-223 instead of LV-226, because Prometheus is practically asking for a game sequel: the Weyland expedition disappears, leaving only a vaguely threatening radio message behind, but someone (Yutani?) connects the dots and sends a heavily armed rescue/salvage party, but as we saw, a (sort of) Alien queen is now alive and running on the base that remained completely intact (plus there are maybe even more bases on the planet). Also, we don't even know if it was the only dangerous thing there: there were the worms which the black goo supposedly mutated into "handhuggers" (but not knowing whether they would have grown into something dangerous anyway, remembering the goo remained there, ready to infect anything that wanders into it), there was the cut scene of finding that small fish-like creature, and there was the very telling mucus covering the first control panel they operate (the greenish stuff that gratuitously sticks to David's glove like Chekov's Gun) that looks very much like what the familiar xenomorphs secrete all the time.

Cue the rescue party finding the ominously abandoned escape pod, then browsing the depressing mission logs etc. which hint of the fate of the expedition and of the wondrous alien tech in the pyramid, they greedily venture inside because of salvage rights and bonuses, but alas! some sort of security protocol finally activates and seemingly seals the pyramid, and manure finally hits the a/c unit as our cute twin-jawed friends finally make their entrance, and they move lighting fast, stalk in the shadows, and are nigh-invincible.

In the end, probably one (or few, if you really have to have a co-op campaign, which is not something survival horror should be about) survivor(s) make it out, with nothing of the Engineers' technology because the base (and all the bases on the planet) self-destruct. But by chance or MacGuffin, he/she/they remain blissfully unaware of the transmission coming from the next planet in the same system (LV-226 "Acheron"), unlike the newly merged Weyland-Yutani: Weyland in fact knew to look in the Zeta 2 Reticuli system because of that very transmission (website teasers pre-launch, DVD/BR extras), the two archeologists's findings were just icing on the cake and provided a convenient scapegoat should the expedition turn out to be a failure (remaining circumstantial evidence for this remains in the movie still: mission planning was well underway when the two were hired, why build the most expensive starship ever if there's no destination for it?).

Anyway, in the end sequence we learn that the survivors' tale about the lifeforms found on LV-223 is scary enough that Earth governments, fearing more such findings, agree on a strict orbital quarantine of Earth, allowing zero alien lifeforms of any kind or even remains thereof to be brought to Earth under any circumstances whatsoever. So, someone at Weyland-Yutani, being aware of the transmission from the neighbouring planet and having now learned from the survivors' tale how the aliens "hatch", realizes that this provides a chance to smuggle a sample in, and issues Special Order 937 to all company ships traveling in the vicinity, inserting android infiltrators wherever possible, including one hapless space tug towing an ore refinery...

Offline Jimi Hendrix

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Re: Aliens : Colonial Marines
« Reply #17 on: 15-02-2013, 01:02:43 »
« Last Edit: 15-02-2013, 01:02:05 by Jimi Hendrix »



Offline Archimonday

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Re: Aliens : Colonial Marines
« Reply #18 on: 27-02-2013, 07:02:00 »
Figured I'd throw in a paragraph or two about this game.

Finally had the chance to play it, even after all the negative reviews, I sat down for a few hours tonight to play through the beginning parts of the game. Being a large Alien fan its hard to resist the opportunity to get behind a pulse rifle and rove around LV-226 and the Sulaco. All the negative press is true, although in my opinion a bit too harsh. Its not as if the developers did not create an experience which is entertaining, its just an incomplete one with a few minor things that make it unbelievable.

First and foremost in my mind is the ability of human beings to survive numerous airlock breeches and somehow manage to breath. I put my scientific logic aside though for the sake of good entertainment. Its really the simple things that get me annoyed in this game. Whether it is your comrades lack of humanity, or the way the dialogue suggests they strangely know the identity of something so important as the group of contractors who is attacking them, or exactly what to call the Xenomorphic creatures on the Sulaco (since, they really shouldn't have a clue what they are.)

In my opinion the story could have also been reworked to make it far more believable, and user friendly. One of the great things about a game like Half Life 2, is that the sequences where you fight different factions of enemy are clearly defined by the environments you are in. Whether it is the institutionalized streets of City 17, or the blood filled halls of a zombie infestation in the town of Ravenholm, there is a clear visual cue between when you are fighting zombies, and when you will face combine. The respective gameplay and puzzles mimics this. In Aliens: Colonial Marines I find it hard to gauge whether or not I'll be in a cover-to-cover fight with PMC's, or a slow bug hunt in a narrow hallway because the environment, nor the characters, cue the player what to prepare for. If I throw aside the fact that the Xenomorphs are a bit too easy to kill in this game--amounting to nothing more than a large "horde" style enemy--there is no distinction between when they are going to show up, and when I am going to fight humans in the beginning of the game.

I think this game would have had a much better time with this early transition if the game had started first on the Sephora and then transitioned to the Sulaco. Whereby, in an attempt to escape the PMC overthrow, and self-destruction of the Sephora, the cast finds themselves stranded on the derelict Sulaco before both ships are eventually rendered useless and the resulting crash to LV-226 takes place.

As far as the atmosphere goes. The companies did a pretty decent job. There are few Alien games, (aside from the recent AVP game) that have so closely reenacted the environments of the Alien films. All of the visual styles are there even if they don't show themselves in the same light as they did in the Demo. The music is excellent, and really helps with the atmosphere and that feeling of desperation that is desperately needed in this particular franchise.

All in all, if this game gets a small patch I think it could easily shine as one of the good single-player sci-fi experiences that has come out as of late. It reminds me a lot of DOOM with the way the health, armor, and weapons all handle, and its nice to finally see a game where my base weapon is not a rail gun when I aim it. Makes the firefights last a bit longer, and makes them that much more interesting. If they could have taken notice of the small human elements (such as breathing in space), and fix the major bugs with the AI, collision, and--seemingly--the dynamic lighting, this game really would have done it for me.

I can still sit back and hope there is a patch in the future. Either way when this game drops a bit in price I'll support the developers with a purchase, because after all its not bad, even though its not that great.