Your unit arrives 17 weeks afterward to find a ship filled with dead bodies, green goo, and lurking xenomorphs. Brain-dead battlesĪ:CM's campaign kicks off with the distress signal sent by the crew of the USS Sulaco near the end of the Aliens film. The comparison is apt: Gearbox Software has dared to deliver a faithful chunk of Aliens canon, but hundreds of other games (like, you know, Doom) have already mined James Cameron's general concept of hulking aliens and badass space marines without being tied down by a film license.īut blaming the handicap of the Aliens brand for the game's limited selection of enemies and weapons, not to mention an incredibly boring series of environments, gives the developers far, far too much credit. Not “so bad it's good,” not “uneven, but with bright spots,” not “good except for awful glitches.” If it had launched in its current state alongside Doom 3 in 2004, A:CM would've been laughed out of the room for not even surpassing id's graphics engine, enemy AI, acting, or missions. Maybe it would fall on deaf ears in a universe that favors pre-orders, but if I could warn off even a few Aliens diehards, my sacrificial slog through this game's ugly, poorly acted monotony would not be in vain.Īliens: Colonial Marines is bad.
If Aliens: Colonial Marines were a Hadley's Hope-style space colony, I'd want to visit for one very specific reason. I'd arrive early, standing at the edge of a cliff on its lifeless surface, holding up red flares as I see the legendary USS Sulaco break the atmosphere, full of eager fanboys ready to play a game with tons of promise and years of troubled development behind it. Then, I would toggle my radio transmitter to a wide-space broadcast and shout to the heavens, “Do not land! Everything here is dead! Game over, man!” Links: Official Web site | Steam | Amazon Platform: PC (reviewed), PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U (coming soon)
Game Details Developer: Gearbox Entertainment