To be perfectly honest, I really didn’t expect Aliens: Colonial Marines to come out on top of last week’s poll. Realistically there’s only two explanations: either the game is fantastic and was unfairly criticised in reviews, or it really is rather bad and people just want a chance to properly complain about the game. Personally I’m betting on the latter, but of course we welcome all opinions.
Before we get to your views on the game though, lets take a look at what the reviews say. It was Alex who cast his eye over the game for us, and he wasn’t all that impressed, rating the game at a 5/10. He’s certainly not alone in his relatively low opinion of the game, as the game sits in the mid-40s on all platforms on Metacritic.
What seems like the biggest problem Alex had with the game, and to be fair it’s a pretty significant issue, was that the titular Aliens aren’t actually that scary. While he does preface this complaint by saying that he feels that the xenomorphs in Aliens, the obvious source material, “were never the scariest”, Colonial Marines takes this lack of fear much further. “in Colonial Marines there’s not a single moment where the player need be scared of what should be a devastatingly dangerous foe,” he complains early in his review, while slightly later explaining that “They don’t hunt in groups. They won’t flank you. They won’t ever surprise you and they’ll rarely outnumber you and your squad.”
Despite these flaws with your enemies, Alex did feel that the games succeeds at providing “a generous slice of fan service,” saying that “The guns are superbly done” and that “the locations are largely great to see and explore.”
Unfortunately, the game’s graphical performance isn’t up to the same standard, with Alex noticing “considerable tearing throughout, switches between 60 frames per second and speeds much lower constantly” on the 360 version. He also complained about the way that “Aliens vanish in an ugly green cloud when dispatched” and noted that “the aliasing is so bad in places it’s hard to make out the middle distance.”
On top of the game’s main campaign, which Alex said “isn’t great, that much is true, but it does occasionally shows sparks of intelligence and originality that means it’s impossible to feel too hard done by,” the game also features multiplayer. Slightly remorsefully, Alex noted that although “there’s potential here, it’s about the same all round.” To be fair, he does note that the game nails controlling the Aliens, saying that “it’s actually more fun to play as the bad guys” for once.
He also plucked out the game’s ‘Escape’ multiplayer mode as being particularly good, praising the “tense and claustrophobic” atmosphere that it manages to generate as the small team of Marines try and battle their way past wave after wave of Aliens. In fact Alex went so far as to say that the mode “feels just like the movie,” although he was “wary as to how long the game can keep up the suspense.”
Hopefully some of you will have had a little more time with the multiplayer, and will be able to tell us whether or not the game’s multiplayer has managed to hold on to its suspense. Of course you don’t have to comment on the multiplayer, you could just tell us about the single player – it’s all up to you.
If you do feel like sharing your views on the game then all we ask is that you attach a rating to the game using the Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It, Avoid It scale and get your view in by Sunday afternoon. Then we’ll try and summarise your views in Monday’s verdict article, giving the community’s overall verdict on the game.
OnlineAssassin77
CRAP
OnlineAssassin77
p.s Avoid infacct throw it into a void..
Eldave0
Lol, ooo this will be a doozie.
Personally I actually quite liked Colonial Marines but I think a lot of that is because I’m a sucker for the Aliens franchise. From the iconic Pulse Rifle to the cameo appearances and easter eggs, I found myself having a good time playing through this, admittedly short, game.
The online was the real highlight for me however. I put a fair bit of time into it and enjoyed playing as both the Marines and Xenos.
Is it worth a buy? No chance, even at it’s current £15 price point. Its worth a rental however, especially if you are a fan of the franchise.
ArrebatoTarugo
I played a few minutes (less than ten for sure), put it back into the box and trade it next day. It was horrible.
Taylor Made
Where do I vote for next weview game?
bunimomike
Kris will often do a separate article with a few choices. :-)
tactical20
As a fan of the Aliens franchise, I was always gonna pick this up, and did for £15 in the end. A price which I think is about fair. It’s by no means a great game, but if you are an Aliens fan, you will find it entertaining. The attention to detail is pretty good and it does have the right kind of atmosphere. I played it on normal and found it harder than your average game, which meant some frustrating sections. I’m sure playing it on harder settings would lead to pure rage. I’d say rent or bargain bin. Probably rent and bargain bin Max Payne 3 instead.
Origami Killer
I’m a massive Alien fan so despite the reviews I had to try this for myself. Aliens Vs Predator didn’t have the strongest reviews but I really enjoyed that game, so I was expecting a similar result – boy was I wrong!
For starters it looks awful. Everything is bland and there’s hardly any details. The lighting is also terrible. I was expecting dark corridors, with flashing lights and one saving grace torchlight. Instead I was greeted with daylight nearly every where and when it was dark a flashlight that couldn’t even light up a two man tent.
Then there’s how it plays. One bit of praise is the authenticity, you can’t deny that everything sounds like it should in the game, maybe not looks at it should. Anyhow the hit recognition of every weapon is hit and miss. If you’ve seen Pulp Fiction you’ll remember the “miracle” scene where Jackson and Travolta should of been blown away by guy with a gun. Every time I shoot in the game I feel like that guy who missed every shot.
On top of that the story is awful, it’s uninspiring and just doesn’t give you any encouragement to carry on. There are signs of a potentially good game at points but it’s overall just a mess.
A shambles of a game.
The only bit of happiness I get from Aliens if that I sold it on for about £15, which I thought was a bloody rip off.
Origami Killer
I apologise for my grammar, blame the shitness of the game. The last sentence should read *i that I sold…
AVOID IT as well.
Starman
Got this cheap (fortunately) and after a few attempts to get into it, I’ll just say this – its pants. Avoid.
RocketSOL
Take off and nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Sorry, I had to say it.
Dar-Kaus
Bring it to Plus so we can try it for free.
xdarkmagician
Its definitely a “Rent it” kind of game for any serious gamer but especially for any Alien fan, more so for Aliens in particular as alot of it is basically a sequel to the sequel than to the Alien franchise overall. I think theres only one way to describe this game, and its this- Everything you’ve heard about this game is true. Yes the demo looked better, yes the guns feel good, yes the AI is horribly unpredictable, yes its buggy… its all true, both the good, the bady and the ugly of it. And thats basically why every serious gamer should play Aliens CM. Its one of those games that you kinda just have to play to see what all the fuss is about.
I’d say Rent it, since everybody who was associated with making this game either apologised or denied working on it.