Aliens: Colonial Marines

[Stomski]

High hopes for this game so I pre-ordered...  The promises were that it would deliver a lot more than the last AvP game and I was thinking it would be like Left 4 Dead but with Aliens.  4 player co-op with waves of Aliens coming after you as you try to get from A to B.

Alas, the initial reviews are not good, some as low as 2.5/10.

First time in years I've pre-ordered a game, damn.  At least it won't take me long to get through the campaign.

[legios]

That does not sound promising - especially considering how long this has been in development. You would think that they would have been able to salvage something from previous attempts and put together something slightly more functional. Mind you, looking at the history of games with protracted development (Hello "Prey"!) I do think it may be more evidence that at some point they just need to cut their losses and admit that it can't be made to work.

That four-player co-op was actually one of the original big selling points of the project - and the thing that a lot of folks were most looking forward to.

Five hours of gameplay is just taking the michael though. I want to get a bit more than five hours out of a forty quid investment in a video-game. I guess this neatly relegates itself to "only if I see it for a tenner" territory.

Karl

[kayevcee]

The Escapist's Jim Sterling is not shy about breaking down the game's shortcomings in a video comparing the PAX/E3 "gameplay" demo to his actual experience with the game. Oo-er.

I hope you can find your money's worth of fun out of it, Stomski!

-Nick

[Stomski]

Played first level in co-op in "normal" difficulty. Had one of the games first scares ruined as it happens differently in this mode. So now playing through in single player so that I get the full effect, but this kinda destroys the point for me.

Alien AI and some of the clipping of dead bodies is derp derp derp.  I killed one on the ceiling and instead of falling to the ground, it kinda floated in the air.

Ho hum.

Also - experience points for weapons upgrades in single player? Wot?

[Deleted]

i've still not got this game yet, i'm waiting til it comes down in price

[jameso]

I've had the urge to actually buy a full price retail game for a while, my brother said let's go halves, and it was kind of tempting, but it has rent/buy off a mate when they are done with all over it really.

[Stomski]

About half way through single player campaigns. There's a sewer mission which has... well, I don't really want to talk about it

I did find Casey's doll head though whilst down there, Newt will be pleased.

[Stomski]

6/11 chapters in and I was stuck with a weapon I couldn't find much ammo for as it was a special Legendary Weapon (Hudson's Pulse Rifle).

I then slipped whilst reaching for another button and found a menu come up allowing me to configure my 4 weapon slots.

DERP

I was wondering why I could customise all these guns and not use them. I had them all along.

[legios]

Can I just observe that I find the idea of Hudson's Pulse Rilfe (specifically) being a Legendary Weapon somehow amuses me - given his actual level of combat effectiveness as a rifleman... :-)

Karl

[Stomski]

Oh wow the plot thickens at Gearbox HQ. At least there is some mention as to the disconnect between the original demo and final game.

And now that I've played through single player, I thought I'd give co-op some time seeing as my first outing when I first got the game was in some ways fun.  Alas, I couldn't find anybody to connect with.

Regardless of the tired gameplay mechanics, terrible graphics, bad level design and ridiculously lazy AI, the worst part is the story (warning, spoilers).  The supposed "big" reveal/twist that gets dragged out for about a third of the campaign never gets explained with a character doing something akin to Ultra Magnus by saying "long story, we don't have time for that" and then swiftly moving on.

Hrmm.

[Stomski]

And it gets worse.

[Stomski]

Hrm, apparently Escape mode is more like L4D, killing waves of Aliens, whilst welding doors shut behind you as your run through. However - the game only comes with 2 levels in this mode, more to come as DLC. Well played Gearbox, well played.

[Stomski]

Yahtzee is on it.

[kayevcee]

I like the image he conjures of an Escapist staffer pushing the game under his door then running away giggling, like someone dropping an unwanted Christmas jumper into a tiger cage.

-Nick

[Stomski]

Tried some Escape mode. 4 marines with heavy artillery vs 4 aliens. Pretty easy. Playing as the aliens though requires a lot of coordination with your group and the 3rd person control scheme is pretty terrible.

But then, most people are level 50 as marines and level 3 a Aliens, so, y'know, full upgrades vs no upgrades. GG WP.