fizzelopeguss
Banned
Gearbox are C-Grade.
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Aliens: Colonial Marines |OT| Game Over Man, GAME OVER!
- Thread starter MRORANGE
- Start date
Pretty much everything original they've done outside of Borderlands has been mediocre at best. They should branch out from FPSes.
I don't know if someone answered this but Yes on the IGN stream it was indeed the PC version I don't have the time marker but at a certain point they unlocked a stream achievement that was displayed in the top right hand of the screen. They where using a 360 wired controller to play the game.
Watching the footage a bit more, and it seems like the main problem with the Xenos is that they're extremely sluggish. They kinda move up to the player, then melee. It's very reminiscent of Borderlands melee AI. They should be dashing up, attacking, and then running away really quickly, a la AvP2. These guys aren't lightning fast, though that might be a limitation imposed by controllers.
This may sound a bit controversial, but I think Borderlands is mediocre as well, at least in terms of actual shooter gameplay. They're really weak in the basic weapons and AI departments. Even Borderlands has bad gunplay and bad AI--the weak diablolike gameplay helps disguise it.
This may sound a bit controversial, but I think Borderlands is mediocre as well, at least in terms of actual shooter gameplay. They're really weak in the basic weapons and AI departments. Even Borderlands has bad gunplay and bad AI--the weak diablolike gameplay helps disguise it.
Only 5hrs long? For reals? Really?
I was really looking forward to playing this but this is just so disappointing.
Not sure how it can only be 5 hours, ive played the first 2 mission and they took approx 50 mins each, and there's supposed to be 11 levels
I agree more or less. Borderlands is good in spite of the gunplay. Their other shooters fail in the same regard, but don't have the open world and gun loot to compensate, which is why I think they should try something that isn't a shooter. They may be better at other things but are fixated on first person shooters for some reason, and fail at them consistently.
Fudgepuppy
Banned
How are you actually supposed to make a game based on the Aliens franchise and not make it dull in the end? If you try to add variety by adding different types of Xenos people will complain, and since good FPS-gameplay comes from dynamic battles, it's instantly impossible to make the game an engaging one.
Maybe an Alien-game by Telltale would be cool, but for now I'm okay with anything as long as it has Aliens in it, because I'm a sucker.
Maybe an Alien-game by Telltale would be cool, but for now I'm okay with anything as long as it has Aliens in it, because I'm a sucker.
Ollie Pooch
In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
I always thought the squad/siege sort of gameplay hinted at a few years back could have been really awesome, tense and scary. This just sounds like CoD with pulse rifle noises and Aliens.
I actually believe that the ideas behind CM could produce a really good Aliens game!
I would have no problem shooting people in dark but familiar environments (something, which CM executes well), but in my scenario, I'd have Xenos being the element of utter terror.
Being stuck in a poorly lighten labyrinth with dangerous militia? Why not put a Xeno hunting you in there and make it terrifying? CM tries to do that at some point, but it ends up falling flat.
I think the above would please the fans, and make a good game, given of course a good production. It should not be that hard.
I'm still pretty excited to get my hands on this. I plan to play it on the highest difficulty with a friend, and really just want to shoot a bunch of aliens. I don't mind that it plays closer to a ~2007 FPS, because I liked those FPS betters. Case in point, I thought DNF was a good game for being a little less new school and more old school. If that's the case here, no complaints.
Completely agree. All they've ever made are FPSs, yet they're still not particularly good at it. I'll never understand the reverence some people have for Gearbox.
Mr Scrufff
Neo Member
I see a lot of people with early copies here. Has anyone played it online yet without getting banned? I have it and I really want to try the multiplayer now that I have finished the campaign.
Played online all day without any fallout. I'm press but as far as I know my gamertag isn't on any list.
XANDER CAGE
Member
Yeah, Borderlands isn't fun because of its core shooting, it's everything built up around that gameplay. Strip out the unique visuals and loot and weapon effects and it becomes a pretty bog-standard shooting gallery. I'm not surprised that this game feels weak.
KillerTravis
Banned
I love Brothers in Arms. At least the dual pack I played on the Wii. Still haven't tried Hell's Highway.
Please don't. It's one of the worst military shooters I've played this gen. It's somewhere in between Medal of Honor: Warfighter and Call of Duty 3.
The first two BoI games on the previous generation were both good, though.
Ollie Pooch
In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
Clap trap is also the worst and most irritating gaming character of all time - he's Jar Jar levels. Enjoyed BL1 though, played coop with my mate in HK. Was fun.
bryanee
Member
I've played it for about two hours online, no issues. I'm not press.
fizzelopeguss
Banned
It's the genuinely decent art design that lends borderlands a "AAA" veneer.
The actual game sucks i thought. Bad shooting locked behind bulletsponge enemies and flimsy RPG elements. Endless fetch quests, and a spastic story and character ensemble that makes Bulletstorm look witty and clever.
3rdDimension
Member
Thats the main problem with "hardcore" gamers. Expectations are so high it's ridiculous. Thats why i am glad they represent a small niche.
thesolidshark
Member
As a big Aliens fan here, I'm just hoping this game is good for me. I'm not worried about it not being great, just as long as it's not a bad game. Mixed reviews aside, still looking forward to it all, especially since it expands on CM stuff after Ripley's death.
Chance Hale
Member
Ended up getting this on Greenmangaming for 37.49 as my friend lent me the money to play with him. Hoping with some friends It'll still be a good time and that some of the extra multiplayer modes will be a blast.
Shame the PC port doesn't seem to have added all that much but with 60 FPS and 1080+ I'm sure It'll be a massive jump just based on that. The graphics for the 360 version didn't seem all that awful to me, certainly not to the early gen comparisons some people were throwing out.
Anyone spent time with some of the non story based modes?
Shame the PC port doesn't seem to have added all that much but with 60 FPS and 1080+ I'm sure It'll be a massive jump just based on that. The graphics for the 360 version didn't seem all that awful to me, certainly not to the early gen comparisons some people were throwing out.
Anyone spent time with some of the non story based modes?
tiny raptor
Member
Wow, people actually agreeing that Borderlands sucks as a video game. I thought I'd seen it all.
And I completely agree! I really, really hate Borderlands. Not trying to bash those who do like it or anything of that sort. I just can't stand it. It's everything that you mentioned and also the terribly bland worlds. I took to calling it Boringlands or Boredomlands a while back. Original, I know.
How the fuck did this thing get released?
I got the game this morning (Sunday in Australia), after having hyped myself up by watching the movie. I've played the first 5 chapters, and roughly an hour of MP TDM, both of which were awful.
First of all, the "brightness" seems to also control contrast, so that there is absolutely no sweet spot for the visuals, the game just always looks washed out/over bright (pretty sure there's also some weird shit going on with the gamma, specific to the MP modes). Second, the game tears like a motherfucker. I'm playing on 360, and I haven't seen tearing this bad in a long time (even Dragon's Dogma is better). It's the kind that tears on the geometry, so the whole screen looks like it's constantly flickering. Third, the controls are stiff, and the aim acceleration just feels wrong. It's best comparable to Duke Nukem Forever. So, really sluggish, and the weapons feedback is awful, like firing pellet guns.
The tone of the game doesn't fit the story they're trying to tell either. It's like COD, crossed with Borderlands 2, pretending to be a James Cameron movie. The sound effects are universally pretty great, but the music gets overbearing very quickly. Also, the AI is a travesty. The campaign experience might really benefit from playing co-op, but I haven't tried that yet.
Overall, even if Colonial Marines had been a 360 launch title, it would've still been the worst FPS option available. Yes, I haven't finished it yet, so it might get better, but I doubt it. I know people on the internet don't respond well to being told what to do, but seriously, do not buy this game.
I got the game this morning (Sunday in Australia), after having hyped myself up by watching the movie. I've played the first 5 chapters, and roughly an hour of MP TDM, both of which were awful.
First of all, the "brightness" seems to also control contrast, so that there is absolutely no sweet spot for the visuals, the game just always looks washed out/over bright (pretty sure there's also some weird shit going on with the gamma, specific to the MP modes). Second, the game tears like a motherfucker. I'm playing on 360, and I haven't seen tearing this bad in a long time (even Dragon's Dogma is better). It's the kind that tears on the geometry, so the whole screen looks like it's constantly flickering. Third, the controls are stiff, and the aim acceleration just feels wrong. It's best comparable to Duke Nukem Forever. So, really sluggish, and the weapons feedback is awful, like firing pellet guns.
The tone of the game doesn't fit the story they're trying to tell either. It's like COD, crossed with Borderlands 2, pretending to be a James Cameron movie. The sound effects are universally pretty great, but the music gets overbearing very quickly. Also, the AI is a travesty. The campaign experience might really benefit from playing co-op, but I haven't tried that yet.
Overall, even if Colonial Marines had been a 360 launch title, it would've still been the worst FPS option available. Yes, I haven't finished it yet, so it might get better, but I doubt it. I know people on the internet don't respond well to being told what to do, but seriously, do not buy this game.
People love to be told this if it confirms their preconceptions.
sneaky cam footage was shown in the offices in 2006.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Expectations are so high because there's so much competition. You can get the best games of this generation for <$10. There are literally thousands of amazing games out there. Even if you have narrow taste, there are hundreds of amazing games you'd love out there. Even within the Alien franchise, there are some pretty great games! Most of us here have huge backlogs of amazing games. And that's without even taking into account the time pressure being put on gamers from multiplayer components, MMOs, or arcade/score attack/replay type games.
Like, I play a lot of games. Normally around 50-75 a year. And I've only played half of GAF's top 20 last year, if that. Every single game on that list is sub-$60, many of them are sub-$10... On top of my 360 right now, I have Sleeping Dogs, Dishonoured, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Epic Mickey 2, Neverdead, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, LA Noire... all unfinished, all from the last year and a half, and that's just a tiny fraction of my backlog for just the 360. God only knows how many amazing games I have backlogged on Steam.
So when someone puts out the 10th game in a franchise, and it's the 287th FPS on the platform, and it's 5 hours long, and it's $60, and it's apparently (I don't know yet, I'm not crazy enough to pay $60 on this) not very good... yeah, people are going to react poorly. It's not to say you can't have fun with this game or anything, but it's only natural that if you put it in a comparative context, it's going to suffer.
toddhunter
Member
Simply by not having aliens in it... For a long time. You build up the suspense, something like "the thing". Then an alien finally shows up. You spend a few hours trying to survive and kill it. A few more show up, you start to fight back. Then by the end it is all action as you enter a hive or whatever and shit gets crazy.
And if you think nobody would make a game where nothing happens for a couple of hours remember Borderlands. That was like 100 hours of it.
Or they could just license the Dead Space engine and reskin Dead Space 1.
endlessflood
Member
You call it "Aliens: Colonial Marines" or "Aliens: Colonial Marine Corps" and focus on the Marines themselves. You have them take part in other operations (against humans, other alien species, etc.), and then you bring in the Sulaco and LV-426 as the final act.
Doing it this way you can make the Xenomorphs as deadly and scary as you like because you don't have to worry about difficulty curves. You build the Marines up in the previous Acts, showing how awesome and well equipped they are and how nothing phases then. Then you bring in the Xenomorphs and show everything turning to shit.
Give it AAA graphics and polish and I would buy three copies of that damn game.
Even most horror games throw the first bad guy at you within an hour. I would totally go for a game willing to try a long, drawn out build up, but that's probably not going to happen outside of the indie scene.
Phat Michael
Banned
Im going to buy this tomorrow. Please tell me its not as bad as everyone says it is.
Im basically buying it for the sounds of the pulse rifle.
Im basically buying it for the sounds of the pulse rifle.
tiny raptor
Member
It's sad. Tons of great ideas for an Aliens game, including the original siege and dynamic AI concept we read about in Game Informer, and in the end, Gearbox chose the most generic one possible.
Maybe because it was the easiest thing to do.
Maybe because it was the easiest thing to do.
Chance Hale
Member
Fingers crossed for sure, seems like a lot of people are playing it on the consoles which seem to have some porting issues so hopefully the PC version is a bit more stable. The IGN video of the PC release was terrible quality and compressed all to hell so I don't think It's really a good marker for visual quality.
Shame they made the aliens third person only in multiplayer mode outside of vents, they mention they did it to prevent disorientation as a lot of people couldn't get into it in AVP but I always found it a really cool system. First person mobility isn't done nearly enough.
Ollie Pooch
In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
I'd say it's far more likely Sega told them to go the route they did.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Havent played the game yet, but it should be instant death if a xenomorph grabs you. It has claws, a sharp tail, is extremely strong and fast, and of course has the head bite. No homosapien should stand a chance when it comes to hand-to-hand melee. Closest thing was in Alien 3 when the black religious guy wresled it for like 10 seconds.
tiny raptor
Member
Why do you think Sega told them to do it? Because they thought this would appeal to the broadest group of people possible?
Ollie Pooch
In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
I've no idea if they did! Just speculating.
Just cos they seemed super enthusiastic about that squad-based concept, then it went quiet for ages and came back as a pretty standard FPS/CoD-style game.
pants
Member
You only have Aliens to contend with, I am an Aliens and SEGA nerd ._.
tiny raptor
Member
Oh, I know. I was just asking for your thoughts on why you thought Sega did that (not the act of them doing it, but the reason they instructed Gearbox to change it).
Ollie Pooch
In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
Yeah, I love Sega's stuff too, I scratched that itch with Sonic Racing (which is excellent, by the way).
Ah, sorry. Yeah I figured they might think a CoD style shooter would be easier to sell. Who knows
toddhunter
Member
I think it was probably a factor of that and a bit of the old bioshock infinite "oh shit we can't actually make the game we wanted without spending another five years on it" so they just churned out a generic shooter and called it a day.
tiny raptor
Member
pants
Member
Sonic Racing, Anarchy Reigns, Football Manager 13 (oh god my life) here and still feel the itch. I enjoyed Alien Trilogy back in the day, which wasnt a particularly good game so I'm sure I will get at least some joy out of this
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Fatal Futanari
Member
Does anyone know the quality of the statue?
I think I am probably going to cancel my 2 PS3 CE preorders, eventhough it breaks my heart to do so
I think I am probably going to cancel my 2 PS3 CE preorders, eventhough it breaks my heart to do so
They still made Borderlands 1/2. Though it seems a little more clear where the effort went when you look at A:CM.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
I hear the pulse rifle sound effect is really good.
Ohh yeah im a huge fan of the bl games huge, he had me wanting dnf with his talks before the game came out and had me pretty excited for acm too in the sort of way peter does with his games.