Aliens: Colonial Marines

So this game has been in development since the Earth cooled and amino acids began to coalesce in the primordial soup. OK I exaggerate but it has been one of those on-again-off-again games you forget about for months at a time.

It’d be a mistake to completely write off Colonial Marines for a few simple reasons. Most important of all is that the Xenomorph is quite possibly the most terrifying, hardy and adaptable enemy from sci-fi. Near indestructible, lethal even in death and it’s reproductive method taps into some of our deepest held fears.

Gearbox has the potential to make an outstanding game out of this without making it a Gears of War clone. I know we’ve heard very little about it over the last few months (and years) but it’s one that is not to be forgotten. It promises a lot fro ma campaign perspective but multiplayer is where A:CM SHOULD shine. With squad based horde modes a given but multi-species deathmatch (done correctly this time and yes I’m referring to AvP here) could really provide an exciting and engaging session.

The entire Alien franchise was blessed with scenery that lends itself to gaming. Multiple dark corners for you to worry about; poorly maintained ships and stations. The dripping of leaky water mains and the banging of a loose airvent will keep even the most cynical game in a heightened state of awareness. There is nothing like the sense of panic and trepidation you get when you hear the high pitched oscillation of the motion tracker as it picks up a wave of death moving purposefully towards you. it’s safe to say ammo will be scarce and you’ll have no hyper-powerful ranged weapon to sweep away a dozen Xenomorphs before you can even say “come get some”. Your wits will be important and you’d definitely want to play co-op; it’ll improve your survivability which has we know is basically zero. Expect to get eaten, or melted or have a Facehugger make sweet sweet love to your face. Because that’s what the Xenomorph does best.

The thing that could spoil this for me is making it too easy; I expect to be killed in new and interesting ways when it comes to Alien games. I also think that if I play like a jackass and spray ammo like there’s no tomorrow I shouldn’t have abundant supplies lying around. This game should be closer to a survival horror than a FPS like Battlefield 3. And if I encounter multiple Queens wandering around and killing them is not enormously difficult I may end up rage-quitting. And yes I know there was one in the video but I’m hoping it’s not a common sight. All in all there is an established fanbase out there and hopefully this will be well received. With rumours of a new film in the pipeline there’s no excuse for a sloppy product. H.R. Geiger’s Alien has the potential to haunt and enthral a new generation, it is still the stuff of nightmares and here’s hoping Colonial marines makes me jump all over again.

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