Aliens: Colonial Marines

[Arctic Blast]

I cannot ever remember seeing a group of developers all pointing at each other and saying "No, THEY made this!" before this mess. This whole thing is just weird.

[undercovergeek]

I cannot ever remember seeing a group of developers all pointing at each other and saying "No, THEY made this!" before this mess. This whole thing is just weird.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02/13/who-made-aliens-heres-what-we-sorta-know/#more-142273

brilliant - it seems gearbox knew it was going down the tubes, asked for a 9 month extension and then spent 5 months of that finishing off Borderlands, bringing in the other devs to help out.

Im not interested in the game at all, not because of the reviews, im just not THAT much of an alien fan, but apparently theres footage out there of a demo/playthrough thats wayyyyyyy better than the released game and this is what led to the pre-orders and hype, then gearbox realised it wouldnt work on consoles properly and scaled it all back and released it, still floating on the excitement of the earlier demo that noone was going to get - its all a bit unpleasant IMHO, and for me another endorsement of never, ever pre-ordering

[CptHowdy]

I cannot ever remember seeing a group of developers all pointing at each other and saying "No, THEY made this!" before this mess. This whole thing is just weird.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02/13/who-made-aliens-heres-what-we-sorta-know/#more-142273

brilliant - it seems gearbox knew it was going down the tubes, asked for a 9 month extension and then spent 5 months of that finishing off Borderlands, bringing in the other devs to help out.

Im not interested in the game at all, not because of the reviews, im just not THAT much of an alien fan, but apparently theres footage out there of a demo/playthrough thats wayyyyyyy better than the released game and this is what led to the pre-orders and hype, then gearbox realised it wouldnt work on consoles properly and scaled it all back and released it, still floating on the excitement of the earlier demo that noone was going to get - its all a bit unpleasant IMHO, and for me another endorsement of never, ever pre-ordering

for me its another endorsement of avoiding console to pc ports. graphics will never be as good as they can be, UI will be screwed up, they can't or won't patch console games so the pc gets neglected as well. I realize they have to maximize revenue streams but no one wins when the game is half assed due to time constraints all because they have to make the game work for 2 consoles and pc  :'(

[Jarhead0331]

^The PC version is largely being noted as superior to the console versions, so while I generally agree with your point, it does not apply to this game.

I still think people need to chill out. I don't necessarily buy all the "finger pointing" conspiracy theory junk floating around in internet forums.  Here's why...that game is really not that bad.  I've got almost three (3) hours into the SP campaign and I'm really enjoying it so far.  And guess what? It's only getting better the deeper I go into it.

So please do everyone a favor, stop repeating all the negative hype out there and plese stop trying to justify the game's failure with a big "A-Haaa!!!!" or a giant "I told you so!" or even a "So, this is why it sucks!"  Because unless you play the game, you really don't know what you're talking about.

As I've stated before, this IS Call of Duty in Aliens skin.  If you have no inherent problem with CoD, then you should have absolutely no inherent problem with Aliens.  If you love the ALiens universe, you will most like like this BETTER than CoD.  I do. 

[JasonPratt]

CptHwdy,

There are exceptions of course.

Let us 'console' our selves over this disappointment... WE SHOULD LIST THEM!!  :D

(I didn't want to hijack the thread off our continued grumpiness or defenses about ColMari.)

[undercovergeek]

^The PC version is largely being noted as superior to the console versions, so while I generally agree with your point, it does not apply to this game.

I still think people need to chill out. I don't necessarily buy all the "finger pointing" conspiracy theory junk floating around in internet forums.  Here's why...that game is really not that bad.  I've got almost three (3) hours into the SP campaign and I'm really enjoying it so far.  And guess what? It's only getting better the deeper I go into it.

So please do everyone a favor, stop repeating all the negative hype out there and plese stop trying to justify the game's failure with a big "A-Haaa!!!!" or a giant "I told you so!" or even a "So, this is why it sucks!"  Because unless you play the game, you really don't know what you're talking about.

As I've stated before, this IS Call of Duty in Aliens skin.  If you have no inherent problem with CoD, then you should have absolutely no inherent problem with Aliens.  If you love the ALiens universe, you will most like like this BETTER than CoD.  I do.

does this mean please stop talking about a current game and its news headlining situation because you happen to like the game? The entire online PC gaming community is discussing it

[JasonPratt]

So please do everyone a favor, stop repeating all the negative hype out there

I appreciate that, as someone who is actually playing the game, you're appreciating it for what it is (basically an Aliens mod for CoD).

But are you saying the objective evidence and claims being made by other reviewers who have played the game are wrong, or anyway significantly less wrong on the PC version?

[Jarhead0331]

^The PC version is largely being noted as superior to the console versions, so while I generally agree with your point, it does not apply to this game.

I still think people need to chill out. I don't necessarily buy all the "finger pointing" conspiracy theory junk floating around in internet forums.  Here's why...that game is really not that bad.  I've got almost three (3) hours into the SP campaign and I'm really enjoying it so far.  And guess what? It's only getting better the deeper I go into it.

So please do everyone a favor, stop repeating all the negative hype out there and plese stop trying to justify the game's failure with a big "A-Haaa!!!!" or a giant "I told you so!" or even a "So, this is why it sucks!"  Because unless you play the game, you really don't know what you're talking about.

As I've stated before, this IS Call of Duty in Aliens skin.  If you have no inherent problem with CoD, then you should have absolutely no inherent problem with Aliens.  If you love the ALiens universe, you will most like like this BETTER than CoD.  I do.

does this mean please stop talking about a current game and its news headlining situation because you happen to like the game? The entire online PC gaming community is discussing it

No. You can talk about whatever you want, but my point is, you don't know what you're talking about.  All you're doing is repeating what other people are saying, AND AGREEING with it, without playing it for yourself.   

[Jarhead0331]

So please do everyone a favor, stop repeating all the negative hype out there

I appreciate that, as someone who is actually playing the game, you're appreciating it for what it is (basically an Aliens mod for CoD).

But are you saying the objective evidence and claims being made by other reviewers who have played the game are wrong, or anyway significantly less wrong on the PC version?

Yes. It is not OBJECTIVE evidence...it is SUBJECTIVE, and in many cases it is inaccurate and over-exaggerated. I stand by that 100%.

[undercovergeek]

^The PC version is largely being noted as superior to the console versions, so while I generally agree with your point, it does not apply to this game.

I still think people need to chill out. I don't necessarily buy all the "finger pointing" conspiracy theory junk floating around in internet forums.  Here's why...that game is really not that bad.  I've got almost three (3) hours into the SP campaign and I'm really enjoying it so far.  And guess what? It's only getting better the deeper I go into it.

So please do everyone a favor, stop repeating all the negative hype out there and plese stop trying to justify the game's failure with a big "A-Haaa!!!!" or a giant "I told you so!" or even a "So, this is why it sucks!"  Because unless you play the game, you really don't know what you're talking about.

As I've stated before, this IS Call of Duty in Aliens skin.  If you have no inherent problem with CoD, then you should have absolutely no inherent problem with Aliens.  If you love the ALiens universe, you will most like like this BETTER than CoD.  I do.

does this mean please stop talking about a current game and its news headlining situation because you happen to like the game? The entire online PC gaming community is discussing it

No. You can talk about whatever you want.  It means exactly what it says. You don't know what you're talking about.  My point is, all you're doing is repeating what other people are saying, AND AGREEING with it, without playing it for yourself.   

i saw news footage of a man fighting in Afghanistan this morning discussing his dead colleagues, he said it was shit, fkd up and he wanted to come home

i havent been to Afghanistan or been shot at, but i still reckon the news i read and the footage i see conveys a general shitty life out there - do i not get to say to someone, i read on the news this morning its shit in Afghanistan?

if noone was going to read about a game, watch the footage, and maybe even read YOUR review of the game and not be allowed an opinion without playing it first - why are we even contributing to a website of opinions and community. Why do you review games Jarhead if im not allowed to decide i like it until ive bought it?

[Jarhead0331]

^The PC version is largely being noted as superior to the console versions, so while I generally agree with your point, it does not apply to this game.

I still think people need to chill out. I don't necessarily buy all the "finger pointing" conspiracy theory junk floating around in internet forums.  Here's why...that game is really not that bad.  I've got almost three (3) hours into the SP campaign and I'm really enjoying it so far.  And guess what? It's only getting better the deeper I go into it.

So please do everyone a favor, stop repeating all the negative hype out there and plese stop trying to justify the game's failure with a big "A-Haaa!!!!" or a giant "I told you so!" or even a "So, this is why it sucks!"  Because unless you play the game, you really don't know what you're talking about.

As I've stated before, this IS Call of Duty in Aliens skin.  If you have no inherent problem with CoD, then you should have absolutely no inherent problem with Aliens.  If you love the ALiens universe, you will most like like this BETTER than CoD.  I do.

does this mean please stop talking about a current game and its news headlining situation because you happen to like the game? The entire online PC gaming community is discussing it

No. You can talk about whatever you want.  It means exactly what it says. You don't know what you're talking about.  My point is, all you're doing is repeating what other people are saying, AND AGREEING with it, without playing it for yourself.   

i saw news footage of a man fighting in Afghanistan this morning discussing his dead colleagues, he said it was shit, fkd up and he wanted to come home

i havent been to Afghanistan or been shot at, but i still reckon the news i read and the footage i see conveys a general shitty life out there - do i not get to say to someone, i read on the news this morning its shit in Afghanistan?

if noone was going to read about a game, watch the footage, and maybe even read YOUR review of the game and not be allowed an opinion without playing it first - why are we even contributing to a website of opinions and community. Why do you review games Jarhead if im not allowed to decide i like it until ive bought it?

So you're going to compare Aliens Colonial Marines to the war in Afghanistan? Well, that does certainly prove that you've never been there.   This is why when it comes to war the opinions of our veterans are much more valuable than the opinions of politicians, or people who just stayed home to watch it all unfold on TV.  You can comment on something all you want without experiencing it, but your comments are ultimately irrelevant. 

I'm not going to get into a pissing match over it with you.  Like I said, you can say whatever you want, but until you actually play the game for yourself, your opinions carry very little weight.

[undercovergeek]

^The PC version is largely being noted as superior to the console versions, so while I generally agree with your point, it does not apply to this game.

I still think people need to chill out. I don't necessarily buy all the "finger pointing" conspiracy theory junk floating around in internet forums.  Here's why...that game is really not that bad.  I've got almost three (3) hours into the SP campaign and I'm really enjoying it so far.  And guess what? It's only getting better the deeper I go into it.

So please do everyone a favor, stop repeating all the negative hype out there and plese stop trying to justify the game's failure with a big "A-Haaa!!!!" or a giant "I told you so!" or even a "So, this is why it sucks!"  Because unless you play the game, you really don't know what you're talking about.

As I've stated before, this IS Call of Duty in Aliens skin.  If you have no inherent problem with CoD, then you should have absolutely no inherent problem with Aliens.  If you love the ALiens universe, you will most like like this BETTER than CoD.  I do.

does this mean please stop talking about a current game and its news headlining situation because you happen to like the game? The entire online PC gaming community is discussing it

No. You can talk about whatever you want.  It means exactly what it says. You don't know what you're talking about.  My point is, all you're doing is repeating what other people are saying, AND AGREEING with it, without playing it for yourself.   

i saw news footage of a man fighting in Afghanistan this morning discussing his dead colleagues, he said it was shit, fkd up and he wanted to come home

i havent been to Afghanistan or been shot at, but i still reckon the news i read and the footage i see conveys a general shitty life out there - do i not get to say to someone, i read on the news this morning its shit in Afghanistan?

if noone was going to read about a game, watch the footage, and maybe even read YOUR review of the game and not be allowed an opinion without playing it first - why are we even contributing to a website of opinions and community. Why do you review games Jarhead if im not allowed to decide i like it until ive bought it?

So you're going to compare Aliens Colonial Marines to the war in Afghanistan? Well, that does certainly prove that you've never been there.   This is why when it comes to war the opinions of our veterans are much more valuable than the opinions of politicians, or people who just stayed home to watch it all unfold on TV.  You can comment on something all you want without experiencing it, but your comments are ultimately irrelevant. 

I'm not going to get into a pissing match over it with you.  Like I said, you can say whatever you want, but until you actually play the game for yourself, your opinions carry very little weight.

i tried to help you as much as possible by saying i havent been there, im sorry you missed that bit whilst you were looking to pick holes elsewhere in what i said - most of which you ignored by the way

ill write to the BBC and let them know to sack all their reporters and newscasters - if you havent had it happen to you, you cant possibly report on it

lets be grown up, i dont want to argue with you about it, i dont come here to argue, i linked to a piece of news you disagree with, enough said

[Jarhead0331]

^I wasn't even focusing on you. Guilty conscience, perhaps? Thanks, but I do not need your help with anything.  I didn't ignore anything you posted, your point was just a ridiculous one, I believe I made that abundantly clear in my reply. You're the one with the problem here dude.

Just for the record, I'm not arguing that A:CM is a great game.  I'm merely arguing that it is not nearly as bad as the vast majority of the uninformed (yes, that's you) are claiming it to be.  The graphics are not as bad, the AI is not as bad, the story is not as bad, the dialogue is not as bad, the sounds are not as bad, the action is not as bad...I stand by this 100%.  In fact, I'm so confident in it that I'm willing to make anyone this offer:

You buy the game from any retailer, digital or otherwise. You play it. Beat the campaign and play at least a few hours on MP.  If you do not walk away from it thinking it really is not as bad as everyone is saying, I will refund your cost of purchase, excluding tax/shipping, etc. This means generally, you would rate the game above a 4.5, which seems to be the generally accepted rating around the internet.

Here is the catch though.  you have to have demonstrated to me a sincere interest and enjoyment of FPS games.  You have to be able to show that you actively buy and play these types of games.  CoD, MoH, Crysis, Ghost Recon Future Soldier/Advanced Warfighter,  Farcry, etc. You also have to demonstrate that you are a fan of sci-fi and the Aliens movies.  This is critical, because I think this makes a real difference as to how much enjoyment one will get out of this particular game.  If after playing it as specified, you still think its trash, you'll have to explain why, particularly be comparing it to other games in the genre and pointing out where A:CM fails, whereas your examples do not.

The first person to PM me and satisfy this criteria gets the job.  I'm only posting this in this website.  I generally know that everyone who posts here is a serious, honest gamer.  If you lie, I'm a mod, and can find out where you live.

[JasonPratt]

But are you saying the objective evidence and claims being made by other reviewers who have played the game are wrong, or anyway significantly less wrong on the PC version?

Yes. It is not OBJECTIVE evidence...it is SUBJECTIVE, and in many cases it is inaccurate and over-exaggerated. I stand by that 100%.

Okay, in your first impressions comment (apparently about halfway through the game at that time) you were talking about the graphical glitches reported on consoles not appearing on your PC version. Those aren't subjective evidence and problems, those are objective, but they don't show up (or anyway not on your rig) for the PC. Nevertheless, wouldn't those have to be seriously objective problems to be reckoned with on a console version, worthy of contributing to the 4.5 score?

A number of people have complained that the dialogue generator does goofy things, and that a number of the scripted lines don't make sense in context of the situation. The first would be an objectively discernable problem (one not unique to A:CM of course), the latter could arguably be as well. But leaving the latter aside, are you saying the dialogue generator hasn't glitched on a noticeably regular basis on your PC version?

Some reviewers have noted that the friendly AI not only does things so stupid that they had to be rendered invulnerable to friendly fire, but actually teleports into place (with a spawning electrical pop) rather than moving through doors. They also reportedly clip through objects in order to do foolish AI things. (I'll assume the clipping is one of the graphical issues that don't show up on the PC version from what you said.) These would be objective complaints; have they occurred on your PC version?

From what you've said, the Alien AI does better on the PC than what has been not only reported but visually (thus objectively) archived on gameplay videos already. But some reviewers have noted that the game cheats in spawning the Aliens from nowhere, in such a way that it violates the purpose of the iconic motion detector. That's a claim of an objective problem--have you noticed that on the version you played?

Several reviewers have complained that the game design results in an unacceptably high proportion of enemy mercs compared to xeno action. Supposing that's a subjective assessment in a game marketed on fighting xenos with space marines in a canonical sequel to Aliens, what are your impressions on that? Perhaps also subjectively, reviewers have complained that the occasional xeno vs. merc fighting isn't handled by the game engine well. Your impressions?

Many reviewers have complained that the graphics (not counting console glitches and even on the PC's superior hardware) are not as good as they could and should have been for a current generation game. Leaving aside whether they are subjectively immersing and pleasing to a player anyway, I noticed you generally agreed with that assessment, which seems like an objective complaint (if perhaps to be expected for a game that has been in development as long as the current console generation has even existed). "The graphics are definitely not as good as they could have been."

Many reviewers have also complained that some weapons feel waaay overpowered for what, even in the movie Aliens, should be a survival horror genre; while other weapons were underwhelming for what they ought to have been capable of doing in the circumstances. I can't tell from your first impressions if you (subjectively?) agreed or not about the tone not matching genre expectations (although you seem happy as an Alien fan with the feel overall--and I daresay most of us here are fans of the property, myself included :) ), but you did agree that some weapons were underwhelming and some were overpowered. Maybe those are entirely subjective judgments, but you shared them in principle with reviewer complaints.

In the end, professional reviewers have, for the most part, elected to disrecommend the game except maybe after the price drops a lot. You wrote, "Notwithstanding the above, I'm not going to recommend this game.  It remains to be seen whether it is worth full price.  If it was $29.99, I'd say to go for it." That synchs up, although I'd say the general tenor of reviews has been don't even pay $30 for it.

You note that it doesn't seem fair to diss A:CM for things that the COD series has been notorious for doing recently. That seems like a fair judgment to me, but it also involves tacitly agreeing that there are a substantial number of objective game design and implementation factors shared demonstrably by both games which people are complaining about in one case thus unfairly not complaining about in the other case: if the issues were totally subjective, it wouldn't be unfair to complain about them in one game but not in the other.


In conclusion, there are objectively detectable and documented issues about the game, which many reviewers have been complaining about, some of which apparently only show up in the console versions so shouldn't be held against the PC, but a significant number of which complaints you actually agree about yourself: enough so that you wouldn't recommend the game yourself until it reaches around half-price, except maybe to fans of the property who might be willing to overlook the (objective) problems out of (subjective) enjoyment of the property. I really would be interested, as a fan of the property, too, in hearing from you or anyone else whether the objective problem-claims from reviewers that you haven't mentioned yet just haven't been a problem for the PC in your experience (thus explaining why you haven't mentioned them).

But I have to disagree about the complaints being only subjective and not, to a significant degree, also objective.

[undercovergeek]

^I wasn't even focusing on you. Guilty conscience, perhaps? Thanks, but I do not need your help with anything.  I didn't ignore anything you posted, your point was just a ridiculous one, I believe I made that abundantly clear in my reply. You're the one with the problem here dude.

Just for the record, I'm not arguing that A:CM is a great game.  I'm merely arguing that it is not nearly as bad as the vast majority of the uninformed (yes, that's you) are claiming it to be.  The graphics are not as bad, the AI is not as bad, the story is not as bad, the dialogue is not as bad, the sounds are not as bad, the action is not as bad...I stand by this 100%.  In fact, I'm so confident in it that I'm willing to make anyone this offer:

You buy the game from any retailer, digital or otherwise. You play it. Beat the campaign and play at least a few hours on MP.  If you do not walk away from it thinking it really is not as bad as everyone is saying, I will refund your cost of purchase, excluding tax/shipping, etc. This means generally, you would rate the game above a 4.5, which seems to be the generally accepted rating around the internet.

Here is the catch though.  you have to have demonstrated to me a sincere interest and enjoyment of FPS games.  You have to be able to show that you actively buy and play these types of games.  CoD, MoH, Crysis, Ghost Recon Future Soldier/Advanced Warfighter,  Farcry, etc. You also have to demonstrate that you are a fan of sci-fi and the Aliens movies.  This is critical, because I think this makes a real difference as to how much enjoyment one will get out of this particular game.

The first person to PM me and satisfy this criteria gets the job.  I'm only posting this in this website.  I generally know that everyone who posts here is a serious, honest gamer.  If you lie, I'm a mod, and can find out where you live.

i suppose now's the time to ask because its puzzled me for years now - how is EVERYONE, bar a few crazy exceptions, allowed to discuss openly their views, disagree with each other, argue even to the point of capitals and swearing and general 'i need to leave here for a few days and take a deep breath' - except you?

From an educated, professional, legal, military mind (yours not mine!) i find it exceptionally odd out of all of us here that youre the only one to stomp on anyones posts with terms such as ridiculous, irrelevant, and accuse me of having a problem with you or what you said because, and lets put it plainly, i disagree with you.

I dont understand why you imply i should be guilty? id look forward to anything you can put forward that brought you this conclusion

I dont want to argue with you here because i have more respect for this site than that, either PM me for more slanging matches or lets just leave it alone