Aliens: Colonial Marines. A Bug Ridden Ride

(Source: Gearbox Software, SEGA and 20th Century Fox)

When The Rolling Stones and the internet said Aliens: Colonial Marines was one of the top 50 worst video games of all time, Gearbox Software came under fire from fans and video game journalists alike, partially because of how the Alien Franchise was well respected as a Hollywood Classic. To compare the previous installment, Aliens Vs Predator in 2013, which I may review it next week, let's go into the reasons why this nest is full of bugs.

Aliens: Colonial Marines was first revealed to the world at the 2011 E3 by Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software, fans were delighted to know that Sega and 20th Century Fox ha acknowledge that the Aliens franchise isn't dead. The game had graphics that look promising for a 2013 video game with the same action/horror elements and atmosphere just as Aliens 2 delivered. Now as a huge fan, you would think that Gearbox finally delivered a game that would make fans scream in joy right? No.

(At least they did capture the essence of H.R.Giger’s influence to the game)

I bought the game during the last Steam Summer Sale as paying the full price for a game with its reputation isn’t worth it. On release, the game looked nothing like we’re promised. Dull lighting and clunky controls on mouse and keyboard, terrible graphics that made 1993”s Doom looked like a masterpiece (And It Still Is), watered down/dumb AI enemies and teammates that will let you down just like my college coursemates. A generic plot that and story that played like a Call Of Duty campaign all the more makes it lack potential, even for an Alien fan myself. As a silver lining, the soundtrack and the sweet pulse rifle fire makes up its flaws, but even that gets redundant after a while.

(Free Hugs!)

(This guy literary bugged out [no pun intended] by stucking in a loop of unfinished animations)

The story begins right after the Movie, Aliens 2, which Ellen Ripley, Corporal Hicks and Newt survived after the events of Alien 2. Your character, Corporal Winters and Rhino 2-1 were assigned to investigate what happened aboard the USS Sulaco. Storywise it did not go well as expected with so many in game issues going on as stated above which ruined the experience. The guns were fun to shoot, the multiplayer servers is dead, and then SEGA decided to resell the game as a full package for RM9.90 as a last act of desperation. All in all, ACM remains today as a poor victim of corporate greed through downgrading, which prompted SEGA to pull the licence from Gearbox and then released the far superior, Alien: Isolation in 2014.