Thread: Aliens Colonial Marines falls flat on its face.

lol CCCCOOOBBBRRRAAA!!!!

Originally Posted by 619summon

I was soo hoping this was gonna be like L4D aliens style.

It is, but they simply didn't finish the game. It's like a playable high price tag beta test.

Originally Posted by i8pptuakamonstercam

Theres alot of haters and trolling going on, there's alot of troll haters, and then there's people who are spot on and this is spot on.

A pity, because A:CM has actually been in development for a LONG time (I first remember reading about back in '08, IIRC). When I glanced here on the forums and saw the amount of interest in it these past few days before release, I took a serious look into it again. Dig the concept, always loved Aliens. Saw the trailer and it looked like LEFT 4 DEAD! IN SPACE! WITH ALIENS! Follow the leader, sure, but the L4D model of gameplay is a proven one, so I didn't mind so much. Seriously considered buying it say a month after release or so if it turned out to be, in fact, good.

But then I start hearing the rumors. Then I start digging. I have no faith in official gaming journalism now, not after what EA and Activision and the other big prick corps have done to the industry. So I'm finding text reviews that I can trust few and far between. Then I decide to look at videos, and it's meh. Graphics being meh is NEVER a problem for me anymore. You'd think that after how bloody successful Minecraft has been people would stop bitching about the eye candy and worry more about gameplay, design, and the artistic side of games (but no people are dumb). But after only two videos of the multiplayer (I brushed off the SP campaign immediately as being tacked on, considering the trailers were geared around showing off the MP aspect) I saw that the level design was uninspired and unatmospheric. If you want a game with better level design more faithful to the Aliens style and feel, look no further than Natural Selection 2 (which is impressive considering I haven't actually played that game).

They also included a bloody Deathmatch mode in a game they sold as Left 4 Aliens, which basically makes it another CoD wannabe except not as popular or proven (I may hate CoD but even the most vehement critic must admit that the system works to draw in and keep a player-base). Watching gameplay on the alien side made me feel like they were more reskinned Marines but without the guns - they move slowly, the wall-climbing is clumsy, and are visually similar despite having varied "classes." Even the most recent AvP game (which I'm not a fan of either) did a better job at giving each of three teams a fundamentally different playstyle, look, and feel (even if Marine was just cannon fodder and useless). The only redeeming factor in my eyes was the sound, which was basically ripped straight from the movie.

You know what would have been great? Remove fucking Deathmatch mode. Make your level design more like Natural Selection - claustrophobic, dark, creepy, and with many options for the more nimble and maneuverable alien team. Make the alien playstyle and control scheme unique, fundamentally different from the Marines - for example, an emphasis on fast, constant movement and/or stealth to keep from being instantly cut down by the powerful ranged weapons of the Marines, to get within range to one-hit-kill a Marine with a melee attack. Give them instant respawn so it feels like the Marines are really being attacked by a horde. For the Marines, seriously emphasize cooperative teamplay and objective-based gameplay - anyone remember Alien Swarm? A pity they never did anything beyond that first level, because it was fun having to run around a map with a specialized, customizable squad of human players defending against waves of endless weak enemies while completing specific objectives.

A:CM is yet another victim of the plague that has enveloped the gaming industry, that plague being the spectable-driven, "cinematic"-style, scripted event, big budget crapfest shoveled out by the big corporations every damn month. It's funny how the games this past year or so that have gotten the most positive buzz and enduring fanbase are the indie games - The Walking Dead, Minecraft, DayZ...hopefully consumers are finally starting to wake the fuck up. Games are not films. GOOD successful games realize this and design themselves as games first, not films. I was wowed by Call of Duty 4's campaign like everyone else. But I was just entering high school six years ago. I and a lot of other people were stupider and more easily entertained. And once you see copy-pasted shovelware after overhyped sequel, even some of the most hardcore fans can get jaded, much less the average consumer.

Well, that rant certainly escalated quickly.

Penny Arcade - Xenotriptych

Originally Posted by Guyver

Penny Arcade - Xenotriptych

This is unfortunately true. I'm only about 2-3 missions into the game and I'm already sick of the Military speak of these guys. I swear to God I can not listen to another stupid "military" AI in a game say Oorah. It is the most irritating and overused thing I have ever heard. I instantly hate any character now that says it. Abby, I think we need to rerecord the one on one where you asked me my most hated word, cause this one is about to make the list.

My general feeling of the game so far, like most, is that the game doesn't feel finished. It feels like a beta. The graphics look like Doom 3(which is still pretty good, but it feels lacking). It feels like some of the higher quality parts of the game are missing. The lights look like they need more bloom, explosions feel like they're missing sprites or particles, the animations(and the skeleton rigs) look clunky, and I've hit at least 4 bugs that forced me to restart the mission.

The game itself is still playable. It's "fun", but it does feel unfinished. I've yet to play the co-op or MP but I don't have high expectations.

Oh dear Adretheon, you didn't BUY this after everything I've been saying did you?