Aliens: Colonial Marines Review (PS3)

There was a lot of anticipation for Aliens:Colonial Marines, and more than a little generated by Gearbox (the primary developers behind the game, although Timegate were also involved). Hype can be great for a game that can live up to it but, like Haze and many others, can be poison for a title that can't match the high bar set by pre-release advertising. So it is for Aliens: Colonial Marines, a serviceable game but far below the expectations that were placed upon it.

The game starts with you (playing Corporal Winter) getting settled after waking up from cryogenic sleep on the USS Sephora, with some quality fan service as you get your hands on your very own pulse rifle. Assembling in a hangar bay, you and your squad are briefed by Captain Cruz that you're in orbit over LV-426, responding to a distress call from the USS Sulaco, sent out by Dwayne Hicks after the events of the original Aliens movie. Ordered onto the Sulaco to support two squads of marines sent over earlier, things rapidly fall apart, as Xenomorphs and other forces turn the mission from search-and-rescue to survival in the face of overwhelming odds.

Without going into story spoilers, you'll fight Aliens and humans in the USS Sulaco, the landscape of LV-426, Hadley's Hope and one other recognisable location from the Aliens movies, all the while following orders from Cruz and getting advice from your squad's own Bishop android (voiced excellently by Lance Henriksen, who played the Bishop that appeared in the movie). The story and script is fairly standard stuff, enjoyable enough but really just an excuse for the action - think B-grade sci-fi movie and you're on the right track. Similarly the characters never move beyond action-genre clichés - they're serviceable, and well acted, but you won't get the same depth of character that you'll find in the movie (which itself is hardly a model for in-depth character development).

If you're a big fan of the movies you will have to deal with the game taking liberties with iconic events. This is hardly unusual for games based on movie series (or movies based on books), but it is still likely to grate with fans. We won't give the story away, but if you're into the movies in a big way, go into the game expecting an Aliens atmosphere but some fairly hefty liberties taken with the story. It doesn't mean it's not enjoyable (I'm a big fan of the Lord of the Rings books, but I still enjoyed the movies, even though Peter Jackson butchered numerous story details, and many of the underlying key themes), but you'll probably be wondering why they had to mess with things, particularly as some of the attention to detail in referencing the movies is excellent.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is an FPS, and for most of the game you'll either be looking down your sights or looking at your motion tracker. The gunplay is solid, built around an arcade model where you'll be dealing with fairly low recoil and fast reload times, and works well if unspectacularly. You'll have access to a significant arsenal (which grows over the length of the game) of upgradeable weapons, as well as have the possibility of collecting signature weapons from the Aliens movie.

The gameplay aspect that sets Aliens:Colonial Marines apart from most other shooters, of course, is the aliens (known here as Xenomorphs, or 'Xenos'). The Xenos are split into a few different types, some rushing at you, some standing back and spitting acid, and others doing hit and run attacks from the shadows. While the AI is average at best, many of the stages spawn enemies from a range of different directions, forcing you to use your motion tracker to make sure you're not killed from behind (if you're playing on all but the easiest difficulty setting, getting attacked by surprise from behind won't end well). Xenos will run on walls and ceilings, duck from side-to-side, charge or leap straight at you and stand still doing nothing. Yup, that last one probably isn't Gearbox's desired result.

The game uses the motion tracker well, throwing in signals that don't end up attacking you, but disappear. There are also Xenos that don't move, which you'll hear them breathing but not see anything on the tracker, adding to the suspense and uncertainty. The encounters are generally tense affairs, and fighting the Xenos makes a refreshing change from fighting humans in your standard shooters. There are also some corridor shoots which are less exciting and tense, but these are over quickly. The AI issues and lacklustre visuals (more on that below) mean that the action is from perfect, but there is fun to be had here, as long as your expectations aren't set too high.

The combat against humans (of which there are 2 full levels, as well as others where they alternate with the Xenos) is far less noteworthy, and is just a below-average sci-fi shooter. It all works, but beyond having to flank a turret or an APC, it's fairly standard stuff. The AI and enemy variation is about on par with that found in your average modern Call of Duty's single player, and if you've played a couple of modern arcade shooters, you've seen it all before. Unfortunately, this lack of freshness (unless you haven't played many shooters in the last few years) means that what could have been an exciting variation in gameplay comes off as dull and uninspired.

Friendly AI is no better - it's not bad, but it's not good either. Your team-mates are more effective at taking out Xenos than they are with enemies in your average Call of Duty or the last couple of Medal of Honor games, but they'll also get stuck on parts of the environment, and on more than one occasion were teleported ahead by the game engine to ensure progression (which, while clumsy, is better than not being able to progress at all).

The game generally does a good job of mixing up the pace of the experience, from frantic 'last stand' moments against Aliens to quiet traversal of environments, with sporadic pings on your motion tracker adding to the suspense. This breaks down a bit in the last couple of levels, though, which degenerate into almost constant firefights with little variation in pace. The game unfortunately culminates in a final boss fight that is clunky and relies more on trial and error (and a bit of luck) than skill.

The graphics are by far and away the weakest element of Aliens:Colonial Marines, but you wouldn't know this from visiting the game's official site. Accurate images for this review were hard to find because most of the shots on the web are taken from the official photos from the game's internet site, which unfortunately bear little resemblance to how the game actually looks. The game is lucky its 'honesty in advertising' is not being reviewed, as it'd be down in the 2 out of 10 range....

Anyway, while the action is a mix of good and bad, with some freshness thrown in, the visuals are consistently sub-standard for this stage of the generation. The animations are stuttery, with missing frames leading to jerky Marine movement and the feeling that Xenos are sometimes teleporting rather than leaping at you. The poor and missing animations also mean you get no feedback (beyond flashing hit markers) when shooting Xenos (or humans), which lowers the level of immersion. Textures vary in quality, and are generally passable, but are let down by decidedly five-year old lighting, which makes everything look flat.

The plus side on the graphics is that the visual design adheres extremely closely to what you'll have seen in the movies. The dropships, APCs, weapons, environments and character models are as true to the movies as the engine allows and help you feel like you're in the Aliens universe.

Unlike the visuals, the sound in Aliens:Colonial Marines is solid at worst and excellent at best, not least because it borrows heavily from the Aliens movie. The sound effects feel spot-on, and the voice actors do an excellent job of making the most of the uninspired script. The music is well balanced, sitting in the background and building mood, without distracting from gameplay. Some may find the continual pinging of the pulse rifle gets on their nerves, but if this is the case, then they can always break out the far more 'standard'-sounding shotgun, battle rifle, assault rifle or submachine gun.

If you've played a few shooters this gen you'll jump right into the controls - they generally conform to the genre standards (R1 to shoot, L1 to aim down the sights, square to reload and so on) and do the job well. The interface for the game is also well put together, with well designed menus and easy access to everything you want to get to. The only complaints I'd have is that you can't invite people to a competitive multiplayer game mid-round (but the drop-in, drop-out coop works excellently). Loading times are relatively short, and checkpoints are reasonably placed.

There are two sides to multiplayer in Aliens: Colonial Marines, and both work well. You can either play coop campaign, or jump into four different competitive modes, all of which are worth a look if you've got the game.

While the coop is just the story campaign with friends (nothing to sniff at, of course), the versus multiplayer brings something new to the online multiplayer arena, providing well-designed and implemented assymetric gameplay. Each game is made up of two rounds, with both sides playing the Xenos and the Marines, in remarkably well-balanced encounters given the differences in play between the two species. Games were fast and intense, playing as the Xenos (who can climb walls and ceilings, leap from the shadows, and see nearby Marines through walls) is quick to pick up but there’s plenty to learn and master. Importantly, the netcode was solid (it’s peer-to-peer, and there is lag, but it’s playable with hosts from the US and Europe), which is important given the relatively small player base.

Playing as the marines, the game encourages teamwork like no other online shooter we’ve seen, as lone marines are easy fodder for a couple of Xenos (but a squad of coordinated Marines are a tough nut to crack). Marines don’t have classes, but can mix up weapons loadouts to focus on short (Shotgun), mid (Pulse Rifle) and long (Battle Rifle) range, and can acquire rocket launchers, flamethrowers and the smart gun (a gun with a lock on, very handy against nimble Xenos) as ‘pick-up weapons’ mid-game. The Aliens come in three classes (Warrior – you’re melee combatant, Spitter – a ranged spitter of acid and Lurker – a hit and run specialist), with the unlockable Crusher (a rhino-like creature with a stomp and charge, heavy armour on its front but a much weaker body) and the Boiler (an acid mutation alien that explodes when dies and has a powerful acid spray spit attack).

You’ll face off across four different modes, all worth of a look:

• Escape - 4v4 with no set time limit – the game ends when Marines "Escape" (by completing a sequence of objectives) or Xenos kill them all. Fun, but had least amount of maps (although each map was unique as it was larger to fit the needs of the mode).
• Survival –Marines have to survive for 10 mins, Xenos have to kill them (Xenos can respawn, Marines can’t, although they can be revived). A great mode that stays true to the feel of the movie.
• Extermination – Marines are tasked with destroying clusters of eggs, Xenos to defend them. Two areas open at each time, which keeps the gameplay fluid.
• Team Deathmatch – the standard setup we’ve seen in other games, but the asymmetric gameplay gives it a bit more appeal. Best range of maps of the four modes.

It’s not all roses though. There are only a limited amount of maps, and the level cap (level 60) is easily reachable, limiting replayability. If the host leaves mid-game, the whole lobby closes down, and matchmaking is average at best, with decent waits required to find a lobby, even in the first week of release (so if you are interested in the MP, better to get in sooner rather than later), but we’d recommend a rental first. Voice communications were patchy as well – if you didn’t have a great host, or were playing in a US/European lobby, conversations could be scratchy to the point of indecipherable. Further, some of the later-game Xeno unlocks made a huge difference to their effectiveness, making life harder for new starters. While the deep unlock and customisation system does add replay value and gives players something to play for, it also feels a little derivative of other popular shooters.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a hard game to score. Looking at it solely as a game, there's fun to be had, and playing against Xenos in SP, as well as the MP in general, mixes up the standard FPS gameplay. However, the graphics, AI and last few levels let down the single player, while the graphics, stuttery animation, lag and choppy voice communications stop the multiplayer experience from standing out (despite the unique and innovative nature of the gameplay). For die-hard Aliens fans that have been building themselves up for this game, lapping up all of the promotional material, you have to be ready for a good deal of disappointment. While the game is solid (just a little below average), the marketing for it is downright dishonest, and any negative feedback Sega get for this is thoroughly deserved.