Such a disappointment coming from Gearbox Software, the creators of the Borderlands franchise. To keep the long story short; Aliens: Colonial Marines is everything I didn't want it to be.

i gave it a six out of ten, basically i enjoyed the game, it wasn't until it was pointed out that the game was nothing like what the demo promised i felt cheated a little, but hoping the devs can do something to keep supporting the franchis with animation,Ai and texture upgrades, and hopefully do what Bioware did with ME3 and release some "extended version" DLC cutscenes to better explain the storyline. I hope gearbox, and Randy don't abandon this franchise, it CAN BE MADE RIGHT you can start by releasing a HD texture pack and a lighting overhaul… Expand

I'd been looking forward to this game for quite a while and my initial reaction to single player was massive disappointment. The AI of both enemies and friendlies leaves a lot to be desired. I'd often lose my AI team mates, or they'd get stuck or even more annoying frequently walk in the way. The team mate damage was pitiful but it's a common thing when you play single player shooters, you are supposed to be the one doing the killing. The single player levels are repetitive, aim down sights is actually fairly inaccurate and the graphics weren't at the quality they were represented in 'gameplay demos'. The story and characters were also lacking in depth, nothing really drew me into the aliens universe.

All that being said the multiplayer gameplay really shines. I enjoyed all game modes and despite a few problems in the days after release with matchup delays in AU I found it a really enjoyable experience and made the pre-order cost worth the money I paid ($35 AU on GMG).

Overall the game is ok, but all of the real aliens feel of the game for me came from the multiplayer. At the time of writing there are still a few glitches with character voices which can be mostly overlooked, often the marines call out when they are dead or just use sound bytes that aren't relevant to the activity.… Expand

First off I enjoyed this game to a point, there are however some glaring problems that just should not have made it through to the final product. AI dropping off completely, this happens all the time. A team member will randomly just stand around doing nothing; enemies will walk straight past them as they stare off blankly into space. Aliens will find a spot to zone out and wait for you to shoot them. This can be a problem if you are required to kill everything in some points of the game to progress onwards, it did not happen to me but if it does happen it will be game breaking.

Textures, there are so many bad textures, Gearbox are terrible for this, optimisation is no excuse on a PC version of a game. In 2013 I should not be looking at textures in a game that aren’t even up to par with the original Alien vs. Predator. That is where my complaints end, I didn’t notice any kill streaks or such garbage during my play through, the story had decent pacing and some decent elements and a few good twists to the Alien creature itself that made for some good reference material when thinking back to the movies. There are a few eye roll moments and some small plot holes, that don’t have much of a negative impact on the plot. It is a big fan service, and people who aren’t diehard fans of the franchise will be left feeling a bit ripped off.

The gun play was quite good, the sound assets were brilliant, there could however be a bit more kick to the rifles, all they do is spread. The old pulse rifle needs to have a bit of jump to it and the fact that the grenade launcher by default is the “f” key makes for some frustrating moments as being used to other games that the use key is f will get you killed in a close quarters situation, like trying to open a door. It’s an easy rebinding, but still a pain that it was not really well thought out.
Overall I give AcM a 6/10, it definitely needs work. Hopefully the modding community will get on top of a texture pack, and Gearbox will patch the godforsaken AI. It’s not going to be for everyone, and I can understand the disappointment in it, saying to go in without expectations for the canonical sequel to one of the best sci-fi movies ever made is stupid, I would say that diehard fans should check it out when at the very least a decent patch comes out. Shame on you Gearbox, you can do so much better.… Expand

I was waiting for this game since last year. I was hoping that this game will be good because there are lots of alien games to be release this year (crysis 3, dead space). I was really disappointed and was hoping a lot more from this franchise.

Broken AI. It doesnt have the good atmosphere or the suspense.... Really what a let down!! and like the other reviewers said the Graphics are outdated, animation and blood/acid effects are very poor, sounds effects are very nice but what we have here strikes me as overall unfinished, unpolished, rushed, underdone.

I love this game, it worth every penny I spent. Seriously people, it's not that bad. Let's look at the problem people are talking about: Graphic Sucks Alright, I can related to this, the graphic is very poor, textures has really low resolution, and no “Real” anti-aliasing options make things looks jaggy at times. But to say it's horrible? I'm sure you guys hasn't played FEAR 3 b 3 before, it's graphic is way worst than ACM, it's story is uninspired and makes no sense at all, but it scores 7.5 on gamespot, really? If we apply the standard people enforce on ACM, every game needs to have Crysis level graphics and big-shot writer script to be call a decent game. But since it's obviously we don't judge a game by it's graphics, than why does ACM gets so much more hate for this?


AI is stupid, no challenge unless play the hardest difficulty

I finished the game on Soldier difficulty, I don't even know where is this opinion coming from, the AI is fine in my opinion. Yes sometimes your AI teammates get stuck on some places, but it's not like it never happened to other games before, and for me it only happens 1~2 times so it didn't bothers me at all. Enemy Xenomorph are fairly intelligent, I heard people are complaining about “They only charge at you, they don't flank you or anything.” I have to say from my own experience, the xenos can move very fast and surround you very quickly if you don't have a good aim, also they pounce at you from a distance sometimes, makes you have to keep pressing E to survive, I say they are fairly challenging. Don't forget the Xenos outnumbering the player by a huge percentage, if they all play hide and seek and being very smart, marines won't have a chance! You wouldn't have a game here.


Story makes no sense, bad ending.

I partially agree with this, the game could use a better story, the ending is a bit abrupt yes, but understandable.(sort of) But even though, I don't think the story is THAT bad, not bad enough to warrant all the hate it got anyway.


Ultimately, I think it comes down to the mindset you got when you play the game. If you got all hyped up by the PR, then you probably going to be very disappointed. But when I play this game I walk into it with one simple mindset

”Kill Xenomorph with Pulse Rifle and Smartgun, visit Sulaco and LV-426, experience the scenes from the movie ”

And I got everything I was paying for, so for me, this game rocks, as for people who expected more than this, unless RIDLEY SCOTT and JAMES CAMERON themselves are working on this project, you are expecting too much from Gearbox.… Expand

This game is the worst game i haved ever wasted my time on. The AI is horrible, graphics are far below average and the story is boring. Don't waste your money on this game, if you are a die-hard aliens fan and absolutely MUST have everything with the brand name on it then at least wait until you can get it used for 10$ or something like that.

Randy Pitchford LIED the whole 7 years to us and put this game off for his other Crap IP that when he made this contract with sega, didn't exist. He stole money from sega to make Borderlands and then didn't even work on this game! Where is the stand off game modes? All the other game features not in there? Where is the Demo!!! ALL A LIE. Do not buy or play this game. I waited for this game since 2001 and like all things aliens i knew it would suck, and with all the delays from borderlands too Duke we all knew this game would suck. Now this proves Pitchford is a lair. And borderlands is crap.… Expand

Pros: Graphics are fitting to the gameplay, Story line is well done and fitting in nicely with the movies story lines. Marines don't move at super speeds so its not a twitch shooter. Hardest setting makes it feel like movies. Running out of ammo and bugs coming out of the walls and you'll dead fast if your not watching your step.

Cons: Multiplayer is a little weak due to no AI aliens to help swarm the marines...It would be something nice to see if added... Deathmatch and cap the flag modes are dull.... Seen a few bugs with the AI friendly/foes yet I've seen this in games such as Skyrim and so on... With a few patches should be good.. Is this game worth your time Yes if you like Aliens... Far better than the AVP games… Expand

An absolute joke of a game. Terrible graphics that look extremely aged. Generic COD style gameplay, with more human enemies than aliens. Terrible writing, the story and dialogue was awful. AI in this game is so bad, it seems unfinished. The multiplayer will be dead in no time, so I wouldn't bother getting this for the multiplayer. Overall, it's crap.

It is not just about outdated graphics, Gearbox presented this game as a OFFICIAL sequel to the Cameron's ALIENS movie which influenced most of the Science Fiction games and some movies for a very long time. The game itself feels like a game made in less than a year by someone who does not give a damm about the outcome. And here it is, everyone is annoyed with Gearbox, Randy Pitchford does not like to be called a liar and deletes negative feedback on his Twitter.

This game is a lie, the demo that was presented on E3 looks nowhere like the final product. It is just disapointing.

This game is garbage and it is not worth at all.… Expand

Biggest pile of crap I've seen in a long time, if i could rate it lower than zero I would. Rubbish campaign, laughable AI, the population online is around 200 people worldwide according to some reports I've seen. Don't bother wasting your money on this. screw Gearbox.

As a MASSIVE Aliens fan, I was beyond upset with this game (I literally cried because of how bad this game was). Other than the decent multiplayer, some pretty cool environments, and the awesome sounds and music in the game, they did NOTHING right! The Xenos behave oddly and tend to clip into the environment, the story is bland and boring! Not to mention the unbelievably retarded plot twist! The graphics are just an eye sore, even for me! I rarely complain about graphics but after seeing the demo, the retail version is just awful. The characters are boring and uninteresting. The A.I. of your marine companions is just down right stupid and the coop is just broken! And then we get to the WORST part of the game. You spend 2/3 of the game FIGHTING HUMANS! NOT the aliens, but the humans! Why would you put human enemies in an ALIENS GAME?!?!?! Even worse these parts feel more like a Call of Duty game than an Aliens game. Avoid this game at ALL costs! If you need an Aliens fix, go get AvP 1, 2, or 3. This game isn't worth your time. If it wasn't for the multiplayer, and even then it's broken and very unbalanced, this game would get a 0 from me. I am SO upset.… Expand

First cancelled in 2001, then in development since 2006 and cancelled twice again and then released in 2013, just 3 years after AVP remake and what did we get? Graphics lamer than AVP 2010, enemies with worst AI since Rogue Warrior, more game bugs than "bugs" in the game, unimpressive plot, dumb dialogs and voice acting, the biggest failure of 2013 an a game that will end up in Top 10 Worst Games/Disappointing Games of the decade 2010-2019. The only things that saved this game from getting a 2/10 from me is the commiseration of guns and aliens in Multiplayer and the search for legendary stuff from the original Aliens movie. Over all if you wanna waste time and if you like to shoot and find out secrets like in Doom and to have a good laugh from the glitches and AI then play Colonial Marines.… Expand

I won't waste time retreading the same ground everyone else and point out one simple fact, it's made by Gearbox.

Gearbox is and always has been a mediocre game developer. Their big claim to fame is borderlands which is essentially if you put world of warcrafts boring quest system into a wasteland, put it in first person mode, then tout how it has millions of guns but the fact is 1 out of 10,000 are actually an upgrade (repainting the same crummy pistol 5,000 times doesn't make 5,000 different guns) and finally start pimping DLC for the game before it even releases and then keep releasing more to nickel and dime your customers to death by turning a 60 dollar turd into a 100 dollar turd. They also made duke nukem forever which as we all know is a giant steaming pile of you know what and is a god awful abortion from start to finish. The best games they actually made were the brothers in arms games which aren't as terrible as those other two games but its still incredibly sterile, generic and uninspired. BIA is your basic mediocre WW2 shooter and nothing else. They have a few other games under their belt but they are all titles no one really cares about and faded into obscurity as soon as they were released. Bottom line is Gearbox is a terrible game maker and this is a terrible game.

Now for a quickie about colonial marines.

The story is nothing short of fan fiction written by someone who cannot write but still posts to their blog and believes themselves to be a great writer. It's kind of like how a young girl will take pictures of furniture sitting in a shadow in black and white and then think they are really deep and brooding for taking such artistic photographs when in fact it's just garbage. They tried to wink at the fans so hard their eyes have fallen out because of it. Everything about it feels very amateur, boring and forced. It feels more like they did a sci-fi channel original aliens movie, or something that went direct to video.

The game is buggy as you can get. I've flown out the side of things and floated high in the air stuck. I've had allies that would stick in walls. Hell I found out in section you were supposed to be stealthy starting out and I just ran past every alien and once I passed them they forgot about me and I finished a level without firing a shot. I see environmental objects get stuck in things and so on.

All the pretty and cool looking screenshots and videos I've been seeing for over a year from now weren't from the same game they released. You can easily find comparison videos showing the game released looks just awful compared to the "in game footage" they showed in the past.

Multiplayer is very sterile and pretty much what you'd expect. It's so boring in fact that multiplayer will be a ghost town in 2 months.

The game play its pretty much call of duty. It's just a mix of "it's the last stand....again" and "quick run through fast as you can" with some boring corridor stalking in between.

I could go into great depth, I could go on and on naming other things I didn't like but you can read other Amazon reviews and see exactly what I've got to say.

So really if you must play this, wait till its 10 dollars. Trust me it won't take very long before it gets there. And next time, don't pay full price for a Gearbox title.… Expand

Si bien el juego se ve antiguo, es un gran juego.. la campaña dura solamente 6 horas, pero tiene mucha rejugabilidad por el sistema de lvl y desbloqueos de armas/mejoras. La IA es absurdamente tonta, pero jugando en coop es donde el juego brilla y se hace realmente divertido.
las texturas son similares a las que tiene el juego Rage de ID Software, de cerca son horribles, pero mirando dessde cierta distancia la ambientacion es muy bien lograda.
El juego podria ser mejor? si
pero lo compensa con un modo multiplayer que cuando funciona, es realmente divertido.
mi puntaje es un 7, y si hubiera tenido mejores graficas el puntaje seria mayor.… Expand

I realize a lot of people are pissed about the long development and the over-hyping from the publishers, but as a serious fan of the films, I found A:CM enjoyable and worthwhile. I pre-paid my $50 and I don't feel like I've been ripped off, especially since I started diving into the multiplayer modes, which I already know I'm going to spend WAY too much time with. Some specifics:

PROS: It's fun! I enjoyed the hell out of the SP campaign, warts and all. Yeah, it's a bit short, but the challenges, some of which are really difficult, and the hidden items (dog tags, legendary weapons, audio logs) give it replay value. I'll probably give it another go on the hardest difficulty. A few of the sections are truly difficult, and I like that there's no quicksave/quickload option it makes the sequences a lot more suspenseful than other shooters where you can save every 5 seconds. Several of the sequences were downright nerve-wracking, such as the alien zombies that respond to sound, and the final battle with the Queen. I've only spent a few hours with the MP modes but I can already tell I'm going to become obsessed with leveling up my profiles. Playing as the xenomorphs is unexpectedly fun and rewarding once you get the hang of it. CONS: SP campaign story is pretty freaking silly. I've seen these movies hundreds of times (literally) and the attempt to connect ALIENS and ALIEN 3 while keeping Hicks alive is beyond ludicrous (his "explanation" of who was in his ejected cryotube on the EEV is a howler for the ages). Having Hicks in this story is totally unnecessary fan service. I love that you run across Hudson's corpse at one point, and I even like the legendary weapons and the dog tags that are spread everywhere (even though they're found in locations that the movie characters could have never been in). They work in references to all the movies even PROMETHEUS, which doesn't make a shred of sense, obviously, but I appreciated the effort. Overall, though, it's the setting you play for and on my PC with everything maxed out the locations looked great. Some tearing here and there, but the aliens are very detailed. The AI is not great, but not the worst I've ever seen either. I DEFINITELY wouldn't describe it as "broken" as so many others had. The cut-scenes are not very good, however. The dialogue/acting is fine (well, okay, the dialogue is often pretty awful) but the facial detail/animation is really bad and looks unfinished. And the scenes appear to be rendered in 720p, or maybe even lower.

In closing, maybe this should have had more polish it before it shipped, but it is nowhere close the trainwreck everyone is complaining about. Taken out of context of the ridiculous hype, it's a solid, fun shooter that any fan of the films is likely to enjoy for many, many hours.… Expand

It has some glaring issues that could be repaired in future patches. From a single player perspective, the writing is sub-standard although supposed to be canon and there are portions of voice acting where the NPC's sound as if they don't care for the script. Even still, with a multiplayer group, and the highest difficulty settings some fun may still be had by a few gamers. I wouldn't recommend it for someone solely wishing to play single-player mode, as it has no new game or replay value.… Expand

A game that is not that good in overall. I have played at my friend's PS3 and the graphics were even worse that on PC. My deal is, why on earth is the DEMO look even nicer than the original game? Who would pay 49.99 USD for a game that looks like a 2003 one?
As for the gameplay, it just sucks due to the amount of details not added in the original game from the demo. Weird storyline in overall. All thanks to their ridiculous management by handing the game to a infamous company.… Expand

When I first heard of the bad reviews in Aliens: Colonial Marines, that's when I actually started watching Aliens the movies. I wasn't even born at the time the movies got released and I never had much interest in that, but since I've been a gamer since I was a kid, I wanted to like Colonial Marines. I watched the movies, to get up to date with the story, and I loved it. The atmosphere, the sound, the special effect (by the times standards) were amazing. And that is exactly everything what Colonial Marines missed. There is no atmosphere as the Xenomorphs just come running towards you in stead of lurking in the shadows, the sounddesign is sooo poorly done it barely makes me care about anything that is happening, and the graphics are mediocre at its very best. I decided to give it a 4/10 because this game actually made me watch the movies and made me love them. It could have been an okay 6/10 title if they would have released it as an indie game.… Expand

I was really excited for this game, it was in development for quite a while but the end product wasn't the best outcome. The AI is TERRIBLE espically your teamate AI's they always seem to get in your way. The fact that a lot of the missions involve you fighting other humans was also a HUGE let down. I mean a little bit of human skirmishes would have been alright but the amount of missions that you fight them is ridiculus, The game is pretty fun Co-op wise. P.S The boss battle takes like 2 minutes to beat.… Expand

Obviously not everyone's cup of tea, however I was surprised how fun this game was, I mean I read the reviews and didn't expect much but I bought it just because I a a huge fan of the movies. I was expecting something not so good but I ended up with a very fun game, especially if you co-op with some buddies. I can honestly say that this game is way underrated, I mean just look at COD black ops 2 which is a horrible game, possibly the worst fps I ever played and it gets what? like 80 metascore? please give me a break, that game deserves nothing over 50 and I would say ACM deserves about 70 from an objective point of view.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I made a account just to write the review, This is by far one of the biggest letdowns i have ever experianced, even bigger than the time you find out santa wasnt real. For those that think this is a worthy sequel to the movies are dead wrong, the story is so garbage, and even when you find out about a main character from the Aliens movie about how they got there he says and i quote "Well thats another story" a HUGE slap in the face for fans of the movie. The aliens dont feel like aliens, they run on the walls, jump off and jump right in front of your rifle making easy kills and turning them into cannon fodder, infact i found them to be so stupid i found fighting the mercs more harder, until you reach the spitters, In fact you keep fighting the mercs more than the aliens, WHICH IS NOT WHAT I WANT TO FIGHT IN A ALIENS GAME! There are some positives in the game, One particular mission called The Raven i found to be fun and scary. In this mission you have your guns taken away and must escape a Large xeno which you cannot kill in any means until you reach the end, during this you are chased deeper into the sewer where you find what became of hudson and just after that you find tons of husks of zenomorphs only to find out that some are still alive and very dangerous, you must move silently and quietly through the sewer as these zenos are blind but will explode if they find you. The new guns they have added fit right in the game as if they were always there, the sounds are all genuine and locations are movie accurate...however that does not spare it from the horrible AI from both the enemy and your Ally team mates, not to mention the horrible story which should have never left the planning room, i hate to say this but this feels like a bait and switch if you saw the 2011 demo link here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7xFSYsy0rk 7:50 minutes in is the best example, when you do get to what could be that point in the game it is nowhere near as epic as shown in the demo.

The only real fun you can have is with the multiplayer, lots of customisation for both marines and xenos, not to mention grusome executions when playing as zeno. However even this is not worth the ammount of money they are asking. My only wish is that they will somehow be able to drag this out of the toliet and give this the love and attention that was shown in the 2011 demo....… Expand

Don't even bother. This game looked absolutely amazing in the trailer, but like so many others fell flat on it's face. It's a disgrace to mar the Aliens franchise with this BS.

First of all, the pulse rifle doesn't sound right. Secondly, it's over powered. You can tear an alien to shreds by merely showing it your weapon, yet human opponents can take several hits before they die.. duh, ok.

Aside from that unforgivable oversight, the game is VERY boring. Level design is pish, AI is pish, no tension, no action, BORING!!! That's about as much as I'm going to say, as this title doesn't justify the time I've already wasted on it. Gearbox, srsly.… Expand

I could not put more than 10min into this! I can forgive week graphics, the lame story, dumb UI design ,and really REALLY bad voice actors who seamed like they were sleep talking...; but I can not get past the fact that this is not even close to finished. The AI does not seem to care if I am even playing. I can walk right up to the aliens and they ignore me because they seem to be perfecting the "harlem shake". Get this, you can play with a buddy in co-op on the same screen... BUT you can not play verses with them on the same screen... WTH I am so pissed at this game I am writing this review.... I am so pissed that I want my $2 dollars and 10mins back from renting this garbage! Duke Nukem was better!… Expand

Although visually 'pretty' the, the game was let down by over-dramatics and odd musical themes. I would be looking elsewhere, probably minecraft for my next gaming fix. Thanks a lot.

The game itself is not THAT bad, i would give it 4/10 compared to other current AAA game releases.
However, the amount of lies and misinformation from Gearbox should be punished so that other companies will learn the lesson from this. Hence the 0/10 rating.

Is Sega’s attempt at staying “true” to the Aliens Franchise really worth it? Reviewing Aliens: Colonial Marines

The is Back!! The Aliens franchise has been through numerous sequels and mash ups and with the most recent origin story, Prometheus, the series has only become more forgettable. With Colonial Marines, it is now Sega’s turn to take up the banner of this once glorious franchiseranchise. Read on to know more about their attempts to make the audience sit back and take notice.

Read More: http://gamingimho.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/is-segas-attempt-at-staying-true-to-the-aliens-franchise-really-worth-it-reviewing-aliens-colonial-marines/… Expand

This game is nothing at all what the trailers promised. Weapons to be upgraded and customized in whichever way you choose, programmed by the creators of borderlands 2? This game is nothing but a half-assed piece of I find it hard to believe that this game took 4 years to complete because the creators of minecraft mods are able to create something much more creative and fun in a much shorter amount of time. True minecraft may be easier to work with when you don't have to worry about many things like graphics, but that's what so sad about it, minecraft doesn't need to be a fancy game to be fun. This game is an abomination and will more than likely leave a scar on the face of gearbox's franchise. If they hope to redeem themselves, then they had better work out a large rework of the game as well as some interesting DLCs for those who pre-purcased or purchased the season pass. Sadly this kind of lazy programming isn't exactly something unexpected as in borderlands 2 it runs rampant as well as the fanboy/girl programmers seemed to be too busy making easter eggs to reference other games and t.v. shows that they failed to do things such as perceive that a melee skill tree isn't too viable in a game based on mainly guns or that perhaps they need another use for eridium besides sdu upgrades, which become quickly maxed out, and raid bosses, which i don't understand the point of using eridium for anyways. Anyhow if gearbox isn't willing to give a full refund for all who purchased the game, especially those who pre-purchased it, then they honestly deserve to go under for their horrendous attention to their (once) loyal customers.… Expand

So this is Gearbox and its CEO:s Randy Pitchford dreamproject which they hyped so much. Pile of absolute garbage with full pricetag and deceiving advertising, like that demo they showed before release which actually looked decent. Talk about deception and lying. You had six years time to finish this and we get this, mediocre shooter with five hour campaign, aliens you can ran past, and human opposites. Who wants to shoot humans in Aliens game? Shame on you Gearbox!… Expand

This is NOT a game! Because games are funny and pretty but this game is terrible. Please anyone not buy this game. Sorry Gearbox, not well, so terrible.I think "hah is this a game?"

The marriage of a first-person shooter and the Alien franchise should be a perfect fit, especially from Gearbox, a team rooted in the genre. And yet, the pairing eludes a happy ending once again. Aliens: Colonial Marines isn't disappointing because it couldn't live up to lofty expectations, it's disappointing because it turned out to be such an unfettered disaster.

Thats the first and last time I preorder a game. I was never so disapointed like for this game. 49 EUR for a game, that is unfinished and comes with a really lousy graphic.

save yourself the frustration and money and buy something else,having pre ordered this i was expecting a reasonable quality game,considering all the hype and pre release videos,needless to say,i was conned.
utter garbage from a top shelf company.
the best thing about this game was the sound of the pulse rifle.
even with the patch,its hardly worth playing. Tombraider shows what a quality release should be,and this is just second rate at best.

A:CM to be avoided like the plague… Expand

Waste of money. DO NOT BUY. Has the story of a fan-fiction, repetitive boring gameplay, annoying bugs, worst A.I ever, and the multiplayer is pretty bad. Entertained me a bit, but not before that experience being ruined by a crappy bug or just getting bored.

This game is not all its cracked up to be. pretty let down by this one. average graphics, tedious storyline, substandard weapons, cheesy in game conversations. shame could have been so much better!

Worst game ever created by Gearbox (TimeGate). Gearbox, you lost 50% of my trust in you. At least Borderlands shows that you have talent. Use your good men and women on only one project and concentrate, don´t hire other idiots to do the job like Timegate. You fools! Terrible AI, ugly graphics, low atmosphere, bad animations, boring and uninteresting story and the boss fight is a slap in thhe face for all fans. At least Mutliplayer is good, balanced and makes fun. Even the Co-Op is a joke if you compare it to Killing Floor or Left 4 Dead, Payday The Heist. We expected more tension in Co-Op, but what to expect by such ugly graphics which can´t produce enough atmosphere to let the aliens look terrifying. They feel like no danger and they die to easily. The developers threw them against you like they had nothing else to offer as danger in this game, than hordes of aliens and HUMANS! Who wants to shoot humans in such a boring game? It´s getting even more boring. A total fail. There´s one dense scene though, were you have to sneak, but thats no reason to buy it. Take it from the shelf and spit on it.… Expand

The worst game i have played in the last 2 years. The story is complete Bulls**t and doesn't fully acknowledge the films. The graphics are terrible, even on the PC. The multiplayer is broken and very frustrating to play.

Game Play 3
Story 1
Multiplayer 2
Graphics -1

First off, I'd like to say that I miss the absence of ironsights in games. Just leveling your crosshair over a monster and pressing the fire button was satisfying, and made you feel like a badass. Nowadays, firing from the hip is a sure way to never hit your target if you use anything other than a shotgun.

That being said, I'd like to add another preface. I LOVE the Alien and Predator franchises, and my first true 3D shooter (I don't count Doom as true 3D. It used 2D sprites) was Aliens versus Predator 2. I treasured that game. I played it over and over. When AvP 2010 came out, I almost messed my pants. I loved that one too, but not as much as AvP 2. The one thing those two had in common was the LACK OF IRON SIGHTS. Sci-Fi games that take place in the future shouldn't have iron sights. That mechanic is there to add a sense of realism to the game.

ANYTHING INVOLVING THE ALIENS FRANCHISE IS ANYTHING BUT REALISTIC. So why have ironsights in Colonial Marines? I didn't see anybody using a scope or sights in the movie. They all fired from the hip. So why inject a military shooter mechanic into a sci-fi/horror game? I'll tell you: To cater to the CoD jocks and Battlefield frat boys. I just need to say that this needs to stop. Some of us don't want realism or a cover system in our RPGs (Mass Effect 2 and 3) or iron sights in our sci-fi and horror games (Aliens: CM, Fallout: New Vegas)!

Anyways, that is my main complaint with this game. If there weren't any iron sights, this game would have earned an 8.5 in my books. A lot of people complained about the A.I, and when it comes to squad members, I totally agree. They are dumb as rocks. The Alien A.I wasn't as spotty as some professional game reviewers made them out to be. The lore states that the individual xeno is about as intelligent as an insect. Their tactics and cunning is derived from the Queen, and the further they are from her, the dumber they get. People were expecting that the xeno A.I would try to outsmart them, but the fact of the matter is, Gearbox got their behavior patterns spot on. I went into this game fully expecting the xenos to run blindly into my bullets one after another, in a primitive attempt to make me exhaust all of my ammo so I would be defenseless when the next wave attacked. Guess what? They did. I couldn't be happier.

The human enemies behaved typically enough. Run to cover, lean out, squeeze off a few shots, take cover, throw grenade if I'm in cover, move up closer, flanking, melee when I try to brain them with my rifle. Run of the mill stuff. Like I said: Typical. No different from any other FPS I've played.

Pre-Rendered cutscenes in Alies:CM suffered the same way the ones in Deus Ex: Human Revolution did. They were uglier than the in-game cutscenes and the developers could have made them better by using the game engine instead of the crap rendering they chose to use.

Now for the story and voice acting: The story had more holes than swiss cheese, and the only decent voice actor was Lance Henriksen, the original actor who portrayed Bishop and Bishop Weyland in the Alien and AvP movies. The rest of them sounded like they just got their certificate of completion from the acting class at the learning annex.

Finally, the gameplay. Action packed, sometimes suspenseful, moody as all hell, atmosphere was spot-on. Animations could have used a little more polish, but graphics were very pretty, even on low settings. Glitches weren't very frequent. A few clipping issues here, some A.I pathing problems there, spazzy ragdolls were present (always funny), but nothing game breaking. I didn't experience any crashes, even on launch day (yes, I pre-ordered) before the first patch release.

Weapons felt real, visceral, and powerful. Although there were a plethora of options to choose from, I found myself only using the Pulse Rifle and the Shotgun, only switching out when I ran out of ammo. That brings up a nice feature. Aliens:CM doesn't force you to choose only 2 or 3 weapons. You can switch out to ANY weapon you have unlocked at any time through the use of a quick-access wheel overlay without disrupting the action. I loved this feature the most, because it reminded me of AvP 2, where you could carry all of your weapons at once. Upgrading your weapons is a nice feature, but sadly, you can never upgrade your Pulse Rifle to carry 99 bullets per clip like in the movies and previous games in the Aliens franchise.

I never played multiplayer, but I heard its the only saving grace for this game.

My conclusion: Aliens: Colonial Marines could have been a great game. If there were no iron sights, it would have been a game worthy of Gearbox Software's legendary reputation. Instead, the game soiled it. Gearbox dropped the ball on this one simply because they felt the need to cater to the CoD and Battlefield fanboys. This title is worthy of a $25 dollar pricetag. NOT $60. I would only recommend paying full price if you are a die-hard Aliens fan.… Expand

Aliens: Colonial Marines is not a great game under any criteria.

The game is set in the same universe and location like the original movies, LV-426, a planet which actually isn't a planet, it's a moon, bigger than average ones.

The story is set after the events from the original 1986 movie Aliens. In the game you revisit the iconic locations from the original 2 movies, but in a different way. The plot is a very simple one, which relatively lacks of originality. You assume the role of a a Colonial Marine called Christopher Winter, and your mission is to check an SOS left by Dwayne Hicks, one of the main characters in the Aliens movie. From here it's obvious what's next, you find that the place is infested and you must later fight to survive. Very simplistic. However, even so, the game's chaotic development leaves his mark. The best citation can be ,,The game sounds like Aliens, looks like Aliens, but unfortunately, it doesn't play like Aliens., IGN. This citation captures exactly how the game is, the level design isn't really horrible, but is not ground-breaking like other games from today's standards. The graphics are as simple as possible, with simple shadows, banal lightning effects and banal textures. Beyond the graphic design, the story also draws criticism, it lacks of consistency and it takes only @5-6 or 9(on harder/hardest difficulty) to be completed, so is quite short. Also the story is very chaotic at some parts, like progressing with no sense during the levels, basically just ,,Shoot the bad guys in this room, then continue playing,, . And also many people(including I at some points) is like a sort of Call of Duty: Weyland Yutani, and I partially agree here, for me is a sort of a Sci-Fi Counter-Strike. Is centered more on shooting humans than aliens, and more on combat than the story itself. Again, the story doesn't make much sense at many parts, especially when you find that Bishop and Hicks have survived, but rather than make light, it makes you even more confusing. It's reveal that Hicks was captured and interrogated but nothing more abut how he's been captured. Same with Bishop, where is nothing revealed about how it survived. In game play and value terms the game is mediocre, is based on one of the best sci-fi horror-thriller movies ever made, but the game is a shame. It captures the alien in banal encounters many times, and the tension suffers. Is also insufficient in value term, we we're promised a far better game in both story and design in the trailers and E3 demos, but the final product is lower in quality and a lot different, and doesn't stand up at the price as well, seriously, it isn't worth 50$, I'd say 15-20$, but not more. I also greatly dislike the patches, because they fix things that we're not supposed to be there. Improved the AI to be more aggressive and responsive, added many effects and some graphically redesigned places? Fixed some circumstances in where the aliens could've used erratic animations? This all are bugs and glitches which must have never been in a game, doesn't matter this or other and improvements that must have never be cut. It wasn't able to run on consoles? Then where we've seen the game running in some game plays? This is just a lie, haven't we all seen Crysis? It has ridiculous requirements, but somehow it looks and runs well on consoles, and also has a good replay value and design. Also the iconic weapons are only used a ridiculous amount of time, only max. 10min. to use the Smart Gun and no more ammo to be found for it? Really? The characters aren't really well developed as well, you can't describe many marine's personality. The development was very chaotic, and why put others work on your dream? TimeGate Studios for single player and Nerve Software for multilayer? Why? You said it was your dream and you love the franchise. The coop as well isn't really awesome included, you can play in the campaign with up to 3 more friends, which I find really cool, despite it doesn't feature additional objectives and locations. In visuals and performance, the console versions were terribly optimized, by having many visual glitches , and unbelievable low resolution textures, cut shaders and several bad effects. This were the bad parts, but there somehow are some good ones. The weapons sound, look and behave exactly like in the movies, the game has a very well made sewer level where you have no guns and you must escape from the explosive aliens. That's aliens! Very exciting and tensioned. The first DLC and the multiplayer are well made, despite the multiplayer doesn't feature a lot of maps, but they offer lot of fun and are having a great value. Excluding the coop flaws, is Drop-In Drop-Out so you don't have to restart a level of some annoying things. So in the end, A:CM has some good stuff inside, but too many problems, however there are 3 more DLCs so who knows, maybe Gearbox is preparing a surprise for us.… Expand

The game was better than I expected (Thought it was gonna be as bad as DNF since the game was also stuck in hell for several years). Liked the collectibles and the fact I could carry all the weapons. Enemies were kinda stupid and the companion AI not that good (luckily he didn't get stuck anywhere). Locations where nice. I just wish they put more effort in the game. I gave it a 5 because I'm a fan of the movies and previous AvP games and as I said it could of been worse (like throwing on walls and slapping wall seriously)… Expand