Aliens: Colonial Marines Xbox 360
User Score
3.7 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 370 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 98 out of 370
  2. Mixed: 42 out of 370
  3. Negative: 230 out of 370

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  1. zonedogg
    Feb 13, 2013
    10
    I played single through the first actish, then I played some multi with a buddy, we had a blast. I like the frantic pace of team deathmatch, tried survival too, that wasnt quite as fun, but I really enjoyed playing as an alien. The sounds were awesome, I use turtle beach x400's that I just got so that may have helped but it was really immersive. The graphics arent amazing but I think they're passable. I would have rated it a 7-8 but i gave it a 10 to balance all the crap people are posting.… Expand
  2. trewce
    Feb 12, 2013
    10
    Definitely a marmite game but as a fan of the series I can say that I loved this game, the environments from the film, the xenos themselves and little attentions to detail such as Bishops legs, Newts doll etc all make this a fans dream. The gunplay is essentially the same as any other FPS, but why fix what isn't broken.

    For everyone who is saying the game sucks because the graphics are     poor, yes the game doesn't match the graphical strengths of Far Cry 3, Dead Space 3 or Crysis 3 but that shouldn't matter good graphics don't make a good game. Also every single environment that features in both the film and game is almost perfectly recreated inch by inch, does it look photo realistic? No, but at least it shows that Gearbox put the effort in to make good environments.

    Overall a lot of people will definitely hate this game, but personally I love it. If I had to some up this game in ten words I would say "Another glorious day in the Corps. I love the Corps."    … Expand
  3. LoneWanderer117
    Feb 12, 2013
    10
    If your a fan of the series than you will love this. Everyone complains about graphics but honestly who the cares if the gameplay is fun. The campaign is a true sequel to Aliens and everyone has wanted that since the terrible Alien 3. This isn't Halo 4 graphics but it sure beats the hell out of the graphics Call of Duty has been using for years. Seriously though the game has been in development for years, it can't be all that bad. So far I'm having a blast and don't be so biased off of reviews.… Expand
  4. MrTomTron
    Feb 12, 2013
    10
    Now if you are a Aliens fan you will love this game. I am a Aliens fan and I did enjoy the game but there were things that stuck out. The A.I is times really stupid and their are a few bugs when I played.(I installed the game so there wasnt so many). If you are not an Aliens fan then I would wait till price drop. The customization in the game is pretty cool. You get to make your own marine and xeno. The story at times is ok and at other times it is slow. The online is fun if you have friends playing with you. Or its just a game to pass the time with. The graphics feel 2009 but you have to remember that graphics dont determine a game, the gameplay does. Well the gameplay feels fun at times in SP but in the multiplayer its fun as hell when you got your friends and shootin xenos. This game is meant really for Aliens fans.… Expand
  5. P3ST1L3NC3
    Feb 12, 2013
    10
    Aliens:CM is definitely a love/hate kind of game. The graphics are definitely dated. Installing it on my hard drive helped making them a bit more bearable. The versus mode is definitely fun in my opinion. I played on a 360 and it matchmaking did not take a long time. Aliens nor the marines felt like they were overpowered. It helps if you communicate to pick if the marines though. All I can say is if you love aliens then this might be A game for you. I didn't feel that aliens was a suspenseful film nor did it provide jumps, it was to me a more of an action movie, so this game didn't feel like it missed to capture the film.… Expand
  6. Markes01
    Feb 13, 2013
    10
    I liked the Aliens PC titles that came out forever ago, and i have enjoyed this new title as well. I tossed it on max difficulty with a friend the other night like i do with all new games and had a really good time.
  7. pcoschi1
    Feb 13, 2013
    10
    This game is made for the Aliens enthusiast. If you love the movies you will LOVE this game. There is a fantastic twist near the end of the game that can't be missed. Most of the gripes that have been posted so far have been addressed in the patch, so don't let that deter you. Their is a lot of love that went into this game. It is unfortunate that the graphics could be better but this game has been in production for 6 years and was started with older tech. It is actually incredible that they reached this level of polish considering what they started with. Please give this game a chance.… Expand
  8. SEANgawd
    Feb 17, 2013
    10
    Very, very, very confused at the negativity this game has received. I didn't pre-order this game, but I did go and buy it the first night it came out. I'm a huge Aliens fan (films 1,2,3) and this game successfully captures that gritty late 80s early 90's Si-Fi vibe in a major way. Any diehard fan of the films will play each level over and over again. The score, sound effects, and set pieces are all perfectly replicated. I agree that graphically its not on par with even mid-cycle current gen standards, but it captures something that no game since AVP 1 (story) and AVP2 (multiplayer) have been able to accomplish. Don't buy the hype. It seems reviewers were in a haste to put out their elitist insights and didn't give the game the time it deserves. At first glance, you'll be apprehensive to sign off on this IP, but after about an hour of the campain or Multiplayer matches, you'll be hooked, count on it.… Expand
  9. Pinguino
    Feb 18, 2013
    10
    What is wrong with this game? Well the graphics are a bit dated, although the lighting is brilliant, the campaign ends badly and is too short, that's about it. But the good things definitely outweigh the bad, the campaign is very good, the co-op campaign is allot of fun and can be hilarious when sealing random people behind doors so that they get killed and the multiplayer is pretty good, not as good as I was expecting but still pretty good. I personally bought the collectors edition so that I got extra stuff, it was definitely worth it,and the customisation is brilliant. When playing the campaign I was going to give this a 9, then I decided no, an 8 because the ending of the campaign was bad, but then I played multiplayer and then thought this is very good and gave it a 9. Finally I played co-op campaign and sealed some guys behind a door and thought this is definitely worthy of a high 9. If there were less glitches, the graphics were only slightly better and the AI was slightly improved it would be worthy of a 10, I only gave it a ten to balance out the bad reviews.… Expand
  10. BattleBruvah
    Feb 19, 2013
    10
    I have the Collector's Edition. Not even disappointed. This game is absolutely fantastic. I don't know why everyone is hating on it. Sure, the Campaign is short, but it's also co-op. And don't get me started on the Multiplayer. All of the game modes are fun. The customization for the weapons and the appearances is also awesome. I have about 30 hours on this game, and I will continue to play it.
    10/10    … Expand
  11. corpal_hudson
    May 17, 2013
    10
    I honestly don't see anything wrong with this game. It offers a suspenseful thrill with a controlled fast pace. Guns are Aim-Down-Sight just like Modern Warfare. You can upgrade and customize them with simple decals.. The story as good as Modern Warfare 2. If I had one complaint it'd be not having the ability to pick up decease’s weapons. Graphics were great on the 360, it's direrectx 9 so you won't get all that hi-res.

    Finding memorabilia throughout from the movie was exciting.
    The smart-gun is the best I've seen in any game.

    With a name like Colonial Marines I would expect to see them running random missions and having the ability to drive the APC.

    Maybe one day.    … Expand
  12. Sithlord4885
    Feb 12, 2013
    9
    People will either hate this game or love this game. Are there some issues? Yes. The AI is average at best and Gearbox's engine is showing it's age in terms of visuals. But if you are a fan of the Alien franchise, you are going to enjoy actually stepping into a chapter tailored specifically to pick up right where Aliens left off. The 4-player drop-in, drop-out co-op is solid and there are some stretches of action that will make it so you don't want to put the controller down. The length of the campaign is suspect, but it's just as long as any other FPS game out there (6-8 hours) depending on what difficulty you play on. The thing that will keep you coming back for more though is the very addictive versus and co-op multiplayer modes. The thing you have to ask yourself is what you want from this game. Are you looking for a fun excursion into the Aliens universe? Then this is for you. If you are looking for something will turn the industry on its head, then yes, you will be disappointed. But damn if this isn't a fun bug hunt.… Expand
  13. brad3ngunn
    Feb 12, 2013
    9
    I'll be honest so far I'm really enjoying this game, I'll admit that the gameplay is just your typical FPS walk from point A to point B clearing out rooms of enemies and yes the graphics aren't going to win any awards but these problems haven't stopped me from enjoying the game... I still love it.

    The story for this game is actually pretty decent and I won't spoil what happens but as a     canonical sequel to the film it make sense, it also solves a major problem I had with Alien 3. While the story may not be as good as some recent attempts in gaming such as The Walking Dead, Spec Ops: The Line or Assassin's Creed 3 (Well the Haytham/Connor sections anyway) the story is still entertaining and (for me at least) memorable.

    Now I'll admit that this game probably only deserves a 6.5 at most but the reason I scored this game a 9 is because I am a really big fan of the Alien series and the fan service here is incredible, areas from the film are recreated perfectly, Newts doll (Casey) can still be found in the sewer where it was dropped, A lot of the original cast such as Lance Henrikson and Michael Biehn return to reprise their roles in one form or another. You get to ride a power loader, the list goes on. The fan service alone made me want to push through this game to see what else I could find. I know this may sound stupid seeing as I'm giving the game a 9 but that's all I ever want from licensed games.... games that entertain me as a fan of the source materiel and boy did this game deliver.

    If you are a fan of the Alien film series or just Aliens then their should be enough fan service to entertain you and make you look past most of the faults in this game however if you are just looking for an amazing FPS then maybe here is not the place to look.

    Thank you for taking the time to read through my opinion on the game, but remember at the end of the day that's all it is... my opinion, you may disagree with me.    … Expand
  14. GeneralChurch
    Feb 12, 2013
    9
    Ignore the critics. Seen across the board is bland graphics and terrible AI. Coming from a huge fan of the series, I throughly enjoy this game. The sound design is excellent and the co-op is excellent! Critics judge this game based on specs and not actual narrative. At least rent it and try it.
  15. QuillDogg
    Feb 16, 2013
    9
    To Start off Aliens Coloniel Marines is not a graphically impressive game. It does have some minor texture flaws and what not. But all in all the game is pretty awesome. I'm currently going through the game on Ultimate Badass and im impressed. GearBox have made a wonderful attempt at the aliens franchise. Its not a perfect game by any means but its still a wonderful and awesome game. Aliens Coloniel Marines keeps the intensity going with the dark corridors and bleeping of your radar. All in all i would recommend Aliens CM.… Expand
  16. Fallenlords
    Feb 12, 2013
    9
    The enjoyment factor with this game I think is directly proportional to how much enjoyment you got from the Aliens film. If you loved the film then I think you can look past the nuances of the game and just absorb the overall atmosphere. This game, although set after the film, is an homage plain and simple. As a first person shooter this would receive a low score, I have to be honest. But as a game trying to capture the essence of a movie I think it works. It made me want to watch Aliens again. It sparked memories of the film with achievement titles and collectibles. I did notice the issues with graphics, sound and game-play. But I would say noticed, the issues are to an extent overcome by the immersion the game itself offers. But that immersion is only truly available I think to a real fan of the film. So I totally understand the mixed reactions here. What I will say is I can feel some love from the developers in this game. Not in terms of super graphics or amazing game play. But in managing to achieve what I think they set out to do, which was capture an essence.… Expand
  17. Jaer
    Feb 16, 2013
    9
    PC Version. Graphics looks much much better than console version. Sometimes there are very nice lighting and shadows. Story is good, First time since 1986 we can play proper story in this franchise, Most of all I like multiplayer It is much better than AVP2010, it has nice dynamic and tension, many upgrades and other combination stuff, you can build your own soldier and xenomorph, and it is much better than Natural Selection 2 also, not boring( to me NS2 became boring very soon), it has nice graphics, many ways to play it, in the begining you must uprade your xenos to make them stronger, because they are rather weak on first level. Well if you are fan of Aliens and also wanna play better multiplayer than AVP2010 and Natural Selection 2. This is the game for you.… Expand
  18. Pappernackles
    Feb 24, 2013
    9
    This game has been getting a lot of bad reviews, so let me address some concerns. It's true that this game doesn't have the best graphics. The textures can take I've five seconds to load in and the facial animations for cutscenes may as well be non-exestant. Luckely, the majority of the game does not take place inside of a cutscene so you don't need to worry too much about that. Another complaints is that the ai is dumb. Switching the difficulty up to hard essentially makes this problem go away. When the xenos can kill you in two hits the game becomes much more tense. The story is not to bad and the shooting is average. What really matters is that this game looks like aliens and more importantly sounds like aliens. There is nothing so sweet as the drone of a pulse rifle. If you like aliens you will probably like this game. If you don't care about aliens and just want a good first person shooter then you should go buy halo 4 instead. It's really good.… Expand
  19. Shadownerd45
    Mar 26, 2013
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Honestly, I do not see why others say ths is a bad game. I bought it and i have to say that even though it is not perfect, It is still fun. Sure the AI is bad but that does not mean it is a horrible game. The combat is nice and the enemies are challenging. The only bad thing is at the end where you fight the Queen, I upgraded my weapons and you just run around pulling levers, Other than that this is a decent game.… Expand
  20. Forza182
    Feb 12, 2013
    8
    Reviews for Aliens: Colonial Marines are VERY harsh! The graphics are fine, they look a little dated sure but it is forgivable given that it runs fairly smoothly at 60fps. The xeno's are scary, tough as nails and just when you think you can take them all down you can get stealth killed instantly. I am barely an Alien fan and I'm quite enjoying the game. The upgrade system is really awesome, you level up the more you kill so not only do you feel like a boss when you shut all the creatures down but you get rewarded with XP for doing so. Not a terrible game by any means! I would suggest checking it out before you read a hundred CLEARLY biased reviews.… Expand
  21. ZombieFan281
    Feb 19, 2013
    8
    First off, please do not listen to the critic reviews or any review that is not above a 7. I am a avid Aliens Fan and I love this game. Yes the Graphics could be better but it still has a very good story line and controls easy 8/10
  22. Grocs
    Feb 12, 2013
    8
    This is going to be one of those "love or hate" type games, which to me is a complete surprise. I will admit I am a huge fan of the Alien universe and I actually think Gearbox have done a good job of making this game. The story is quite enjoyable and even though there is the occasional animation glitch etc overall I think the game is really polished. You can tell that the people who designed this game like the Aliens lore too. There are some nice and subtle throw backs to Aliens. Co-op is good fun and holds up well although the teleporting back together when people split up too much is a bit of a let down. I'm really enjoying the VS multiplayer as there are plenty of decent unlocks and it is done a lot better than AvP's efforts. Controlling the Xenomorphs is now easier thanks to a 3rd person view.

    I do think the campaign is pretty short but having split screen 2 player co-op, plus 4 player online co-op and 5 vs 5 VS multiplayer makes up for the short campaign. I think this is a must if you are an Aliens fan and perhaps take a look first before deciding if you are not.    … Expand
  23. Bongo_the_Sane
    Mar 14, 2013
    8
    It really is a shame that this game didn't get the polish it deserved because that's pretty much all its missing. I grew up with the first two Aliens movies and if you're like me in this respect you'll probably enjoy this game. You'll forgive it for glitchy graphics, odd sound now and again and some screen tear because it'll bring you back to those first films, Newt, Ripley, Hicks, motion trackers and the scream of a xenomorph.

    To enjoy this game you have to be invested in the Alien Universe. That doesn't excuse the unfinished nature of the product but the poor reviews shouldn't put Aliens fans off playing this game.    … Expand
  24. scalan15
    Feb 20, 2013
    8
    Not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Sure the graphics are about the same as Duke Nukem forever, but I rented this game through gamefly, and I had fun playing it, this game has a lot of potential, I actually played the multiplayer mode for a few hours, playing as a xeno is glitchy at times but it was fun as hell. The story itself was fine, some cool twist near the end for some major characters from the movie. Rent it and give it a try… Expand
  25. baddeadtaste
    Feb 13, 2013
    8
    Overall a fantastic entry in the Aliens franchise. The one thing this game does really well is ambiance! The sounds are all dead on and nothing is creepier than hearing the motion tracker go off and knowing they are coming for you. Is it the best FPS ever, no but it is damn good i have to say. The visuals are nice and environments look good as do the aliens. The only thing I can say is this game MUST be played in the dark, it simply doesn't work in the day. If you enjoy the franchise overall, this is the game you have been waiting for in the long list of entries that have been made in this series. The MP seems fairly decent but I have yet to spend a decent amount of time with it so can't comment too much as of yet. I will say that it is very satisfying to use the aliens and leap across the screen onto an unsuspecting victim and tear their head off!!!… Expand
  26. meamogre
    Feb 13, 2013
    8
    The campaign is not as good as I wanted and the set piece animations were last gen. But the Multi player is fun and the sounds and visuals and environments are spot on. I just do not see the reason others do to hate this game. Overall it is fun.
  27. submarinex1
    Feb 13, 2013
    8
    Personally liked the sound and music and it does feel more like an aliens game but graphics might not be say most fancy but then not looking so clean is not bad thing for the setting your in, cod always looks to clean to be real on its textures for example. only played first couple levels so not sure how long game is, most times in past when people complain about time they played on easiest mode, didn't look for any collectables etc and just run though game which is not how I play games. multiplayer maps feel big and its quite good playing one side then swoping to other rather than always being one or other.… Expand
  28. BearUno
    Feb 19, 2013
    8
    Aliens: Colonial Marines (A:CM) is not nearly as bad as most of the reviews I've read have indicated.
    We'll probably never know for certain why the final game's visuals do not match the now-infamous E3 Demo, and it's absolutely true that the gameplay is derivative (it's Left4Dead in the Aliens universe), but if you're a fan of either Left4Dead _or_ Aliens, I can recommend this game to you     for its frenetic action and occasionally intense atmosphere, for its Aliens fan-service, and for its great fun coop and versus multiplayer.

    It's fair to say I enjoyed this game despite its flaws, and it IS flawed, but I can also say I have had and continue to have a lot more fun with A:CM than I've had with many of the much better received recent games. I've definitely paid more for less with other games.

    If you're looking for a good, balanced review, I can recommend Good Game's review (Australia's ABC TV), which is one of the very few balanced reviews I've seen. They called its flaws, but also recognised the positives in its offering.

    My take is this: The game is a good fun FPS in the vein of Left4Dead, and like that game is a lot more fun when played with friends. The visuals are decidedly 2-years-ago in quality, and that's disappointing, but not unforgivable. I have not seen any of the AI bugs mentioned in reviews I've read, which either means I'm blind, incredibly lucky or they were patched Day One. The level design is pretty good, and some of the levels are genuinely scary if played on Ultimate Badass (Hope in Hadleys, for example).

    Personally, I think anyone who scored A:CM less than a 6 out of 10 is suffering from a really terrible case of Disappoint that he or she just cannot see past (which makes them very poor critics in my book Patricia at Kotaku, I'm looking at you as I type this).    … Expand
  29. eeyore53235
    Feb 12, 2013
    8
    This game pays homage to the movies very well. So if you are a fan of the movies I would say it is a must to have. Now as for the all the other things going on with the game. Over all it is an good fps with some of the draw backs of all the fps out there with the normal things that go wrong with jumping and weird animation glitches. The sounds of the game are close to the movie since i heard they wanted to do a slightly different version of them compared to the movie. I have played through most of the game now and seen only a few negatives like the revive system is a little off. and the aliens jump around. The crazy thing i found most funny about the game is friendly fire is on. It took a few times playing to see this. So remember play nice with others and take firing lines other there will be alot of team killing. For the multiplayer this is all fun and games since they have 4 different types of game play invovled and this is where the game really shines. survival and extermination and escape are the best due to the new flavor they put into the game types.… Expand
  30. theonlysos
    Feb 13, 2013
    8
    I do not understand some of the low scores. The game has promise and is great fun. I liked the film tie-ins (pretty much most of the game) and a few loose ends that were tied up that fans of the series could probably predict. The game could have done with graphical polish, as textures load in late etc. However the lighting was done well. The AI needs significant improvement as friendly AI barely scratches the enemy health. The multilayer is great fun with good customisation, however escape and survivor only have two maps each. Overall I think fans of the series would like this game, and it doesn't deserve such low scores. Hopefully they can fix some of the bugs in patches and release more maps as DLC.… Expand
  31. LoveAndJustice
    Feb 13, 2013
    8
    I've been playing this game non-stop since I got it today and cannot understand all the criticism. I don't know what people expect from a game that is a sequel to a film made in 1986. First of all, Black Ops 2, this ain't. Its a love letter to fans of the film Aliens. There are some graphical glitches (and i've experienced some in Black Ops2, Halo, etc but these do not detract from the game's story, which is faithful to the films. The actual gameplay is what I expected; which is great. The sound effects, look and graphics are great. I mean, its not Resident Evil in space (eg Dead Space)...its a bunch of marines, armed to the teeth with one common enemy, the 'Xenomorph.' If you're looking for 'diversity' then you won't find it in the Aliens universe, unless you'd prefer to be blasting 'PredAliens' or other silly concoctions. People keep talking about 'tension'....this isn't Dead Space...i think its as tense as it should be but Its safety numbers. You're not Ripley, you're not Special Ops, you're a Colonial Marine, and that perspective is very different to other similar games. The clue is in the name; Colonial Marines not Colonial Marine.... I guess in someways its like the solo mindset of Black Ops 2 vs the Team-Based play of Battlefield 3. That applies to single player as much as multiplayer.… Expand
  32. Sence22
    Feb 14, 2013
    8
    To even review a game like this you HAVE to see the movies, there is a lot of details like the facehugger laying in the room where Ripley and Newt slept. Same is a sentury gun showed 4 bullets left and in the movies where is 10 left, I hope to find Newts doll in the sewers. if we look at the graphics well it´s not pretty and not like the demo far from it and there is to much action. But thhe history is awesome, and I can´t wait for more campain DLC. The multiplayer mode is pretty good and fun, but if you get good at it, you will get very good, and ruin the multiplayer mode for all the others. It´s hard to controll the Xeno but with experience, ye they are going to die.… Expand
  33. Predator3007
    Feb 21, 2013
    8
    Not the greatest game ever made by far and I did encounter some weird glitches but overall its a pretty good game, AI wasnt the best but it responded fairly well, controls were good and were responsive and why does everyone keep complaining about the graphics? Good graphics dont equal amazing gameplay people (look at minecraft as an example of why graphics don't matter), quite a few reviews have marked it down solely because of graphics. My opinion is it's not going to win many (if any) awards but the game is solid and the DLC they plan to release may be incredible, the game isn't finished people, there will be Patches, Updates and Add-Ons that take this game to a whole new level.… Expand
  34. elgranwebin
    Feb 15, 2013
    8
    Lemme get this straight. 184 people already bought this game or rented it are calling it garbage. I see nothing tht negative about it. Just purchased it guess what? I like it. If ur comparing to a halo to a cod etc yes its not tht. But I dnt recall it claiming to be tht. Just enjoy tht its different. Haven't dun multi yet as im doin campaign. How bout this novel idea support the game just maybe we can get a better sequel. Tx sega. Sheesh u fools on the bandwagon kill me.… Expand
  35. pinhosa
    Feb 17, 2013
    8
    Can't understand the negativity about this game. It's a lot of fun especially if you are a fan of the movies. Sure the graphics are merely adequate rather than spectacular, but the atmosphere is great and the fun factor is high. Co-op is where it shines I am enjoying this more than other recent co-op games like FC3 and BL2
  36. ClearWEAPONX
    Feb 18, 2013
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I like this game and I don't care about you idiots that do the same things on first shooters its different and fun I'm a very old gamer I've being playing everything ,this game is fun ,in campaign and in multiplayer rocks even in call of duty are glitches and crap of stuff and people that complain about any single stupid thing when there loosing anyway this game is a keeper is a solid 8.5 … Expand
  37. Striker6
    Feb 18, 2013
    8
    I am a huge Aliens fan. This game is made for THAT person. I don't even think that the campaign is that short as long as you don't play it on the cry baby easy setting. It has tons of Alien "eggs" for you to discover. As in "Easter eggs". Lot's of content that bring you into the universe of the "ALIENS" movie. I don't want to spoil it. But, you may want to polish up on your knowledge of the movies. Because some of the stuff is really subtle. But, it's there. And, it's cool. There is a lot of ACTION in this game. Yes, it's run and gun. But, that's what being on a "bug hunt" IS. Just hearing the "pulse rifle" and "smart gun" blasting in 7.1 surround sound really pulls you in. The graphics are not BAD like a lot of the mega-nerds are describing. They aren't incredible. But, they definitely are cool enough to pull you in. The SOUND CREW is what gets an A+++++ from me. Everything from the gun sounds, motion tracker to stepping on aliens residue has been done to perfection. Top that all off with music that sounds like it is right from the movie and you have one heck of a cool action game for an alien fan.

    Anyway, because of the reviews, you can probably get this game for under $40 in a month. But, I think it's cool enough to pay $60. Yes, this game could have been SPECTACULAR and ended up being below that standard/expectation. But, I enjoyed every second of this game.

    Turn off the lights and blast the stereo sound and I guarantee you will have fun with this one if you like the movie ALIENS at all.    … Expand
  38. ICHeart
    Feb 18, 2013
    8
    Aliens: Colonial Marines is a very fun game with many game modes that have kept me hooked to my Xbox for the past week now. Sure the story isn't strong, but the game play that reminds me so much of the original Alien vs Predator games for PC by Rebellion and that has kept me coming back for more despite the lack luster campaign. However, that's not why I bought the game...I bought it for a fun coop game that I could play with friends and to pay homage to perhaps one of my favorite movie series of all time. When I saw where Hudson was dragged under the floor to his presumed death I got one of the biggest smiles I have ever had on my face. Now online is where this game truly shines in my opinion despite lacking a coop survival mode where my friends and I could survive wave after wave of regular A.I. controlled aliens. Now the online gameplay consists of four main modes that all have similar, yet distinctive gameplay that forces one to adopt new strategies on both sides of the playground. Survivor is perhaps my least favorite as the environment isn't the largest and the marines only last until their armor is completely taken away by the Alien players...once that happens..."Game over man!" despite this I have found that it is perhaps the best mode to test the defensive skill of yourself and friends online.

    Next is Team Deathmatch mode, now I was hesitant to play this mode first as I expected the Marines to completely destroy the Alien team like they do in Escape and Survivor mode, but boy could I ever be further from the truth. TDM starts the Marine out with no armor to even the playing field a bit and it is truly a success in my opinion. Nothing is better than stalking a lone marine and lunging across the battleground to pummel him into the ground. NOTE you can do this on any game mode.

    Next is Escape mode, this is mode is basically nothing more than the Aliens amusing the marines constantly while trying to separate one player at a trim before they reach the next checkpoint. The beginning is especially tough as the marines have armor and are much harder to kill, but as the distances to the checkpoints increase the more that armor is rendered useless by constant alien attacks. The atmosphere is tense and heart racing as you race with your squad while checking every few meters to see if any alien is on the motion sensor. NEVER GO ALONE!

    Last and perhaps my favorite mode is Extermination mode where the Marines have to control points on the map to destroy egg caches as the Aliens try to stop them. This mode allows the aliens to coordinate their attacks better than any other mode, except maybe Escape mode, and slaughter the marines in one all out charge. Do I hear Zerg Rush anyone? The marines have no armor in this mode and it either equalizes the the two teams or the Aliens just completely destroy the marines. No worries though if you are a marine as you will just switch species mid round to take revenge upon those fleshy mortals we aliens like to call dinner!

    So other than some blotchy gameplay that will likely be fixed in a patch soon and a rather lacking storyline. Aliens: Colonial Marines delivers an extremely fun and entertaining game that will keep you coming back to fulfill challenges or to experience another Glorious Day in the Corps as the Sgt once said!

    Once you get it...just remember to "Stay Frosty!"    … Expand
  39. GildaTheGriffin
    Mar 10, 2013
    8
    Not the best of a game, but not the worst. Loved the campaign even if the story and characters where a little muddy. But it's more of the journey then the destination. The game may have ripped of a few action sequences from the movie (i.e. the powerloader part). But what I loved was the combat. The weapons, the versatility, the potency of death was challenging, and human combatants where deadly. Challenges added a little bit of a meaning to accomplish something. Some where even difficult and time consuming to get. But I give this game a good score and will not care about the cry babies that whine and don't appreciate what developers TRY to do.… Expand
  40. burnthouse
    Mar 12, 2013
    8
    Ok graphics may not be top drawer, but gameplay is very good. What you need to recall is that the original Aliens movie wasn't an amazing film in the first place, it had ropey effects and cheesy acting, oh and don't forget the 80's hair, but what it did have was loads of guns and loads of aliens getting killed.
    What Sega have achieved is a game which reflects the feeling of the game witho    ut overshadowing the Aliens movie... my advice if you enjoy Alien trilogy give it a go, I've played about 5 hrs on Hardened and i am enjoying it far more than i did Dead Space 3...… Expand
  41. HeavyLead
    Feb 14, 2013
    7
    I've been waiting for this game since the Gameinformer issue back in 2008 (Huge Aliens fan and needless to say the hype was worth it for me). The first thing I noticed with this game is that it looks like it was created back in 2005. The resolution and graphics of the game are set low even for an console game and yet I can still get choppy frames during gameplay. The campaign from what I've played is decent, nothing to write home about other than cool level design. Co op takes the horror elements out of the game completely and replace it with "competitiveness" I guess. Multiplayer is nothing new, similar modes like TDM, Survival, Objectives. You can choose and customize classes (only really interesting for aliens). All in all the game satisfies me, but people looking for a game that's fresh or exciting should save their money for something else.… Expand
  42. Cstriker01
    Feb 19, 2013
    7
    Well, I was surprised after reading the reviews. My dad and I purchased the game for ourselves to have some good coop experiences together and we preordered the game with excitement. Needless to say how shocked I was once the reviews hit. Not to be deterred we bought the game anyways and I was pleasantly surprised by the game. So, I decided to write a decent review on the game from the aspect of being a sceptic and a fan of the Alien films. So here we go:

    First I will analyze the graphics. Before you read further I do believe that graphics can add to a great game and enhance an experience, however graphics are NOT indicative of a "good game". I'm looking at you Diablo 3. The graphics here are not first rate. They do not even rate on scale of a modern post 2010 game. They come closer to 2004-5 time frame. Antialising is almost non-existent, graphical tearing is present in many locations, and the use of lower resolution textures is appalling. Lighting however is present and well utilized. There are sections of the game that look down right scary and immersive in the lore. As soon as I arrived in Hadley's Hope, I felt like I was walking the foot steps of Hicks and Hudson. The character animations are so-so, with the aliens being well modeled, but the marines being somewhat average. The texturing on characters are good, again especially the Xenomorphs, but the marines faces are very stiff and lifeless when speaking to them during the story. The weapon animations and HUD are top notch, very immersive and do not detract from the game, especially in multiplayer. I've only played the single player campaign in "Ultimate Badass" difficulty so there is not HUD unless using a Smart gun, and then the immersion is great. Over all the graphics do not impress and its sad that Gearbox only worked on the multiplayer. Sound- Top notch. The sound effects are amazingly accurate and in multiplayer they add to the tension of being stalked by a Xenomorph. Not much else to say here.

    Gameplay- Solid gun play for a FPS. DO NOT expect any revolutionary. The game does not add anything new to the plethora of FPS's on the market currently and will never come close to being revolutionary like HL2, Borderlands, Crysis 1, or Call of duty 4 (only 4, the rest are churned out annual clones). The controls are responsive and work well. The motion tracker is fantastic and I LOVE using it in both single and multiplayer. The single player story is average at best with poor voice acting and a typical FPS story for the most part, nothing to write home about. The multiplayer game modes are fantastic, and truly represent the game potential. Great unlock system that just needs more content, fun weapons, and fun modes. The graphics are the same here and the big difference is in the asymmetrical gameplay between aliens and marines. Marines get their motion trackers and weapons but are fragile too, while the aliens are fast and nasty, speeding into melee with one alien being a ranged attacker. You can feel the L4D overtones through it, which is not a bad thing in the least. I cannot comment on the lag, as so far I have experienced little to no lag during the matches.

    In conclusion the game is fun, nothing revolutionary, but fun. Multiplayer saves the day and is worth the price of admission, and with more multiplayer enroute via DLC, it will get better. The single player campaign is subpar but...it still captures certain moments that so far has made it worth playing to me. I am MAD though at Gearbox for the travesty of politics that encompassed the game during development. Shame on them for promising so much but delivering so little in the game. So I give the game a 7 out of 10, as I believe the current reviews have been very harsh to the game and it is not as terrible as it is made out to be.    … Expand
  43. Bucs65
    Feb 13, 2013
    7
    I actually had a lot of fun with this game. No the graphics aren't the best nor the gameplay and controls are a little stiff, but the studio designed Hadley's hope really well In my opinion. You see many things in the game you saw in the movie which was really neat. I do wish the graphics and a few other things could have been better but they weren't to bad. If you are an aliens fan you will have fun with this game with the right mindset. The co op and multiplayer are pretty addictive and fun as well.… Expand
  44. insomniMACK
    Feb 16, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This review contains spoilers. I REALLY wanted to give this game a 10. I have been absolutely in love with the Aliens franchise since I was 11 (Alien Resurrection aside). This game would get a 9 if it was 1400 Microsoft Point DLC on Live Arcade, but it's not. It's a full priced game that had its release date extended even. Unfortunately, I think anyone but Sega could have pulled this off as a 10. Let me start off by saying that I DO like this game, its a satisfying, fun to play corridor shooter in the classic sense of the term. It has some really great moments. Those moments though are marred by some pretty glaring flaws, and other problems that could have been worked out with some more time, and effort. Everything from small things like the HUD on the Smart Gun, which would have been awesome if it were translucent instead of opaque, or the absolutely HORRIFIC rain effects while approaching Hadley's Hope. To medium sized things like inconsistent hit detection, dated graphics and embarrassing grenades (seriously, whoever was in charge of grenades: Your grenades suck! They look like explosions from Goldeneye on the N64, they do almost no damage unless you get a direct hit, and good luck with that since the blast radius is minuscule, and hit detection is pretty dicey). Bigger things include stuff like story telling, and atmosphere. There is no excuse for either of those from a company that produced 2 incredible expansions for Half-Life as their first foray into the big leagues. The visual atmosphere is quite good, but the pacing kills most of it. Alot of the time, you're waiting on your cookie cutter marines, or trying to find them. Or you're waiting on them to open a door, etc. There are very few times like in half-Life where you feel as if you aren't safe; times with palpable tension, or suspense. No, this game throws you STRAIGHT into the action with some cardboard cutout marine stereotypes and almost no story line. There is no 10 minute intro to set the stage like in Half-Life, no expository time in the beginning like in the movies. Nope. You get a quick intro to your Captain who tells you not to suck at being a Marine, and then BANG INTO THE FIGHT!!! All that being said, the first encounter you have with a Xenomorph is awesome! But then it's back to fighting some generic poorly explained mercenaries fueled by crap AI. That atmosphere DOES show up about half way through the game though, and when it does it's quite enjoyable.Death animations are mostly a gray screen of you getting shot, or burning from acid, and are a throwback to Goldeneye.... but then suddenly you'll get one that's completely awesome like being eaten by an alien that makes you go OH HOLY CRAP! I WANT TO DO THAT AGAIN! SO dated graphics, and a failure of storytelling aside: My big barometer of success or failure: Is the game fun to play? YES! Surprisingly for being so unpolished, it actually IS fun to play! In this day of breakneck paced tan and brown military shooters, this is a good throwback to the classic days of claustrophobic feeling corridor shooters! The weapons are the basic assortment, but really I only use the pulse rifle and the shotgun. All a Colonial Marine needs, both are satisfying and have authentic movie sounds I didn't mention above that the sound director on this game was the opposite of the grenade guy, completely awesome!!). I do appreciate them branching out to other weapons, but I think this game would have been beyond legit if they'd taken the old Aliens RPG Source Book and milked it for weapons ideas. The Plasma gun would have been a ridiculously cool addition to this game instead of a few re-skinned Halo weapons. As for multiplayer: Its a ton of fun! I really like it alot, and playing as a Xenomorph and chowing down on enemies is too cool. So, for a classic mow-em-down bug hunt: thumbs up, this game delivers on the fun factor. As a game based on an INCREDIBLE source material: I'd recommend it for fans only. I WOULD give it a 7, but there are some really cool moments that put it up to a shaky 8. The part that hurts is that this game is right on the cusp of being awesome! Better graphics, better cinematics, and writing, better pacing, damn... better fundamentals would have easily put this game into the realm of 10's. Grab this game when it hits the bargain bin... shouldn't be too long.… Expand
  45. Koala5
    Feb 12, 2013
    7
    Let's just get this out of the way, Colonial Marines is definitively lacking some much needed polish. But if you are a fan of the Alien movies, and Aliens in particular, odds are you'll still have a good time with this game. In terms of gameplay, we are looking at a fairly standard CoD type shooter. Nothing mindblowing, but certainly not as abysmal as some make it out to be either. The biggest issue isn't the aliens, the warrior type is a fast wave of cannon fodder like in the movie Aliens, and the lurker type better known from Alien and Alien 3 serves up the more tension filled moments as they effectively dart around the shadows and try to get a jump on you. The human enemies on the other hand stand out as the biggest flaw of the game as I see it, they are just plain stupid. Graphics are a mixed bag, there are some stiff animations and low res textures in the environment, but good light and design work often balance these out in my opinion. While I'll sometimes catch myself musing at some of its graphical shortcomings it did not cheapen the experience. The game and environments look and feel very right/accurate, I very much feel like I'm playing within the same space as established in the movie, which ultimately satisfies and makes me feel at home as a fan. Looking at some of the criticism the game probably suffers from expectations tied to the Alien franchise as a whole, that it's "more of an action game than a horror game". While that is true, keep in mind that Aliens was much more action film than horror film as well. In that regard the film and the game are a lot alike. Conclusion: If you are not a fan of Aliens, there's really nothing here for you other than a mediocre shooter. However, if you do like getting your Xenomorph fix I'd advice you to give it try. It's not without it's flaws, the gameplay mechanics are tried and true, but you'll also find a game bursting with that yummy Aliens flavor.… Expand
  46. PatrykG
    Feb 27, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So after giving it a 9/10, I started to play more of the campaign and it sucks alot, you don't care about these characters, or the A.I. for the Aliens. The graphics are good, but the thing with ACM is that it was rushed and the campaign is really short, the most disapointing thing in the entire game for me is, the final mission, at first I tought that I will have a boss battle with the Queen, but it wasn't it was just absurd. The multiplayer is actually pretty fun, you customize your Alien or Marine. ACM not being a game, or a brilliant game is good, play the multiplayer don't play the singleplayer. 7/10… Expand
  47. manofdust
    Feb 15, 2013
    7
    Playing this one on co op with my gf and were both enjoying it.the graphics look on par with call of duty. Don't let these monkeys scare you away from a decent co open shooter..boooom!
  48. AmazinTim
    Feb 12, 2013
    7
    Almost done with the campaign on Hardcore more, as a super-fan of the franchise, I'm mostly enjoying it. The mood, sound, and feel are all spot-on, the graphics are a bit lacking, especially facial animations, but the weapons feel perfect. The story makes sense with the universe as well, which is nice. It paces similarly to GoW games and is genuinely scary at times. The further into the campaign I got, I did notice more glitches with teammates not following and then reappearing at the next checkpoint as well as spotting hidden Xenos which won't take hit markers until they move. My worst glitch came in a fight with a Queen that ended with me dying, then started me at a checkpoint AFTER the battle. All in all, worth playing for fans. Note: I did not try multiplayer yet.… Expand
  49. donnythebooking
    Feb 13, 2013
    7
    So this is my first time ever writing a review for something.....ever. I've been a gamer ever since the NES came out. (sheesh..I feel lold). I am also a big movie buff and remember seeing Alien and Aliens when I was younger and it scared me to death! It also was one of the best forms of story telling I have ever seen in horror movies. So, for me as a gamer mixing the too is HUGE! I've played all the major titles like Gears of War, God of War, Mario Bros, etc, etc. So in this review I want to talk to the people I feel this will appeal to. Is the game worth $60....no....it is not...I payed that and it is not. Also a heads up to those of you getting the Collector's Edition...the "statute" is smaller than the game case...so I downgraded...I was hoping for something more along the lines of the Marcus statue I own from Gears of War 3. I did not get the game that was advertised....doesn't match the screen shots...or hype that we were promised....but....we did get pieces of that promised expierence...and that has been enough for me. The graphics are 1st gen 360 (Turok) and there is a lot of screen tearing in single player...but....the sound is amazing....and took me right back to the days of hiding behind the couch in fear of seeing what the aliens were going to do to people. But...back to the game....I've enjoyed this game....ENJOYED!...not like Call of Duty...Battlefield.....Gears of War......but as an Aliens game.....Yes...you do play through the same levels as the movie....and people complain....Are you telling me that you are a fan and have no interest of seeing those same scenes in PLAYABLE FORM!!! Come on! When I was a kid I dreamed of going down those corriders and shooting those aliens with every gun, gernade, and friend I have ever seen in Aliens, and here...you finally get to do it!!! This is a game for Aliens fans looking for more aliens.....not Aliens fans looking for Halo 4, Call of Duty, and Battlefield, but fans who loved the material. Yes the graphics bothered me at first....esp. when I saw there was screen tearing in the start menu...bluh...but I have become engrossed in this franchise and if you want a really "creepy, scary" version of the game the play AVP from 2010...I thought it was more edgy...but if you wanna scream "let's rock" and shootem up with a friend...DO IT!!!! I thought the story was good...not great...but not bad....but it functions! and I think pretty well. The sound....the sound is Great!!!....From the pulse rifle...to the motion tracker...its great! And for the people complaining about having so many weapons....apprently you didn't see the movies...they were LOADED!!! They had all these toys! Yea...you can't carry that many in real life...but at least you can say...oh yea....this is a smart gun moment!...too bad I can only do that on level 2....nope...now you can do it whenever....Now for multiplayer...I hated it....at first....its starting to grow on me.....and yes...the camera and controls suck for the aliens....but once you invest some time into them....it got better....and the marines were always fun to play as....but everyone will find their mode in it.....so....overall this is what I have to say rating this game.... Graphics- 6 Sound- 10 Gameplay- 7 Replay- 7 One review on here summed it up.....some people are gonna love it....some people are gonna hate it! But only review if you've played it.....I'm pretty sure a lot of the negative reviews are from those who haven't even played the game...but if you have and felt this way....then it wasn't meant for you....its generic....and outdated....but it still captures something for me that I found in the films. Curiosity and the fun that comes from the Alien universe....I play games because they are fun....its how they are supposed to be! And just for the record....these reviews you "fans" put out that people read....are the reason the game industry is failing...when investors see these numbers and comments....they make big decisions based on these....I don't want any developers to go under....cause its less product for us!! They don't play the games....and when they see this....adios developers...publishers...etc....so take that into account before you go trashing a game...especially if its one you haven't played or don't like cause its the "other guy"......if anyone reads this...thanks for your time....hope you have a great one!… Collapse… Expand
  50. huntibor
    Mar 1, 2013
    7
    Aliens Colonial Marines was a fair game. There are many faults in the game, especially graphic.
    For example, you can go through the human population, and ugly graphics.
    The game can be exciting at times, especially when the aliens crawling on the wall, and you can shoot them out of there. It can also be frustrating to be in the game, because sometimes you can be wrong, and when you run o    ut of ammo, it's wrong. And there can also be scary when you play it at night, then you can scare up terribly well, because when you turn the corner, you'll find an alien team. Has often occurred to me that my heart was pounding with fear. The management only problem is that the grenade button to purchase your guess was wrong. Now, summarize the content. The game that I wrote that was fair, and you can score: Graphics: 6/10 Atmosphere: 8.5 10 Controls: 7/10 Sound: 8/10 Playing Experience: 7 10 The Game: 7/10… Expand
  51. Neoramuh
    Apr 2, 2013
    7
    You have to take this game for what it is and not look any further than that. Single player took me about 7 hours to complete while farming all the achievements. And another 10 hours Co-op when my bro came over. The game has a well rounded feel and does include some suspense walking around corners; kind of like what Doom has going on. Graphics are great, Sound was great, level design was very detailed, especially places with massive amounts of alien hives. If you were expecting to replace a giant franchise game with this you will be disappointed. If you just play through it from start to finish, its a decent game. I rented this from RedBox on a Friday and returned on a Sunday with a free game night code. I got my $2 worth, and would recommend you to do the same for a good 2 days of gameplay.… Expand
  52. Juneau888
    Feb 13, 2013
    6
    Aliens CM is a disappointment. The promotion trailers for the game showed that you were in for a quick, fast paced, adrenaline ride campaign. Sadly the campaign is the complete opposite. Slow, boring with no real drive for you to keep playing. It's a shame really because at times you can see what this game could have been. The environments look like Aliens, the game sounds like Aliens, but it doesn't feel like Aliens.

    The multiplayer has it's good moments and contains more thrills than the boring, lackluster campaign.
    You play online games of Aliens Vs Marines in a few game modes. The escape mode is the more interesting option as the marines have to travel from A-B whilst being hunted down by the alien hoarde. This means welding doors shut, placing sentries and using iconic big weaponry like the Smart Gun. Whilst it's all fun for the marines, the aliens are extremely easy to dispatch meaning playing as the aliens can be quite boring. The biggest downside to this game mode is that it's only on 2 maps so this can get old, real quick.

    Other games modes are available such as standard team deathmatch (which feels really unbalanced at present) and extermination (think domination on Call of Duty)

    Sadly across the multiplayer and the single player is poor game engine that never seems to work. Walking down stairs looks ridiculous because there is no animation, just bouncing up and down and the game is rampant with bugs, textures popping in and out and is simply a graphical mess.

    All and all, I enjoy the game at times, but not enough to recommend to anyone but extreme fans of the Aliens universe.    … Expand
  53. logan35
    Feb 13, 2013
    6
    I was very excited for this game and now i'm severely dissapointed that Gearbox released this train wreck. The game has numerous graphical issues and looks like it should have been released five years ago. There are some parts that will please aliens fans but, a game can't live off of fan service alone. The AI is terrible, especially for the aliens. Aliens are supposed to be dangerous and scary, not weak and laughable. I'm a huge fan of the aliens franchise and this game just craps all over a great opportunity to make a great game. The only reason I'm giving this game a six is because I did have fun at some points. Gearbox should be ashamed of themselves for releasing this game, I won't be buying any games from them anytime in the near future.… Expand
  54. BrandonBonasera
    Apr 2, 2013
    6
    *UPDATED REVIEW* The graphics may be dated, dialogue may be cheesy and the game may be a generic shooter, but it is a fun and kind-of-loving-yet-misunderstood homage to the popular sequel. It is faithful to the franchise with plenty of tense moments (mainly involving Alien eggs) and moments of suspense, but before you play hoping it will be amazing, be warned; it is quite flawed and the tense moments will only be tense for Alien fans and people who know what to expect and if you are new to the franchise, this game will come off as a generic and cheap shooter (though it kind of is). Unfortunately, the game sometimes doesn't match the continuity of the films and it could frustrate some fans and features an ending with is incomplete and a blatant attempt at wanting a sequel. All-in-all, I am a little disappointed in this game, though some Alien fans will enjoy this sequel.… Expand
  55. TravisT
    Feb 19, 2013
    6
    Not a great, generation defining game by any stretch of the imagination, but still fun for Aliens fans. Campaign is a little too short, and the graphics aren't the best. Sound effects are great for the most part, very true to Aliens. I probably would've regretted buying it at release day price, but worth picking up when it hits the bargain bin for Aliens fans. Not game of the year by any stretch, but I don't see this game as a 4-4.5 out of 10 when judged against some of the games that get 8.5-9 in reviews.… Expand
  56. Zombified360
    Feb 13, 2013
    6
    Not worth full price but OK.This is not a game you will love or hate it does have some in between ground. Graphics are dated but overall gameplay is acceptable. Co op campaign is fun but not great. MP isn't a lot new, but team death match does capture an amount of suspense as frantic action. If this game was half price it would be worth it. It's not COD or HALO. The leveling system is average. Overall an average game. Fans of the series will get some love. Big franchise lovers need to avoid it.… Expand
  57. Dazdnconfuzed
    Feb 12, 2013
    6
    I will start by saying that I own this game and I am loving it. People complain about graphics and story. To me it's all about the gameplay!! Cool customizations for my character human and Xeno. Smooth gameplay. I will finish by saying its a game of style, if you want a game where cunning and teamwork are REQUIRED! Then this game is a blast. I will see you on the field marines!!!
  58. PhantomReview
    Mar 31, 2013
    6
    Let me first start of by saying I've been waiting for this game ever since 2008 when it was announced for current gen consoles. First off It is a very short game 5-7 hours even on the hardest difficulty which I have done. But the first thing you'll notice is the graphics, which are quit dated to be honest. All of the negatives aside this game is great for aliens fans. The new types of aliens make sense with in the aliens universe and are quit cool to say the least. In all aliens is a okay game that need more time in development.… Expand
  59. Mkvenner
    Feb 13, 2013
    5
    If your a die hard alien fan, nothing will stop you from buying this game. Points to gearbox for a fantastic marketing campaign and demo footage, and i hate them for it.
    Graphics:
    This game looks ugly it truly does, plagued by low res textures and horrible looking effects such as blood, it would have looked good years ago. The enviorments are true to the film they do bring you back to h    adleys hope and the dark work of alien, shame they look disgusting. However all of the graphics can be forgiven if its fun to play.
    Gameplay:
    Its boring, Xenomorphs charge at you from the front to die under your hail of bullets. Sure there is a different type called the lurker but he runs away and pulls you into a button masher event when he gets close and it dosent change. You then have to chase him down and kill him. This is not hard thanks to the motion tracker. Now isnt that fun and balanced right? Wrong you rarely need to use it in the singleplayer as the aliens will be coming from in front of you and they will charge at you from there. In MP it is used often allowing the marines to sit back and butcher the aliens who can not sneak up on them as they always know where you are. The multiplayer is half decent it is okay but the lack of maps and guns brings about a lack of class customisation for the marines as their guns suck. The aliens are horrible overpowered and the third person makes them to control. You will find yourself walking backwards when you jump on the ceiling until you figure out what is happening to change it. Then the mp lags horribly.
    Audio:
    The music is cool it sounds just like the aliens film and very industrial. The guns sounds are good if only they worked properly. When you fire your pulse rifle and hold the trigger the sounds stop and start as if you were firing in burst, this drags you out of the immersion. The singleplayer has no form of decent pace to it., they claimed that you could be fighting aliens in a last stand moment and running low on ammo in a horror like atmosphere. With a huge arsenal of weapons that you can customise at any time and each having their separate ammo pool you do not run out of bullets you just don't use your favourite gun.
    Story:
    Its poor the characters aren't compelling and you dont feel like there is really any danger, the final boss fight sucks. Oh yeah and that E3 2011 demo they showed of that cool mission isnt in the game.
    Final Opinion:
    Don't buy it, I enjoyed Aliens Versus Predator more. If you must get it buy it preowned or when it goes cheap in a month    … Expand
  60. Melychath
    Feb 22, 2013
    5
    I rented this game yesterday, played it for about two hours, and promptly returned it. I can do without the best graphics (my first gaming system was the Odyssey) but I have come to expect something decent at least. This game is just not pretty. Another reviewer said it looks like an original Xbox title, which is probably not far from reality. Had the gameplay been fun the graphics could have been overlooked, but this is not the case. My time with this game made me think of the sloppy, lazy controls of Duke Nukem: Forever (I absolutely detested that game). I also couldn't help but compare this game to Dead Space, which has, for me, defined sci-fi horror gaming. Alien is a great movie franchise. Unfortunately, this game does not do the movies justice.… Expand
  61. VonSeux
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    Huge letdown. Graphics are very different from the previews, with heavy blocks of shadow. Too many alliens kill any tension and they appear from triggered events, right in your face. It all looks like an outdated 1992 shooter design-wise.
  62. Gosuckalime69
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    From 4 hours of playing it, It's a fun game in co-op, even though the game looks very dated. The multiplayer, despite being a L4D ripoff is actually very fun...If it wasn't lagging all over the place the whole time. If they are able to fix the servers, the game would be a decent 7. But that's being a little generous. I say wait for a price drop, because lets be honest Sega, this game isn't quite worth 60 :P… Expand
  63. Zeryiader
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    A low moment in what started as quiet a promising year, with low res textures, screen tear and some minor game halting glitches, Aliens Colonial Marines is not the game fans have been waiting for. An average story line with bland characters and a very basic AI (a lot of the time i was shooting at Aliens/Marines just standing behind things) the games only highlight being that Co-Op makes the campaign bearable and that the sound design is top notch, i can only really recommend this game to hardcore fans of the series.… Expand
  64. Tobykenobi88
    Feb 26, 2013
    5
    This game is not great, bottom line. However, that does not mean that it can't be fun to play! I've had a blast playing both the single player, and the very enjoyable multiplayer. I would say, don't pay full price for this (my biggest regret) but once the price drops, give it a shot. The issue that I noticed most, was the poor graphics. It looks like a game from the early years of 360. However, the gameplay is fun, especially with friends in co-op or versus. I was definitely disappointed after having this game hyped so much, but it is not a total loss as some reviews are making it sound. Again, don't pay full price, but if Aliens is your thing, or you are even remotely interested in how the gameplay sounds, look into it down the road.… Expand
  65. Philhazz
    Feb 13, 2013
    5
    What a shame, that such a beloved franchise and rich universe is let down this way, not even to mention the fans that have waited so long! It seems that other commitments Gearbox had like GoW and Borderlands really hindered the progress of production so much, that they had to out-source to a lower quality developer and it shows. Like 'The Lord of the Rings' is for Fantasy, the Aliens universe is for Sci-Fi, the base that all other ideas spawn from, so this great grand-daddy should have been treated with care and love, not treated like it's senile and left in a corner. Randy Pitchford president of Gearbox- stated in an interview, that he, like many others had been stealing ideas from 'Aliens' his whole career, it's unfortunate he didn't return the favour!! So many other games have got it right, Dead Space for it's tense, scary atmosphere, Gearbox's own Gears of war for thrills and co-op action Left for dead for intense waves of mindless killers Halo and Mass Effect for it's characters and story And even the most recent AvP just for at least getting the look and feel of the xenomorphs right! But every characteristic I just mentioned, ACM has none of them. Even graphically it doesn't compete with it's peers releasing in '12 and '13 (hitman, far cry, AC3, Halo 4). It's also ironic that Gearbox didn't do their own 'Bug Hunt' as there are so many glitches it feels like an alpha/work in progress release! Like many others, when this game was announced, I thought to myself "Finally the wait is over, Aliens is going to get a decent game developed!" ....it looks like we're still waiting!… Expand
  66. stealthpenguin
    Feb 19, 2013
    5
    The graphics are a train wreck. The story, despite being penned by the writers of Battlestar Galactica, is ho-hum. The multiplayer is bland and takes forever to find players. About the only decent thing about this game is the fact that you get to explore set pieces from the movies. What happened Gearbox????
  67. TheStanMan
    Mar 16, 2013
    5
    I'm surprised after so many years of waiting for the this game to come to find the the game is full of glitches and bug with a average story line. the only thing i could so i liked was the multiplayer and the weapon customization team up with friend online is so much better than playing the game alone
  68. xboxguy08
    Mar 25, 2013
    5
    Boring story without anything nice dont buy the game what they have done on the demo isn't truth Graphics are good but not enough, the only thing it's nice but with a lots of bugs it's the multiplayer stuff!
  69. rapidfire705
    Apr 4, 2013
    5
    I love aliens and I was excited for colonial marines but when I finally played it I didn't get the aliens experience I was looking for instead I got a game with bland graphics not so interesting story line and awkward glitches but its not a horrible game. the sound is just awesome the multiplayer is fun but it does have problems. it may not be the scary aliens game we've been hoping for but that scene with the boilers scared me by trying not to piss them off by moving or else they will blow up on you. the story didn't really make sense and the visuals might be off and it gets really glitchy on the console version but the pc version is better maybe just a little bit. overall its a mediocre game so I really don't recommend this game but if you want it then ok butt its probably better to get something else.… Expand
  70. CAP198462
    Apr 24, 2013
    5
    It feels old, and outdated, but it is nowhere as bad as it's made out to be. A good rental, and if you can find it for say US$ 20 or your regional equivalent, I'd think about it seriously.
  71. Xulnogo
    Apr 27, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have been a fan of the alien movies ever since I was 7 so when I picked up this game from Redbox I was actually pretty excited to play it. I've heard from many that the game was terrible and in my opinion..... it wasn't THAT bad. My problem with the game was that it was kinda mediocre.

    There was nothing really special about the game in the gameplay. There's one level where deep below underground and you have no weapons and have to slowly get out without alerting any aliens. It was actually tense and felt like an alien game. Weapon customizing was good and the story... to be honest I had no idea what the hell was going on at certain times and the lack of character depth didn't exactly help.

    Why am I trying to save people I don't care about?    … Expand
  72. Oxcart
    Mar 3, 2013
    4
    A game that looked so good at its E3 demos, that was so heavily anticipated, and, let's face it, that is rooted so well in a legendary piece of sci-fi almost couldn't fail. And yet, somehow, Gearbox managed to pull off a total misfire with Colonial Marines. While it'd be easy to turn this entire review into a complaint festival, there are some admirable things about the game, so we'll start with those. It's clear that someone paid attention to the tech manual when they put the weapons and equipment together; it's consistent with the Colonial Marines Technical Manual released years ago with the blessing of those involved. Sound in all its aspects, foley and mixing alike, is a grand slam home run. The score is absolutely outstanding, something that should make Horner proud in how his film score was lovingly adapted to a game score. The levels that overlap the films are consistent and show continuity with events in the film. The weapons are generally faithful to the films, with the Smartgun particularly well implemented. The weapon modification/customization system is thin, but adequate and makes a difference. There are enough little toss-ins to make you feel like you're in the film. That is, until you add in gameplay, graphics, and programming. Then it's wrecked. For a game that was supposed to be a squad-based tactical shooter, A:CM is instead a generic rail shooter dressed up in Aliens clothes. There's no tactical anything in here; your allies are under AI control at all times, and won't even take a suggestion from you (not that there's a way for you to suggest squat). Graphics are horribly disappointing...more like abysmal. This is a console that handles high-power graphics Crysis 2, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, and Enslaved so there's no excuse. Textures are unbelievably low-res; monitors are unreadable, props are blurry and pixelated. Lighting is good, but implementation of volumetrics appears to have been left off the to-do list. Voice acting is good, but the script, by and large, is the pits, chock full of macho-military cliches and stereotypes. The checkpoint save system was developed by a sadist; there are no checkpoints immediately prior to boss fights and checkpoints are spread far apart, meaning you will have to redo significant sections (and hear the same bloody audio) again and again. The AI is outright defective; it's a good thing that your squadmates are immortal, because an alien will be chewing on their helmets and they won't open fire. Expect no help from them. Overall, Aliens: Colonial Marines is valuable only to those who are diehard fans of the film. As a game, a 4 is a generous rating, earned more or less entirely by the audio department and a pity point. This game fell so far short of expectations and promise that it's just sad. It is worth playing if you're a fan, but not worth the $60 release price. Wait until it descends to the $20 range (which shouldn't take long), then go for it. I'm not mad about the game, just disappointed. It could have, should have, been much more.… Expand
  73. defanual
    Apr 25, 2013
    4
    Quick review I did after 2/3 days of having and completed campaign and multiplayer of this game a while ago.

    Someone said that Batman Arkham series has set the standard for license based games and this game falls massively short of that standard. Also Dead Space is a good comparison in terms of visuals and tension atmosphere that this game could have emulated. Oh, what could have been.

    Overall be very wary of review embargos and over delayed games in future, it's a huuuuuge warning sign!

    The Good:
    -Fun with a buddie (not sure I would care to play this solo)
    -Sound effects are excellent
    -Guns fire nice and has the feel of the Movies
    -Good Lighting and some tense scenes
    -Decent level-up attachments challenge system
    -Mulitplayer has potential
    -Loads of attention to detail in-terms of nods to original Alien movies.

    The Bad:
    -Over strong soldier AI
    -AI Enemies can shoot you through walls or sometimes stands there confused
    -Sometimes you get stuck on corners map sections
    -Too many invisible walls
    -Multiplayer needs massive tweaks and serious fixes as well as content, the maps are hideous and the marines feel over-buffed in comparison to the freaking aliens!
    -Visuals are average overall and have plenty of texture issues popups here and there and poor likeness and model designs
    -NPC's are just plan horrible, animations look weird on them and will often block your shooting view, teleport you and your buddie(s) or stand still while enemies are near by ripping you up.
    -Forgettable, average dialogue
    -Very, very poor story and even worst ending
    -Too much focus on boring human combat rather then Aliens

    It's not worth £40 $70/80, only buy if your a hardcore fan, have a buddy to play it with and can get it for £15 or less. Closing, not as bad as most say but not very far off either.    … Expand
  74. Useful1d1ot
    Feb 27, 2013
    4
    For apparent "fans" of the franchise, they really did drop the ball with this big heap of crap. leaving graphics alone and moving to mechanics it's terrible.. ai is awful gameplay feels sluggish and you don't at any point in time, feel like you're in the aliens universe..
  75. psbox362
    Apr 6, 2013
    4
    For the past 6-7 years, I've been waiting for this game to come out since it was first announced. I was amazed by the gameplay demo from E3. It looked genuinely terrifying. Marines were getting picked off from the shadows by lurking xenomorphs, the lighting was dark and atmospheric, you got to wield iconic weapons and equipment to fight off the monstrosities. The whole thing looked amazing.

    But then the game came out and I got the biggest kick in the nuts from any game I have ever played in my life. The final product is in no way similar to that magnificent demo we saw. In fact, it was much worse and practically unfinished. The textures are horribly outdated by at least 6 years. The adaptive lighting we saw was nowhere near as impressive as the demos. Even the AI suffered horribly. Xenomorphs mindlessly Zerg rush you rather than sneak around in the shadows, and your AI controlled teammates are practically useless. There's no real details on what happened, but the fact remains that Gearbox has somehow managed to rush a game that has been in development for over 6 years.

    To say that this game is buggy is an understatement. I've been left wondering if anyone has even playtested this prior to release. Probably the most damning of problems with this game is how easy it is to lose your progress in this game. Rather than creating a save file onto the hard drive like ever other game on the 360, ACM instead saves directly to your cache. This means that whenever you start the game without signing in to your gamertag, you lose everything. Campaign progress, multiplayer ranks and unlocks, everything, gone. You'd think it could be avoided by simply turning off auto-run and being careful to sign in before playing, but you'd be wrong. Mandatory updates for the game automatically sign you out before installation and are effectively a death sentence for your saves.

    I seriously hate calling anything a "COD clone", but what else can I say? Guns have attachments and different skins and half of the game is spent on fighting Weyland Yutani mercenaries. That's right, you fight other humans in an Aliens game. Sure, I expected Wey-Yu to make an appearance in the story at some point, but these guys show up on the second level and utterly destroy any sense of fear that the xenos built up in the introductory level. There's hardly any tension in the game as you carry all of your weapons on your back. So, whenever one gun is low on ammo, you just switch it out for another until you find more ammo for it.

    You'd think that since the game's story was approved by Fox as being the canonical sequel to Aliens and Alien 3, that the writers would go all out to make sure the story was amazing, right? Sadly that's not the case. Indeed, most of the game's plot seems like an excuse to just revisit locations from the movies. ACM hardly answers any questions from the movies, nor does it add anything exciting. They had even brought back a supposedly dead character from Aliens and handwaved the details of his survival with him literally saying, "That's a story for another time". If that's not a copout in story writing then I don't know what is. Even the characters aren't that interesting. They could be amusing at times due to their banter, but there's not much for the player to get attached to.

    The multiplayer is probably the only thing that's genuinely worthwhile with this game. Playing with your friends in versus mode is great fun. While playing as Marines, you organize together a survival strategy, and as Xenos, you work together to harass and hunt down the marines. It kind of like running a haunted house and feels familiar with playing as an special infected in Left 4 Dead. Fun aside, the multiplayer also suffers from it's share of problems. Just like the campaign, bugs are prevalent and quite common. Also, lag is a major factor that can severely break the balance of the game and make it almost impossible to play properly.

    All in all, I'd say rent the game if you are still interested in playing it. But if you insist on buying, please wait for the price to drop and more patches to be released. Because at this point in time, this game needs a lot more work to be worth considering spending money on. From what I'm seeing Gearbox is still working on more patches to clear up the bugs. They have already tweaked the AI, but probably won't do much to improve the graphics on the 360. If I notice any fixes worthy of changing my score, I'll edit as I deem appropriate. But for now, my score stands as is.    … Expand
  76. SimpleMethod
    Feb 13, 2013
    4
    Aliens: Colonial Marines is a colossal disappointment. But I shouldn't of expected more seeing as how it is an outsourced game from the always reliable(NO) Gearbox Software, with only one game that is decent, borderlands. Anyway, they up with Duke Nukem, and they up just as bad and sadly, possibly worse with Aliens. Jesus, why can't there be a decent Alien franchise game? Would it be that hard to put some effort into a game and not use last generation graphics? or perhaps at least ATTEMPT to immerse us in the Aliens world? well, hopefully this is the last batch of from Gearbox for a while.… Expand
  77. NipplzDaClown
    Feb 17, 2013
    4
    I rented Aliens before I would spend another sixty dollars for a game I wasn't too sure about. I am glad I did because I wouldn't have spent thirty dollars on this game. While I did have a little bit of fun with a few hours of multiplayer matches the overall quality of game was not fully up to the sixty dollar price tag. As a gamer I am telling you to wait until this game is cheaper or to rent it like I did.… Expand
  78. KleenexTex
    Feb 13, 2013
    4
    Please don't buy this game, it's a major disappointment all round. It's so bad I felt compelled to sign up to metacritic so that I could prevent others making the same mistake as me. Save your money or better yet, buy Borderlands 2 if you haven't already got it.
  79. TheAmayan
    Feb 14, 2013
    4
    Aliens: Colonial Marines is a poor attempt to satisfy any fan looking to get more out of the franchise. The singleplayer, which may be the most anticipated portion of the game, is laughable. Terrible AI and ugly textures completely throw you out of the experience immediately. The story doesn't do anything to pull you in. The voice acting is good but none of the characters are memorable, I didn't care for anybody in this game. Gameplay is very basic, you point and shoot at aliens jump at you and human enemies who are dumb heck. The game does have a good stealth part where you lose your weapons (for some dumb reason), and you travel through a sewer crawling with enemies. I really enjoyed that part of the game and the multiplayer can be fun for a couple of hours. But those few things aren't enough to put down $60, its a rental at best. You're probably going to see people who say the game is awesome and that reviewers don't know what they're talking about, but I read and watched their reviews and everything they have to say is spot on! If anybody tells you that Aliens Colonial Marines is awesome, they either have low standards for video games or they're in denial.… Expand
  80. djamestc
    Feb 23, 2013
    4
    It's not that Aliens:CM is absolutely terrible.... It's that it was a colossal disappointment. So much hype for a game that looks unpolished and at times unfinished. It is full of bugs, and I don't mean xenomorphs. Very disappointing that gearbox and sega would release a game in the condition of this one.
  81. TragicShow
    Mar 1, 2013
    4
    This game is pretty disappointing. The story isn't very compelling or even interesting for that matter. The AI is terrible, when the aliens charge your position, it seriously looks like a bland, cardboard cutout is moving across the ground. The graphics and appearance of the game are pretty bad. The only good part is
    the multiplayer, without the multiplayer, I would give it a 2.
  82. Awesomo3000
    Mar 13, 2013
    4
    I think this is a great game but I put in the disc before signing in to my profile and once I was at main menu it reset my profile on the game.I am very disappointed about this I was a high lvl and I finishe the campaign once they fix this I will play again my gamer tag is: Anthony Ferris I was lvl 17 for aliens and lvl 34 for marines please fix this and my profile if fixed let me know
  83. MGTE
    May 4, 2013
    4
    WHY?? WHY!??? i am a huge fan of the original Aliens movie and i was expecting so much from from Gearbox, where is the emersive story that we have been promised?? and the why we are fighting humans for the most of the time?? in the aliens game??? and the worst thing is that apparently there is one guy from the original crew who is still alive, i swear after that you will be like... WhAAAAT. As for the story, it's just bad and the graphics are really bad even on the PC and the game is so easy, if you want to play this game i really reccommend playing it on super soldier difficulty because on easiest difficuly you can just run, run and run and the enemies will just look at you and stare for ten minutes. This game also offers a broken AI and a Multiplayer but there is not really that much to say, nothing original here. Thankfully this game has drop in drop out co-op mode so you don't have to suffer by yourself. Co-Op is the only way to play this game, believe me.… Expand
  84. Parag0N
    Feb 13, 2013
    3
    This game is total GARBAGE! Anyone who rates this game over a 5 either works for Gearbox/Sega or knows nothing about videogames. I rented this thinking how bad can it really be...ohhh how I found out. Finished the campaign on hardest difficulty with about 30/50 achievements in about five hours. There are really about three levels in the game that you go back and fourth through three times with different lighting. All you do is shoot wave after wave of the same enemies over and over again then the credits role.. after the worst final boss encounter in years. Multiplayer is nothing that hasn't been done in every other game this generation. The only redeeming value to this experience was the sound effects which are spot on with the films. Believe it or not the terrible Alien Vs. Predator game from a few years back seems like a masterpiece compared to this trash. Shame on Gearbox for this terrible letdown of a product for all the fans of the Aliens franchise, fans of their previous work, and ruining the opportunity to create canon material for a movie franchise. THIS IS THE CANDIDATE FOR WORST GAME OF THE YEAR!!… Expand
  85. DarrkHawk
    Apr 10, 2013
    3
    When game developers get pushed into making a public apology for a "misleading" trailer, This pretty much marks the scene for a game. Yes, I got hold of Alien: Colonial Marines a good period of time after release and after this announcement. Immediately I could see what the big uproar was about. First thing that is thrown in front of you with any game is the graphics, which feel like it has been thrown together from the 64 bit era. The trailer of this game showed amazing graphics, amazing game play and intense scenes. With the graphics been first the rule out that the trailer showed, what would be next? Well, to be honest, I failed to find one aspect of this game that made it "good". Controls are sluggish, hit detection is just pure awful, voice acting is laughable, story is bland and just the general play of the game is, well, almost unplayable. The AI are some of the worst I've seen in a game and the enemies are so unpredictable and mostly, unavoidable which makes the overall game play extremely frustrating and boring. I understand that this game also has an online multiplayer feature but I didn't couldn't try it due to lack of interest in the game as a whole and the fact the one time I tried to play an MP game, after half an hour it didn't find me a game. Overall, this game is a failed struggle to save a dying franchise.… Expand
  86. GregoryGoblin
    Mar 8, 2013
    3
    Feels like a 2002/3 Xbox game and would only have been average then. Very poor for a recent release. I thought it looked poor on preview sites, I couldn't beleive it when the full release so shoddy. 6 years for this, what a shame! When it hits the bargain buckets, it may be worth picking up for a fiver?
  87. armstrong2805
    Feb 23, 2013
    3
    A Complete putrid POS. What the hell were they thinking?! Awful story, horrible graphics, and inept AI left this game in shambles. Multiplayer was a joke. And a bad joke at that. And it being an 'Aliens' game where the hell were they for the first 3 missions out of the 11? It is an Aliens game right? So why does it turn out to be a CoD? Who sabotaged this game?! I want to know who did it! But the game's environment and sound samples where dead on. But those two things could not save this game. Its a complete mess.… Expand
  88. Lovecraft
    Feb 18, 2013
    3
    What else is their to say? Many reviewers and fans have panned this game to death, in a such a quick succession. But I feel, as avid Alien fan, I need to have a say in regarding this title and that it is one of the biggest disappointments in gaming history. I have never known a game can suck so much with such an interesting premise. The enemy AI was awful, including ally AI, which frustrated the living hell out of me. They get in your way, fail to assist you in any way or my personnel favorite, being shot multiple times in the back. I'm no snob by any means, but the games looks awful in animation and graphically. The story was average until the last few missions when you have to rescue a prisoner and his reveal is complete an utter and makes no sense. I wanted to like this game, honestly I did, because I didn't want to fall on the back wagon in bashing this game, in fact I wanted to give it an average rating, maybe a 5 or 6 because there were a couple of levels I enjoyed, the soundtrack was amazing which added that nesscary atmosphere that made the Aliens films so successful and certain enviorments were not bad, plus multiplayer can be quite fun albeit rather frustrating when playing as the Xenomorphs and online 4 player co op is also not to bad. But it wasn't enough to salvage this farce. Gearbox and Sega have a lot to answer for and if your still curious about playing this game, I suggest a rental or if your alien fan and feel the need to check it out, then wait for a price drop. But in my honest opinion, don't buy it.… Expand
  89. TheWonderwall
    Feb 12, 2013
    3
    Aliens: Colonial Marines have bad graphics i've already completed the campaign but didn't play the multiplayer matches. The campaign is really repetitive and i just could play it because i was playing split-screen with my friend, that help me to get to the end of this game. I recommend only for those fans of aliens series and even them i know if gonna like it. The only cool thing is see a formed group going down.… Expand
  90. muzzirenti90
    Feb 14, 2013
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. If you could look past the graphics but with a game that has been in the process of ten year of development I didn’t expect anything more but to start of the game looked promising for the first half hour or so with the suspense of seeing a xenomorph in the shadows and not being able to shot it and with structure collapsing around you. Even being handed a motion scanner seemed to give this game a good vibe about the but unfortunately after the first level you had already seen all the game had to really throw at you. With very short cut scenes with terrible dialogue you couldn’t really connect with the very basic story line that didn’t keep you entertained. The more and more you progressed with the game the more you noticed how bland the environments, characters and guns etc really are and to make it worse the game was littered with countless numbers of glitches I found myself of teammates stuck in walls, falling through floors and shots from guns not registering. As promised I expected an intelligent alien AI to figure out how to hide in the shadows and surprise attacks but instead all I experienced was countless hordes of aliens running strait at you giving you plenty of time to react and kill with a few blasts of your guns. With the final boss being the Queen the game had a chance to restore some pride by giving you a badass boss battle to end but were let down again with a boss that can be easily defeated within a couple of minutes with teamwork, no bullets needed. This is the first game in a while that I couldn’t think on really any good points and that I was left thinking I have wasted my time and I was glad that it had ended.
    Multiplayer is also a huge disappointment with very weak aliens with bad controls and near to impossible to kill marines and a huge lack of customisation that was supposed to be a huge point to look unique online. Levels have a good size to them but with a lack of players in each round you can spend a while just trying to find enemies rather than being in the action.

    To summarise this game it is very short to which you can complete in about 5 hours (11 levels) and you don’t need tactics to complete this game with ease just an itchy trigger finger and the game becomes very irritating with a countless number of glitches. The only thing I liked about the game was a Easter egg from the movie Spaceballs which brought a smile to my face. If you are a fan of Alien and don’t want to be let down avoid this game as you will be left disappointed.    … Expand
  91. Erupt50
    Feb 18, 2013
    3
    Not sure what I can say that hasn't been said already. Maybe this game needed another 6 years of development. I could forgive the horrible graphics if everything else wasn't just as bad. The player animations are terrible. The lip synching is almost laughable. The AI(both friendly and enemy) has to be the worst part of this game....almost to the point of making it unplayable. The single player portion of this game is a 3/10. I'd give it a 2/10 if it wasn't an Aliens game.

    The multiplayer is really the only playable part of this game. Taking out the game's horrible AI and replacing it with human player AI shows signs of how great the game could have been. Unfortunately the multiplayer suffers from it's own set of problems and is unable to save the game overall. Matchmaking is pretty bad, as is the lag once you do get into a match. There are some pretty big balancing issues as well. Also, when playing as an alien the controls are inconsistent at best. There are only 4 modes to play as well, and although there is some customization and unlocks, after playing for a couple hours you will see the multiplayer portion of the game is not very deep at all.

    Don't make the mistake I did by buying this at full price. If you are a diehard Aliens fan either rent it, or wait for a price drop, which won't take long. This game is on the fast track to the bargain bin.    … Expand
  92. RipperCaine
    Feb 20, 2013
    3
    This game reminds me a lot of Operation Racoon City. The verybad news is Operation Racoon City is a better game. ACm doesn't even make me want to try to finish it. ORC at least did that. Gearbox blew it big time here.
  93. urosdj
    Feb 28, 2013
    3
    this game is a horrible excuse for a game this franchise is falling apart boring game play and just well not so interesting at all(my opinion)you don't even need to play the game to understand its a horrible game you can just watch game plays and you can still see this game is not what fans were expecting AT ALL
  94. Xboxreviews
    Mar 26, 2013
    3
    Whats bad about this game? what's good about this game? That's the easier question.
    Bad graphics, dumb story, REPETITIVE GAMEPLAY, and HUMAN ENEMIES in this new creation from gearbox. I hate this game. I really do. Not because of the bad qualities, although that's a good reason, BECAUSE IT'S ALIENS AND I FEEL LIKE ITS JUST A TERRIBLE KNOCKOFF OF COD. Now i can tell what you what happened     to that awesome demo in 2012, whatever it is, it's aliens colonial marines. This.... Game isn't. This is a shooter that doesn't hold up to its competition in the slightest. This is quite possibly, the worst game I have ever played. I know that there are worse games. But I haven't played them. Here's a challenge, play on ultimate badass mode, alone, with no one else even in the room to talk to, and TRY to have fun. This game makes me sad, gearbox has fallen. They have sealed their reputation not only as liars and cheats,but they have destroyed their reputation by making a false demo, making false promises, and using the hype machine to boost sales. DON'T WASTE YOU'RE MONEY ON THIS. If you really want a good aliens game, try the avp game that came out in 2010. But this game isn't worth a triple a price if it isn't a triple a game.… Expand
  95. Brbreview
    Apr 24, 2013
    3
    Theres alot of things this game does wrong but a few things right. First of all, the atmosphere of the game fits with alien's franchise. Also the multiplier is pretty enjoyable but the lacks of map makes the game die fast. But the game gets pretty much everything else wrong. The graphics are really outdated and visually the game looks terrible. The biggest concern is the AI the AI will just stand around and do nothing. You can beat this game easily on the hardest difficulty. The boss at the ending is so terrible its not even funny. The story and characters are also terrible so there's not much to look forward in this game. The game was rushed and they should have token more time to work on it. A good year might have made the game worth checking out.… Expand
  96. TH74
    Feb 12, 2013
    2
    So, apparently it takes years of delays and disappointment before you can release a truly awful game. Aliens: Colonial Marines is exhibit A. This comes from a big Aliens fan who has waited and waited for this title to be released.
    The graphics and textures make you think you're playing on the original Xbox, the story for the woefully short game is also dire (yes, a game with less than 6     hours of gameplay), no tension in the game and the motion tracker is a waste of time.
    Looks like Sega replaced their 'QA' dept with a 'Do we look bothered about the product' department.
    Don't get me started with the strange option to put a supressor onto your pulse rifle, only to find that you can't take it back off). Leave this load of rubbish well alone and keep your hard earned cash in your pocket.    … Expand
  97. Orlik666
    Feb 12, 2013
    2
    finished the single player mode yesterday. Game is very short (5 hours wtf!?), has really bad graphics and the gameplay feels like in low budget pc fps game. There is no horror atmosphere in this game bacause it was made as 4 player co op game (something like Dead Island but much much worse!). Multiplayer sucks, finding players takes you 1,5 minute and the lag kills the fun. No dedicated servers. Just simple p2p matchmaking like in CoD but created worse. There are multiplayer modes where you can play as alien versus humans. To tell you the truth, nobody wants to play as aliens because marines are way to powerfull. If marine players stick together, they always wins the match. The only option to win the multiplayer match as an aliens is when it is match where aliens have bigger numbers than marines (ex. 2 marines vs 6 aliens). In multiplayer match 6 vs 6 marines ALWAYS win. You can't choose sides, game does it for you like the developers knew that nobody would like to be alien.

    Oh! And one more funny thing! This game WAS NOT CREATED by Gearbox but 5 different developers. You can see their names in the campaign intro. Gearbox was supporting them with their brand. F*ck you SEGA and gearbox. Lost respect for those companies.    … Expand
  98. RogerWilco2099
    Feb 14, 2013
    2
    Arrived in the post yesterday, I heard some bad reviews but as a fan I thought this was exaggeration. Well I wish I never opened it and got a refund. The campaign is 5 hours long with an AI that terrible for both your squad and the enemy. I should be saying Aliens rather then enemy, but half the game you arnt fighting aliens!!! Thats right, an aliens game and you spend half of it fighting other marines on the Corporation. The end boss as well... just over one minute to beat... the games just painful. I want to give it a good review, I pre-ordered this on nostalgia and the fact that this looked like it was the aliens game that would be it! Multiplayer is the only thing that can make this game fun and it wears thin fast. The marines are very overpowered and while you can take out lone wolves, if they stick in a group and are organized playing as an alien is just not fun. Other players give up quick and it makes it impossible. Basically if you stay in a group then its an instant win. High hopes. Crushed by technical problems (screen tear), poor AI, poor graphics with missing textures and retcons. Dont get me started on who they bring back from the dead! Oh and those awesome early previews which got everyone excited, guess what not in the game!! Poor poor show. I pray the DLC can partially redeem this game especailly as its supposed to be cannon!… Expand
  99. usrevenge
    Mar 22, 2013
    2
    don't know how they could screw up any more than they did.

    terrible AI, terrible graphics, mediocre multiplayer, mediocre story, and they have the nerve to sell DLC.
    gearbox shouldn't be allowed to make games.
  100. mako_psy
    Feb 14, 2013
    2
    This has to be one of the worst first person shooters I've ever played on the Xbox. I'm really disappointed because I love the Alien franchise and I've been looking forward to this game for months. Firstly, everything feels very outdated... it's an extremely basic first person shooter with graphics that belong on the PS2. The checkpoint system is just a mess; the last thing I want to do is have the same firefight over and over again just because a checkpoint didn't activate after I'd pressed three or so switches (perhaps acceptable on lower difficulties, but if you like a challenge this is a nightmare). Which brings me to my next point: switches! The entire game is simply going through corridor after corridor, activating switches and cutting through broken doors. It's nothing like the horror-survival/FPS hybrid I expected. There are no jump-out-of-your seat moments, despite the potential, since y'know... it's a game set in the world of Alien. The characters are all two-dimensional couldn't give a flying sh*t about any of them. What forced my hand to write a bad review was the glitches; if it's not a non-moving elevator, it's an NPC not doing what he's programmed to do, ultimately forcing you to restart from the last checkpoint that was two fights ago, do them again, and hope it works the second time around! (again, a nightmare if you're on a challenging mode). Really, it just feels like you're playing a very rushed, cheap, glitchy movie cash-in. I'm glad I rented it before deciding to buy it.… Expand
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
48 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 47 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 47
  3. Negative: 22 out of 47
  1. Console Monster
    Apr 3, 2013
    40
    There was a lot of hope for Aliens: Colonial Marines but it seems the gaming world is let down with another attempt to make a successful film tie in. The review should give you a few good reasons why the game suffers but other aspects such as the overused catchphrase ‘Stay frosty!’ and anticlimactic ending are a couple more to add to the list and this is why you should wait until this game gets thrown into the bargain bin before you purchase.
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  2. GameCritics
    Apr 1, 2013
    20
    I'm not that witty, but I am pretty vulgar—as a result, all I can say is that if Aliens: Colonial Marines had been fished out of a Marine's colon during emergency surgery it wouldn't surprise me in the least.
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  3. Games Master UK
    Mar 24, 2013
    62
    An unremarkable FPS plagued by dim AI and repetitive set-pieces. [Apr 2013, p.68]
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