It was the twilight of the 1970s when the first Xenomorph baby would launch itself from the chest of a USCSS crewman, setting off a franchise that has scared and enthralled more than one generation over the last 42 years. In that time, the Alien universe has taken many forms. What started as a single movie has become a phenomenon that has transformed into toys, video games, and books as the universe continues to evolve. While there have been many great and not so great iterations of the Aliens IP, one that stands out in particular infamy is Aliens: Colonial Marines.
What was expected to be a new and exciting entry for the Aliens video game franchise, Aliens: Colonial Marines left much to be desired in terms of a polished and enjoyable content. For starters, the AI wasn't the smartest in games at the time to say the least. The titular aliens will constantly be running into walls and getting caught in place by bugs, where the Xenomorphs are sitting ducks. The intelligent Xenomorphs that fans have come to expect from the Aliens series are nowhere to be found in this game. For many, the question is why, and it turns out that the answer isn't all that surprising, given the development process this game went through.
Lost Focus
In its six year development, Aliens: Colonial Marines was sidelined by developer Gearbox Software, so it could focus on other titles like Duke Nukem Forever and Borderlands 2. In order to make more employee bandwidth for those games, large parts of Alien: Colonial Marines were outsourced to other developers outside of Gearbox. This all added up to a game that was considered by critics to contain a myriad of isse. A modder has since fixed the bad AI, but it's a little too late for fans who were let down at the game's release.
This isn't the only game that Gearbox has outsourced to share this fate. One of the games Aliens: Colonial Marines was sidelined for was Duke Nukem Forever, which received similar criticism after being stuck in development hell, with pieces passed around to multiple developers over its decade long development cycle. While fans were not very hopeful of the latter after such a long wait, many fans were hoping that Gearbox's Aliens entry would have aged better in its long development, as opposed to what they really got.
That's not to say that Aliens: Colonial Marines doesn't have its merits. The developer was able to get access for the original set designs of the Alien movie franchise and designed the game world based on existing scenes from those. The modelers also took inspiration from the movie's guns and vehicles, letting players fully relive their favorite franchise. This game works really well as a monument to the Alien series, allowing players to get up close and personal with their favorite sets from the classic movies.
While many have criticized what could've been an impressive squad-based experience, the game has still managed to grab some fans during its time. The multiplayer, which puts player Humans against player Xenomorphs, has received acclaim from the community and would likely serve as the intellectual basis for the video game Aliens vs. Predator, which uses a very similar mechanic, but with added Predators as well.
Aliens: Colonial Marines is out now on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows.