PC
Nintendo Wii U
XBox 360
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Product Features

Genre
Action and Shooter
Publisher
Sega
Release Date
February 12, 2013
Available Platforms
PC, Nintendo Wii U, XBox 360

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  • James Alexander February 18, 2013 PC
    ****

    Aliens: Colonial Marines (ACM) has had some pretty bad press this week, and has an average Metacritic rating of 42. But, whilst the individual parts that make up the game may not be great, it actually, in my opinion, works out okay in the end, like making a cake - you wouldn't eat raw egg and flour, but in a cake, why not?

    Graphically, the game is lacking. On my desktop PC, a top end computer, it doesn't look much better than the console versions. And whilst this is partly made up for by the environments that have essentially been dragged from the movies, it still felt lacking, even in basic things like lighting - which one would imagine to be pretty crucial in an Aliens game. Whip around to quick to shoot the Lurker behind you, and you'll see textures popping into place all around . On PC, already a number of modders have gone a long way to fixing these issues, so much so it really makes you wonder why Gearbox couldn't have just tweaked the game at the last minute.

    But, again, you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, nor a video game by it's graphics - need I remind you of games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, or Tetris? The premise of the game is simple - if it moves, shoot it with an assortment of weaponry. The weapon customisation is somewhat of a strong point of the game - sure nothing like the newly released Dead Space 3, but ample. My favourite weapon is a shotgun with an under-barrel taser attachment for those SHOCKING encounters.
    No?
    Never mind.

    The game, unfortunately, doesn't play as any of the movies. It's kind of hard to feel scared of any number of bugs when you are 'the biggest badasses in the galaxy', not some poor, very confused scientists. That said, a certain mid-game mission involving a chase did make me jump. Just a little. It is a very linear shooter, not that that really matters in most linear games, but I can't help but feel that it is very same old same old - get to that position, hold it, get to the next position etc. etc. And, as per any modern game, there are little annoying collectibles, the most irritating being nigh on invisible dog tags. There is nothing special about the campaign - I can't, even now, remember the name of the central character; there is now wit or charm to any of the character in the game. There were times I would wish for them to be dismembered by a xenomorph. On the subject of the xenos, their animations and AI aren't terrible. They can climb, run, retreat, all with a degree of smoothness. At least in the campaign.

    In multiplayer, it is a different story. Full of bugs (not the xeno kind) and glitches and lag, it is easy to see why you may just overlook this portion of the game completely, ACM does a fine job of taking the magic away from online games - at times you can almost see the server (yes I know that that isn't possible) beneath the surprisingly reasonable graphics, for an online game. And yet, for all it's bugs and it's God awful xenomorph animations, it is addictive, and, dare I say it, fun. The first few levels as a xeno can feel ludicrously underpowered, but once you get in the mind set of a deadly predator facing off against a 'badass' with a plasma rifle, it is more fun to play as the little wall huggers. A certain level of fatigue sets in after a while, but not before you get 15 or so good hours worth of fun out of it.

    To me, it is intriguing that a game like Dishonored, with similarly underwhelming graphics, can achieve a Metacrtic score of 91, for a six hour campaign and no multiplayer, whilst this game, although it hasn't reached the high barrier set for it, cannot receive half the score that that game did. Sure, it's not going to be anyone's Game of the Year, but ACM cannot be considered by any, except the incredibly shallow, a bad game,
    Graphically, the game is lacking. On my PC, a top end computer, it doesn't look much better than the console versions. And whilst this is partly made up for by the environments that have essentially been dragged from the movies, it still felt lacking, even in basic things like lighting - which one would imagine to be pretty crucial in an Aliens game.