Aliens : Colonial Marines

So is this going to be a team based FPS or what? I'm intrigued.

However, what really bothers me about the aliens series (and by extension the AvP games series) is just how retro sci-fi it is. The human technology is all over the place. Computers, equipment and weapons that are no better than what's available today, and at the same time FTL space travel and androids... WAT? An update is necessary me thinks.
 
Yeh this kind of came out of the blue, but great to hear it is still alive. Hope Gearbox can create a really good Aliens atmosphere.
 
Remus said:
However, what really bothers me about the aliens series (and by extension the AvP games series) is just how retro sci-fi it is. The human technology is all over the place. Computers, equipment and weapons that are no better than what's available today, and at the same time FTL space travel and androids... WAT? An update is necessary me thinks.
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No, no, ****ing no. Shut the **** up right now before they hear you, there is enough of this shit already. "Oh hey, lets take an old IP and update it's technology to our standards today". The late 1970's-1980's retro technology is part of what makes the universe so strong in the first two alien films. The big clunky computers, hardware, weapons, and machinery brings such a nice contrast and compliment to the more organic mechanical look of the xenomorph aliens. The Aliens franchise does not need updated technology.
 
I agree, hyper-technology in the Aliens universe would kill it.
 
Sweet! I just saw the remastered Aliens blu-ray today! (which looks god damned gorgeous! An amazing watch, fan or not)

The trailer was awesome, looks like it stays true to the Alien franchise.

Hadley's hope... Can't wait to stomp some bugs, this is going to be so cool! :p

and I'm with Zt and morgs, updating the technology would kind of ruin it.
 
don't worry, gearbox devs are big fan of aliens. they know their material.
 
Remus said:
So is this going to be a team based FPS or what? I'm intrigued.

However, what really bothers me about the aliens series (and by extension the AvP games series) is just how retro sci-fi it is. The human technology is all over the place. Computers, equipment and weapons that are no better than what's available today, and at the same time FTL space travel and androids... WAT? An update is necessary me thinks.
Click to expand...

alien and aliens design is incredibly sophisticated to this day, let alone how intelligent and thought-out it was over 20 years ago when the films were made and released. to re-hash the entire art direction of arguably cinemas most important sci-fi and horror films would be almost offensive to the creators.

besides, i can't think of a worse way then to rip you out of a perfectly good setting made up from the films then have those environments and atmospheres change suddenly just because a game is released several years later. part of the attraction to the first two alien films for me is the clever use of design and aesthetic. technically, because of just how groundbreaking the first two films are, they're still lightyears ahead of many other alien sci-fi horrors that about to this day because of how inventive they were.

i think the most appropriate phase here would be don't fix what ain't broken.
 
aliens inspired around 80% of the visual style of sci ffi shooters videogames,and you are complaiging now?
 
I like how I talk about the technology depicted in the Alien series, and you talk about design/art direction. These two things have nothing to do with each other. They can keep the art direction while at the same time update the technology depicted. It was done in the latest Star Trek movie, why not in the Aliens series? How am I supposed to take a sci-fi story that takes place 250 years in the future seriously, when they show stuff like large primitive computers with crt monitors?

And <RJMC>, it's not just games, that visual style has influnced many movies and tv shows as well.
 
Remus said:
I like how I talk about the technology depicted in the Alien series, and you talk about design/art direction. These two things have nothing to do with each other. They can keep the art direction while at the same time update the technology depicted. It was done in the latest Star Trek movie, why not in the Aliens series? How am I supposed to take a sci-fi story that takes place 250 years in the future seriously, when they show stuff like large primitive computers with crt monitors?

And <RJMC>, it's not just games, that visual style has influnced many movies and tv shows as well.
Click to expand...

well, a glaring error in your point is that there is a pretty legitimate - not to mention logical and sensible - reason for why they look outdated to us now, 20 years on - they were made at a time when technology was like that. that was what they had at hand, but even then there are some really inventive re-uses of equipment to make them look new and all krazy science fiction like, but obviously you have to remember that the context of what the future was back in the late 70's and early 80's is going to be different now with what we see those things to look like in the present day.

basically, i don't think you're looking at this from a very logical standpoint. what's going to be more jarring - a game being released today showing old tech being used in a game set during the same time as when the old tech was last seen, circa early 1980, or playing that same game which is meant to be set just after the film from 1980 and suddenly everything looks different? one of them you might have to shrug off as something you may not like, but the other is something that goes and re-writes all of the history from the game, ****ing over the pacing of the universe completely. i know which one i'd rather have.

to a degree, yes, from a technical and theoretical standpoint, it is all very outdated and if it was to fall in line with a aesthetic that was similar to that of NASAs or the marine corps today it would have to be changed. but it doesn't need to fall in line with any of that - that isn't the alien universe. it was created then and it's so lauded today that changing it would be a brash, pointless move. that technology does fall under the category of art direction when it's used in a aesthetic sense, and no one praises the alien films attention to space travel or foresight into the future as much as they do the aesthetic of the films, which the tech plays a big part of.

(hell, people did praise the attention to detail as well, really, but it was never the big selling point of the film, more something that just elevates the films cultural position as an all round amazing piece of craftsmanship when you look into it.)
 
Fair enough, however then it should stop being called flatly sci-fi and instead be called what it is, either retro sc-fi, or fantasy sci-fi. Semantics, I know.

Anyway, I've derailed this long enough. I am looking forward to the game, hopefully we get some gameplay videos or at least some screenshots soon.
 
Remus said:
Fair enough, however then it should stop being called flatly sci-fi and instead be called what it is, either retro sc-fi, or fantasy sci-fi.
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Agreed. In addition I think Michelangelo's works should not be called art, and instead be called what it is, either *insert art subcategory here* or *insert another art subcategory here.*

Its not semantics you're talking about, its pretending something doesn't fall under a broader category because it also falls into a subcategory of said broad one. Anything that can be classified "retro sci-fi" can also, by definition, be classified as sci-fi.
 
not to mention that science-fiction doesn't necessarily have a timestamp attached to it. in it's simplest laymens terms, it's science within a work of fiction. whether those science aspects be new or old, it shouldn't really matter.
 
Let's hope that this turns out to be better than the recent AvP title.
 
ZT said:
No, no, ****ing no. Shut the **** up right now before they hear you, there is enough of this shit already. "Oh hey, lets take an old IP and update it's technology to our standards today". The late 1970's-1980's retro technology is part of what makes the universe so strong in the first two alien films. The big clunky computers, hardware, weapons, and machinery brings such a nice contrast and compliment to the more organic mechanical look of the xenomorph aliens. The Aliens franchise does not need updated technology.
Click to expand...

Amen. I completely agree with you. Just as I'd hate to see Starcraft start using sleek, stylish models, I'd hate to see the charm of the Alien(s) (or in this case, the marines) style "clunkiness" ruined by retrofitting BS modern tech/style.
 
COLONIAL MARINES - now with marine corp esqe rail scopes, pouches and straps! customize your pulse rifle with a whole host of useless gun porn nonsense like the grip, acog sight and mounted motion tracker!

/shudder
 
Remus said:
I like how I talk about the technology depicted in the Alien series, and you talk about design/art direction. These two things have nothing to do with each other. They can keep the art direction while at the same time update the technology depicted. It was done in the latest Star Trek movie, why not in the Aliens series? How am I supposed to take a sci-fi story that takes place 250 years in the future seriously, when they show stuff like large primitive computers with crt monitors?

And <RJMC>, it's not just games, that visual style has influnced many movies and tv shows as well.
Click to expand...

Because Aliens was a Vietnam war movie IN SPACE!
 
oh **** it. who made this trailer? the screen fades to black every 5 second.
 
Well it is a Tripwire trailer. Decent games, sure - but their trailers and hype videos are... well, generally awful.

I'm just hoping RO:HOS will have some good infantry maps. I don't care at all for the large scale vehicular-focus of the latest incarnations of RO. In it's infancy, the game was definitely more about infantry. Even if this was due to the limitations of a smaller mod team with less time and resources, I preferred the game that way.
 
Um... wrong thread? And the RO2 trailer is awesome.
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Game looks pretty great, but yeah these fade-in-fade-out trailers are exceptionally annoying and played out.
 
Actually I was just horrendously confused! But yeah, this trailer is pretty awful too!
 
New 11 minute gameplay video...

It looks well and truly awful, good God.
Endless fan service... BAD fan service no less.
 
Err, "truly awful" seems quite harsh. The only thing I felt was truly awful about it was Randy Pitchford saying stupid shit. Other than that it looks like it is shaping up to be a fun co-op shooter. The only thing that really bothered me was the random Queen appearance at the end.
 
All I can say is graphics wise it looks dated. As for the gameplay, I'm getting a bad AvP 3 vibe from it.

Also could it have been any more obvious that it was being played with a controller, ugh...
 
Yeah, I got a Doom 3/Modern Warfare vibe which frankly sucked (the lack of AA and slow ass turning didn't help either thanks to whichever console they demoed it on). I love the idea of it though, so I will still hold out hope that it will rock due to the source material and universe.
 
A few things I noticed:

1. Blood in General looks like shit.
2. Has Pitchford not realised that if you shoot an alien that is above you you're going to get acid splashback. Fan of the series eh?
3. Pulse rifle sounds are horrible.
4. The alien movement in ops is quite clearly scripted, advanced AI my arse.
5. Why in ****s name is he making it so obvious he's playing with a controller?
6. The fight in ops: where the **** is the battle music. Stays silent throughout.
7. The jumpy scare bits at the start fail hard!

AvP 2010, even visually, looks way better than this and while the aliens had certain malfunctions from time to time it was quite clear they were running on AI code and not scripts. They'd jump dodge from gunfire and stick to the shadows to flank you. This is a let down so far.
 
2 would ruin the game. This is a game, not a realism simulator.
 
Barnz said:
2 would ruin the game. This is a game, not a realism simulator.
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Every Aliens Vs Predator had this, why exactly would a fundamental feature of the creatures design that worked for 3 other games ruin the game?
 
because this is a game where you work with other soldiers.
 
Acid splash back has been in the games since AVP: Gold...
 
so what? do you really want to kill NPCs and cooperative friends with acid?
 
The acid blood being as lethal as it was in the movies would be highly annoying, but there is a middle ground. In the AvP series the acid did some damage but not too much so that it became impossible to survive. However in this gameplay footage the acid blood doesn't seem to do any damage at all, not even the puddles on the ground.
 
The Aliens move stiltedly and the damage modelling for when they get shot is barely noticeable, not remotely as satisfying as even the first AvP game from 1999. Having a bug charge you and then explode all over the walls and ceiling in a shower of hissing acid was a pleasure in that series, whether watching or playing. The blood in this looks bad and doesn't seem to give splashback dmg. Dated graphics, crappy 'new species', lame script, too dense with fan service... big meh.

Only positive I can see is the art direction for some of the environments is nice.
 
Barnz said:
so what? do you really want to kill NPCs and cooperative friends with acid?
Click to expand...

No, and it need not affect them, but when your character is layed on the floor and has a xeno on top of him trying to pierce his skull, then the marines escape method is to blow him off him with a shotgun with absolutely no consequence it just looks ridiculous. The movies spent so much time making clear the devastating effects of killing these creatures at close range that for a game that considers itself cannon to ignore an important trait of the creature doesn't fill me with much confidence for the rest of the experience.
 
there is a scene in aliens - after hudson is taken away - where hicks shoots point blank at an alien that dives over him. i know there are various other times when close-combat goes wrong (for hicks just as much!), but i think a little leaway is to be expected.

either way, there's a lot more wrong with how this looks than just that.
 
I only skimmed through it, and it looked awful. Does the character move that ****ing slowly the whole time? And that part where the player got knocked out of a window to the outdoor area made no ****ing sense. Yeah, the marginal interest I had in this game just completely disappeared.
 
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