Talk:Aliens: Colonial Marines

• Valant 5/23/12 15:35 PST

I am a die hard fan of the Alien franchise, especially the second movie which holds to me as my favorite movie (cant count how many times I have seen it). I wanted to start a forum discussion relating to one of the only characters from the movie who has a slight chance of making it into the game: Private Hudson (Bill Paxton's character). *SPOILER ALERT FOR FILM* He was seen being dragged down into the depths of the ground, and proved himself a powerful soldier. I have a theory that he will appear in the movie if not as a main character than at least a cameo. Newt was able to survive on the planet for an extended period of time and the screen shots do show Hadley's Hope not completely destroyed. I hope this becomes a reality and wanted to get all of your feedback

I don't see how that would be possible, are you forgetting about the gigantic nuclear explosion that destroyed the whole colony? --commando552 18:47, 23 May 2012 (CDT)

• Valant 5/29/12 13:42 PST*

I thought the same thing to about the Nuclear Explosion, then again they show in the E3 2011 footage large portions of the colony left intact, that or in the Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual at the end of the book there are some transcripts from Weyland Yutani Representatives who state that the spaceship could have been left intact because of the blast radius did not reach it. Maybe he made it to the Derlict Space Jockey craft because of a rover or some Sci Fi BS. If did it would not be to upset.

I'm willing to bet that there will be an achievement for maybe finding his body or his gun since it shows up in the main page of this game. That'd be interesting, like 10 points and the achievement is called "Game over, Man! Game Over!" Just a thought. I however find it unlikely he survived that assault let alone surviving on that planet for 17 weeks. --Bad Boy (talk) 22:51, 11 February 2013 (EST)

According to one review, there is an achievement with that name, but it's for finishing the game. --Funkychinaman (talk) 14:33, 12 February 2013 (EST)

Disappointing

This game...wow. Aside from calling mags clips even the magazine tube in shotguns clips, they also mistake a pump action for semi auto. That's what it saids. I couldn't stop laughing at the stupid when the shotgun called "Pump Shotgun" has listed fire mode as "Semi automatic" Excalibur01 (talk) 13:52, 12 February 2013 (EST)

If they're the only problems with the game, frankly I'll be a happy man.--Leigh Burne (talk) 03:35, 13 February 2013 (EST)

I wish that was the only problem with the game. That's just related to guns. The game is crap with bad graphics, cheesy story, stupid AI and clunky controls Excalibur01 (talk) 08:19, 13 February 2013 (EST)

Not to mention the limbs clipping through the walls and shitty dialogue/writing. Can't believe it took them 7 years to make this game. Duke Nukem Forever all over again... AVP2010 is much better in my opinion. bozitojugg3rn4ut (talk) 09:09, 13 February 2013 (EST)

Ehh, I wouldn't go that far. AVP 2010 was pretty damn lousy and at least in this one the NPCs aren't quite so enthusiastic about nagging you to death. Also you don't have a Predator trying to stab himself in the eyes with his wristblades. Evil Tim (talk) 09:44, 13 February 2013 (EST)

AVP had a problem because we focused at 3 different factions and 3 different types of story and gameplay. So they had to deal with multiple things. This game, they only had to focus on the Marines in the singleplayer...multiplayer aside, they had ONE faction to deal with. The Marines. Oh how they fucked it up. The graphics look like PS2 graphics. The enemy AI and your friendly AI clip through walls, don't follow you and seem very lifeless in conversation. Excalibur01 (talk) 12:04, 13 February 2013 (EST)

Having now played this myself... It's not that bad. The graphics are certainly above PS2 standard, saying that's just unfair. The lighting's well done. But it's by no means Killzone 2 in the graphics department. The nostalgic touches are great, but I guess they'll only influence people like me who love the film. The AI's pretty poor. But the absolute worst sin the game commits is by failing to make the Aliens scary. They're just cannon fodder. At least AvP's Marine campaign was freaky.--Leigh Burne (talk) 03:40, 14 February 2013 (EST)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck836MIeYwo here is a great review of the game. The guy mentions pretty much everything I have problems with. - bozitojugg3rn4ut (talk) 06:23, 14 February 2013 (EST)

Holy hell, that screen tearing. That doesn't happen on PC. Neither does the texture draw-in. I guess they mained on PC (which has a vsync option) and the other two platforms are ports which aren't optimised for a console's amount of graphics RAM (Xbox 360 has ten megs of graphics RAM and 512 megs general, decent gaming PC has 2+ gigs of graphics RAM and 10+ gigs general). Rage had the same problem with main development being on PC, and since that used megatextures it had texture draw-in for the entire game world.

On the plus side, the screen tearing can give Xbox owners some idea of what it's like to play bad PS3 ports. Evil Tim (talk) 06:31, 14 February 2013 (EST)

I gotta be honest, I haven't noticed any real graphical glitches yet (admittedly I'm only about halfway through the game), with the exception of one Alien who ran straight through a door that was actually closed.--Leigh Burne (talk) 06:56, 14 February 2013 (EST)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGX2WE4QUw8 This is another good reviewer that talks about the game and how it fails. Oh and take a look at this one, where it compares the demo to the final product. Night and day differences in quality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z2qVebxlUo Excalibur01 (talk) 15:16, 14 February 2013 (EST)

This would explain the disparity between the demo and final product. --Funkychinaman (talk) 15:41, 14 February 2013 (EST)

Oh my god, the AI is crap. My squadmates don't shoot back, the Aliens run pass me and don't detect me shooting at them, and I literally ran through an entire level without firing a single shot Excalibur01 (talk) 15:17, 14 February 2013 (EST)

Yeah, I had the opposite problem. My squadmates shot back, ALL of the Aliens ran at me and bypassed my teammates, it took me half a magazine to kill ONE and I had to shoot everything in every level.--Bad Boy (talk) 19:26, 14 February 2013 (EST)

I played the game on the hardest setting and ran through a lot of it because someone told me that I could, so I tried. Ran passed enemies and didn't even get hurt that much. An alien glitched so badly that it looked like it was dancing like in the Spaceballs scene Excalibur01 (talk) 22:11, 14 February 2013 (EST)

Its like Big Rigs all over again.Mr.Ice (talk)

Games like these make me realize all the more how great Aliens vs. Predator 2 was--its singleplayer was well written, well scripted, and had some classic scares. Its multiplayer three-way inter-species combat with each faction having its own unique abilities and weaponry. Much as I wish Monolith Productions would get the next AvP game, a game like AvP2 will not likely be made again for the franchise--the original had 21 well-made levels (7 missions for each of the three singleplayer factions) along with all the work that had to go into multiplayer, and with the rising costs of game production it's unlikely anyone could fund a project of that magnitude today without a lot of "catering to the lowest common denominator." --Mazryonh (talk) 23:22, 14 February 2013 (EST)

The only real problem AVP2 had was the Predator campaign, which took a player character which would work great in an open stealth-focused game and stuffed them into narrow corridors. Though you can fix that and have a proper version by playing Crysis and roaring whenever you kill someone. Evil Tim (talk) 03:14, 15 February 2013 (EST)

Yeah, AvP2 was released in 2001, after all. Though the hypothetical mod you mention would definitely be something worth seeing (I hope they import the excellent Predator voice clips from AvP2 into such a mod, such as the inappropriate laughter when you score a headshot with the Speargun or the roar when you take a trophy or gib something). And tight corridors did at least make sense for most of the AvP2 Predator campaign that took place indoors, such as Xenomorph tunnels (who are used to crawling on all fours), the Forward Observation Pods (prefab suspended habitation units lowered in one piece from outer space, so open space is at a premium), and Pilot (AKA the Xenomorph creators) archaeology sites.--Mazryonh (talk) 17:23, 15 February 2013 (EST)

Aye, but it doesn't really suit the Predator to be in those locations, you'd think he'd figure out some way to hunt his enemies on his own terms rather than trying to fight according to theirs. Evil Tim (talk) 08:04, 16 February 2013 (EST)

Oh well, Monolith did try to justify it through their writing team, at least. Mission 1 is somewhat open-ended hunting by the Predator player character, mission 2 is tracking an APC carrying the player character's captured clan mates, mission 3 is infiltrating the Forward Observation Pods, mission 4 is escaping the pods, and missions 5 - 7 is tracking down the bastard who stole your Predator mask through Xenomorph tunnels and ancient extraterrestrial excavation sites. While I would like an open-ended Predator game, the Monolith devs did at least make the Predator campaign fun and compelling, even with a character who can't speak intelligibly. The ending to the Predator campaign in the Primal Hunt expansion is also quite a shock, assuming you haven't played the Alien campaign first in that game. --Mazryonh (talk) 18:37, 16 February 2013 (EST)

a wasted opportunity --Seekerdude (talk) 06:59, 19 May 2013 (EDT)

Bullpup

The unknown bullpup looks like the SMR from BO2. --Funkychinaman (talk) 10:14, 15 February 2013 (EST)

Fairly sure they based it on one of the battle rifle designs from the Halo games, the DMR from Halo 4 which is derived from the same designs looks pretty similar if you ignore the silly underbarrel accessory and give it a full-barrel handguard. Real gun basis is probably a TAR-21 given the grip and stock. SMG looks like what happens when you bash a TDI Vector against a Pulse Rifle until they become one, and the other rifle is just some ugly attempt to make an accurised Pulse Rifle. Which spellcheck is recommending 'accursed' for. I think it's right about that. Evil Tim (talk) 07:59, 16 February 2013 (EST)

M1911?

The in-game description of the M1911 states that it is chambered in 9mm. M1911's are .45 ACP.-Gunner5

Correct but there are 1911 variants chambered for 9mm.Mr.Ice (talk) 13:51, 18 May 2013 (EDT)

Yes, that is true. However the 1911 in-game has a grip safety, I didn't think Star pistols had grip safety's.-Gunner5

There are real M1911s in 9mm. --Funkychinaman (talk) 23:23, 19 May 2013 (EDT)

Not sure if Colt ever did it with their standard 1911, but lots of other companies like RIA made 1911s in 9mm. However you need to bear in mind that this gun isn't' a Colt M1911A1, it is the fictional "Armat M4A3 Service Pistol". It just uses the look of the M1911A1, it can be whatever caliber they say it is. --commando552 (talk) 04:30, 20 May 2013 (EDT)

New Alien Game Announced

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7A_kVPSMnc Looks like Outlast which is a good thing. I hope they dont fuck it up. - bozitojugg3rn4ut (talk) 10:56, 11 January 2014 (EST)

I see, this is a run-and-hide game in the style of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (plus a bit of gunplay). This is before the timeline of Aliens, so everyone's favourite movie gun likely hasn't been invented yet. Still, I hope they vary it up; running all the time and searching for keys/clues/components does get boring after a while--you get a build-up with no payoff in my view (will we even get to shoot things like facehuggers?). And given the extremely bad reaction that Creative Assembly (the studio tasked with this game) got for its flagship title Rome: Total War 2, I'm sure that many fans of that franchise will be outraged that CA isn't devoting its resources to patching that game instead of developing new ones. AvP2 still takes the cake for me in terms of Aliens-related games. --Mazryonh (talk) 15:55, 11 January 2014 (EST)

They said there will be no weapons and only one Alien will chase the player throughout the whole campaign. Kinda like the first movie. --bozitojugg3rn4ut (talk) 18:07, 11 January 2014 (EST)

Then something like that will only be entertaining in a small dose. Running and hiding too long gets boring very quickly. AvP2 had helpless sections or "you are severely overmatched"--the parts of the Alien campaign where you play an immature Xenomorph mean you have to escape detection in a human colony before you infest someone and fully grow match the "helpless" bit, and the parts when you play as a Marine or Predator when you're stripped down to your sidearm to fulfill the "overmatched" bit. Those bits were brief, though, so you could return to ripping apart enemies with the best of them fairly quickly.

I do hope they let us torch facehuggers/chestbursters at least. The former are as dangerous as full-grown Xenomorphs, but both should, by all rights, be much easier to kill even with what Ripley and the Nostromo crew had at their disposal. Could be a welcome break from all that running and hiding. --Mazryonh (talk) 22:58, 11 January 2014 (EST)

Will they ever update the Colonial Marines' gear?

I get kind of annoyed that, aside from new versions of iconic weapons like the Pulse Rifle and Smart Gun, no one ever seems to update the equipment used by the Colonial Marines. Instead, we keep seeing them wear the same archaic-looking metal plate armor and M1 steel helmet from the movie. You'd think that with Xenomorphs, Yautjas, River Ghosts, Engineers, and who knows what else roaming the vastness of outer space, the USCM would try to invest in some improved equipment to make their troops better prepared to meet these foes. Granted, there isn't much you can do against a Xeno's acidic blood, but still. Spartan198 (talk) 15:16, 22 September 2014 (EDT)

Isn't this game set immediately after Aliens though? --Funkychinaman (talk) 15:47, 22 September 2014 (EDT)

I wasn't referring to this game specifically, I mean in general. The Aliens/Predator timeline reaches into the 2800s (as opposed to Aliens which is set in 2179, IIRC), but it seems like no matter what, the USCM retain archaic equipment. Granted, I haven't played many of the games or read the comics, but I still can't seem to find any sign of updated kit used by Colonial Marines. Spartan198 (talk) 09:23, 23 September 2014 (EDT)

People pay for these games to virtually experience being in a Colonial Marine's boots, archaic/outdated equipment and all. It doesn't help that the body armour is just as iconic as the M41A Pulse Rifle. And look at the real life US Army and Marines; they still haven't moved away from AR-15 designs and the 5.56x45mm caliber for the standard-issue rifle despite so many "replacement programs" having been tried.

Still, the USCM meeting species like the Predators would have shown them beyond a doubt that highly-destructive man-portable energy weaponry is possible and has been used by that species for centuries, so unless the "official policy" is to dismiss/ignore the evidence of intelligent alien civilizations aside from that of the Engineers/Space Jockeys/Pilots (which was apparently the case in Aliens vs. Predator 2), you'd expect many people trying to replicate such weaponry. --Mazryonh (talk) 23:11, 22 September 2014 (EDT)

But like the M16, the Pulse Rifle and Smart Gun have been improved upon over the years. What I'm talking about are things like body armor, helmets, and so on. Soldiers and Marines aren't still using outdated Vietnam-era stuff like that, they're using modern kevlar helmets, plate carriers with ceramic inserts, and so on. The USCM equipment is akin to a modern US serviceman going into Afghanistan with OD green fatigues, an M69 flak vest, and an M1 steel helmet. Spartan198 (talk) 09:23, 23 September 2014 (EDT)

You have to remember that Aliens came out in July 1986. The movie most likely was made a year earlier in production, so look at the tech level of us in the early to mid 80s and what people would project technology and gear would be like in the future at the time. Today, we have the understanding of current tech to project technology in the far future so far ahead that people in the 80s would literally call magic bullshit. To the movie in 1986, the stuff the USCM was using is state of the art at the time and how their gear is set up is also supposed to be similar to the genre of the universe. Sure, they could have just borrowed the then standard combat helmets and gear of the US military over making shit up, but that's kinda the fun part of it. For the game, they did their best to keep the tech canon. It could also be that James Cameron at the time didn't understand or even researched the type of gear Marines are using at the time and didn't plan accordingly. Excalibur01 (talk) 13:25, 23 September 2014 (EDT)

His problem isn't with the equipment that they were using in Aliens, but with the fact that it hasn't changed in the long periods of time that are depicted in the media of the Aliens/Predator universe. For example, Aliens vs. Predator 2 is set 30 years after Alien³, yet the USCM look exactly the same as they did 30+ years in the past with no apparent technological advancement:

--commando552 (talk) 15:01, 23 September 2014 (EDT)

Most likely that's a creative choice on the developer's part. They wanted to keep the look and feel of the original movies but the problem with that is they would lose the nostalgia if they changed the gear at all Excalibur01 (talk) 16:42, 23 September 2014 (EDT)

It's often a problem that fictional worlds occupy a kind of technical stasis (especially if they've almost invented gunpowder or nukes), so it's not really unsurprising: I think any attempt to update the marines' gear runs into the logical brick wall of "why were they still using things that seemed high-tech in the 80s in the far future in the first place?" Evil Tim (talk) 21:27, 23 September 2014 (EDT)

Again, I believe it's more a nostalgia choice than anything with regards to the USCM's appearance in games. Aliens became an iconic movie and I remember hearing that when AvP2 was new, a lot of fans of the movie blasted the developers for what they believed were were minor inaccuracies regarding the weapons and equipment that the ingame USCM were using (the Weyland-Yutani security and Iron Bears Mercenaries were game-originals and thus had no precedent in that movie). I bet there were also plenty of complaints about the red shoulder armour some USCM NPCs were using (never mind that when you're up against Xenomorphs, visual camouflage is of no use thanks to the acuity of their non-visual senses). In any case, changing the USCM's non-weapon equipment is likely going to invite a backlash from fans, even if someone "official" (i.e., James Cameron or Ridley Scott) does it.

To its credit, AvP2 included one major development in USCM equipment, a power armour chassis (called an "Exosuit") affectionately named "Alice." I didn't include it in AvP2's page due to its fictional nature and lack of ties to the original Aliens movie (aside from the fact that it resembles the powerloader from the film in general shape):

"Alice" is apparently based on similar developments in the AvP comics, and in the AvP2 games is used by all human factions.

As for why humanity hasn't adopted Predator tech en masse after several violent encounters, the developers of AvP2 justified it by saying that any contact with the Predators is dismissed as flights of fancy by those in charge of legitimate authority. The sole Predator-centric mission in the Marine campaign of AvP2 has some backstory (accessed by pressing the TAB key by default) that explains how the investigators after the incident concluded the following:

. . . we are left only with uncorroborated testimony of a single low-ranking Marine (Corporal Andrew Harrison, the Marine player character). Given the events he describes, we find it hard to accept his depiction as fact. Simply put, we need not introduce a third species to explain the destruction of the Southern Landing (of the Primary Operations Complex on LV-1201).

Monolith Productions certainly had good writers at this time in their history. --Mazryonh (talk) 22:35, 25 September 2014 (EDT)