I first played a video game set in the 'Alien' universe around 1991 when stationed at an Army base in Texas. There were a few arcade games in the day room of the barracks there. One of them happened to be 'Aliens' which for the time was a really cool co-op 2D shooter. When not on duty down at the motor pool or out in the field, my friends and I would hold small 'Aliens' tourneys as a much needed distraction from tasks at hand. I pumped a heck of a lot of quarters into that game back then.
Fast forward to 1999 and the release of 'AvP' - a game largely responsible for my return to PC Gaming and in glorious 3D at that.
Additionally, I am great fan of the 'Alien' movies, having seen all of them in the theater, yet still unable to decide on my absolute favorite of the four. I am the type who often checks around the net for news of another film in the series ... and have been doing so for many years.
So, I am a big fan of the 'Alien' universe and a follower of the lore, character histories and stories, etc. I've enjoyed most every game released in the series over the years, and thus was quite excited to hear of a game on the horizon that was both going to focus on the Colonial Marines and add to the official story of events surrounding LV- 426.
Admittedly, I am a few months late to purchasing 'Aliens: Colonial Marines' but doing so had been in the back of my head since its release. First thing - as usual before buying a new PC game - was to read a slew of reviews and watch some game play footage.
Based on most every review I read, I naturally presumed the game was going to be utter rubbish, and that a great opportunity for the developers to expand on the lore of the universe had been blown.
Going in with little expectation based on seemingly united bad reviews of the game around the web, I bought it anyway, installed it and booted it up. Seven, yes seven hours later I came up for air and exited the game.
I honestly was and am baffled by the horde of bad reviews revolving around this PC game title. 'Aliens Colonial Marines' is very obviously a game made by developers who adore the 'Aliens' universe for those of us who also love it.
The developers' appreciation and interest in the universe of the films is apparent in most every aspect of the game. From an impressive recreation of the 'Sulaco' which allows the gamer to wander the corridors of that ship and see many parts of it not revealed in 'Aliens', to providing us with a chance similarly to wander the battle scarred halls of 'Hadley's Hope'.
The armor, weapons and other details of the Colonial Marines' arsenal are all well crafted and rendered in sufficient graphical detail. Weapons look, feel and sound authentic and I really liked the way the infamous hand-held motion tracker sounds and is depicted graphically.
Make no mistake, the game is a purely linear first person shooter in the vein of 'Doom' but with the added benefit of large open outdoor areas interspersed with claustrophobic passages in spaceships and the corridors and rooms of the colony and other locations. Added, not required areas are present as well and worth exploration for ammo, armor, collectibles and audio recordings.
What also pleased me immensely as a fan was the voice over work done by Lance Henriksen as 'Bishop' and Michael Biehn as 'Cpl. Hicks'. The addition of these two actors voices greatly lent the overall effort a heavy authenticity and will certainly please fans of the films.
The shooter mechanics overall were competent. Movement seems a bit slow at first, but all controls expected by first person shooter fanatics are present and functional.
Weapon menu control was effective - a radial menu accessed with the 'B' key. Speaking of weapons, the selection in 'Colonial Marines' pleasantly surprised me as there are many more weapons available than in any other game set in the 'Aliens' universe - some of which I am certain are creations of the developers but all are well modeled and fun to use. On top of the great weapons selection is the ability to customize each one with add on components such as optical sights, larger magazines and under barrel attachments ... how cool is that?
Lastly, a feature I really enjoyed was the ability to find the personal weapons of characters from the 'Aliens' movie lying around abandoned on LV-426. Definitely a geek gasmic moment when I found a certain well know Colonial Marine's pulse rifle.
In closing I must reiterate my lack of understanding for the uniform dislike generated around the gaming web by game review journalists. Honestly, the last time I encountered such condemnation of a good but long delayed title was that surrounding the release of Daikatana.
If you're a big fan of the 'Alien' series of movies and you are fairly long time PC Gamer who can appreciate a straight up first person shooter that nicely pays homage to the lore of that universe, I think you will absolutely enjoy 'Aliens: Colonial Marines'.
Fast forward to 1999 and the release of 'AvP' - a game largely responsible for my return to PC Gaming and in glorious 3D at that.
Additionally, I am great fan of the 'Alien' movies, having seen all of them in the theater, yet still unable to decide on my absolute favorite of the four. I am the type who often checks around the net for news of another film in the series ... and have been doing so for many years.
So, I am a big fan of the 'Alien' universe and a follower of the lore, character histories and stories, etc. I've enjoyed most every game released in the series over the years, and thus was quite excited to hear of a game on the horizon that was both going to focus on the Colonial Marines and add to the official story of events surrounding LV- 426.
Admittedly, I am a few months late to purchasing 'Aliens: Colonial Marines' but doing so had been in the back of my head since its release. First thing - as usual before buying a new PC game - was to read a slew of reviews and watch some game play footage.
Based on most every review I read, I naturally presumed the game was going to be utter rubbish, and that a great opportunity for the developers to expand on the lore of the universe had been blown.
Going in with little expectation based on seemingly united bad reviews of the game around the web, I bought it anyway, installed it and booted it up. Seven, yes seven hours later I came up for air and exited the game.
I honestly was and am baffled by the horde of bad reviews revolving around this PC game title. 'Aliens Colonial Marines' is very obviously a game made by developers who adore the 'Aliens' universe for those of us who also love it.
The developers' appreciation and interest in the universe of the films is apparent in most every aspect of the game. From an impressive recreation of the 'Sulaco' which allows the gamer to wander the corridors of that ship and see many parts of it not revealed in 'Aliens', to providing us with a chance similarly to wander the battle scarred halls of 'Hadley's Hope'.
The armor, weapons and other details of the Colonial Marines' arsenal are all well crafted and rendered in sufficient graphical detail. Weapons look, feel and sound authentic and I really liked the way the infamous hand-held motion tracker sounds and is depicted graphically.
Make no mistake, the game is a purely linear first person shooter in the vein of 'Doom' but with the added benefit of large open outdoor areas interspersed with claustrophobic passages in spaceships and the corridors and rooms of the colony and other locations. Added, not required areas are present as well and worth exploration for ammo, armor, collectibles and audio recordings.
What also pleased me immensely as a fan was the voice over work done by Lance Henriksen as 'Bishop' and Michael Biehn as 'Cpl. Hicks'. The addition of these two actors voices greatly lent the overall effort a heavy authenticity and will certainly please fans of the films.
The shooter mechanics overall were competent. Movement seems a bit slow at first, but all controls expected by first person shooter fanatics are present and functional.
Weapon menu control was effective - a radial menu accessed with the 'B' key. Speaking of weapons, the selection in 'Colonial Marines' pleasantly surprised me as there are many more weapons available than in any other game set in the 'Aliens' universe - some of which I am certain are creations of the developers but all are well modeled and fun to use. On top of the great weapons selection is the ability to customize each one with add on components such as optical sights, larger magazines and under barrel attachments ... how cool is that?
Lastly, a feature I really enjoyed was the ability to find the personal weapons of characters from the 'Aliens' movie lying around abandoned on LV-426. Definitely a geek gasmic moment when I found a certain well know Colonial Marine's pulse rifle.
In closing I must reiterate my lack of understanding for the uniform dislike generated around the gaming web by game review journalists. Honestly, the last time I encountered such condemnation of a good but long delayed title was that surrounding the release of Daikatana.
If you're a big fan of the 'Alien' series of movies and you are fairly long time PC Gamer who can appreciate a straight up first person shooter that nicely pays homage to the lore of that universe, I think you will absolutely enjoy 'Aliens: Colonial Marines'.