[360/PC/PS3/WiiU]Aliens Colonial Marines

[Maggot]

I don't understand why this is still 4th on the Steam top seller list.

Guess a combination of no games coming out and people being idiots/buying purely because of the name.

[siege]

Rented this from Redbox and my son and I finished it I'm coop in about five hours. Don't really have anything much to say that the dismal reviews haven't already said.

We did have a lot of laughs throughout the campaign over the various glitches and sheer absurdity pf the story and voice acting. Tried out the multiplayer a couple of times but it's just as awful.

[pr0ner]

If you need more proof that Tom Chick sucks as a game review, he gave A:CM the same score he gave Halo 4. 

 

[davidrobots]

Want to watch a train wreck in action? Ron and I played through a good hour or so of the game, and made various comments as we played.

http://gamingtrend.com/2013/02/18/hit-points-aliens-colonial-marines/

[CeeKay]

at least the PC version can be modded.  this made me do a headdeask though:

Among adonys' findings when studying the game's settings is the fact that the game doesn't even appear capable of recognizing modern PC graphics cards. You'll have to go in and manually add support for advanced functionality.

   

- none of the new generation video cards are listed into the compatibilities files, and therefore my 680 GT OC was loaded with the default batch settings no 4, instead of 5 (which is the maxed out one).

[metallicorphan]

Randy has had to tweet again that he wont stand for threats and insults

and he also had 'something' to say about Demo to Final release differences..'something' as in nothing yet,but looking at a way to explain it other than on Twitter

Eurogamer

Update: Gearbox president Randy Pitchford has finally acknowledged the discrepancy between the Aliens: Colonial Marines hands-off demo and the final game that shipped to lackluster reviews last week.

When asked for an explanation as to why the demo looked so much better, Pitchford tweeted, "That is understood and fair and we are looking at that. Lots of info to parse, lots of stake holders to respect."

He also noted that the explanation wouldn't be fit for Twitter, but he's looking into how to best address this issue.

Regarding the game's dismal reception, Pitchford stated, "I appreciate and value criticism. I do not appreciate threats, insults, rudeness and intent not to add value, but to injure."

[rittchard]

I ended up getting the PC version via simplygames.com for roughly $30 (it's a UK site).  I only played for a very short while in the tutorial portion but in all honesty I haven't seen anything that would make me think this game was as horrible as it seems most are making it out to be.  Granted that's nowhere near enough time to give a review, but just some impressions.  The music, sound effects, the atmosphere, the thrill of getting to board the Sulaco and see the aftermath from my all time favorite movie - all good stuff IMHO.  I actually got scared/nervous enough to be holding my breath even in the opening minutes of the game, and probably that will keep me from getting much further lol.  Graphically I ran at max settings 2560x1440 and it looked pretty good to me, nothing stellar like ME3 but certainly not horrible.  Maybe it just goes downhill constantly from the first minute but from what I've read it seems like at least for fans you get to explore more movie locations later?  That would be worth the price of admission for me.

Anyway, I get the sense this is one of those games where the negative hype has just cascaded upon itself and the game itself may not be as bad as people are making it out to be.  I almost wish I hadn't read any reviews or seen any press and could have gone into it completely unbiased, but oh well. 

[Punisher]

I ended up getting the PC version via simplygames.com for roughly $30 (it's a UK site).  I only played for a very short while in the tutorial portion but in all honesty I haven't seen anything that would make me think this game was as horrible as it seems most are making it out to be.  Granted that's nowhere near enough time to give a review, but just some impressions.  The music, sound effects, the atmosphere, the thrill of getting to board the Sulaco and see the aftermath from my all time favorite movie - all good stuff IMHO.  I actually got scared/nervous enough to be holding my breath even in the opening minutes of the game, and probably that will keep me from getting much further lol.  Graphically I ran at max settings 2560x1440 and it looked pretty good to me, nothing stellar like ME3 but certainly not horrible.  Maybe it just goes downhill constantly from the first minute but from what I've read it seems like at least for fans you get to explore more movie locations later?  That would be worth the price of admission for me.

Anyway, I get the sense this is one of those games where the negative hype has just cascaded upon itself and the game itself may not be as bad as people are making it out to be.  I almost wish I hadn't read any reviews or seen any press and could have gone into it completely unbiased, but oh well. 

I am in the same boat. I just finished the game the other day and while I do think it could use some more polish in gameplay and story, I never felt is was a horrible game at all and enjoyed it.... I do admit that it is not worth $60 though and I'm glad I pre-ordered it on sale...
While I still watched and like Alien 3 & 4, I never completly liked where they took the story, so I kind of went in this thinking of it as a sequel to Aliens, so I could accept the story..Although there were some questions left unanswered and I don't like the way the game

Spoiler for Hiden:

ended in a clifhanger

, but I've never liked that...

[Turtle]

If you need more proof that Tom Chick sucks as a game review, he gave A:CM the same score he gave Halo 4. 

 

Tom Chick is just a controversy whore. He knows he'll get clicks if he just says something that is contrarian. As such, I won't bother clicking on links involving him, and thank you for not including a link.

Also, Ron and David, remix the audio so that your voices are stronger, it's hard to hear you guys over the game audio, especially the loud gunfire.

[metallicorphan]

If you need more proof that Tom Chick sucks as a game review, he gave A:CM the same score he gave Halo 4. 

 

I may be going a little of rails here-is it cool to hate on Halo 4 or something?,i thought it was an absolutely fantastic game


Apparently Aliens Colonial Marines has had the biggest launch of the year(at least in the UK)...although its only February and not much has really been released yet,but it did beat Dead Space 3

Power of a license,right there?...or a lot of people not looking into the game before buying?

Although i have not played the game,the bad press has made me steer right away ..a game I have been looking forward to ever since it was first announced in the mid 'Noughties'  (..I think that will be the last time i use that word)

[Teggy]

If you need more proof that Tom Chick sucks as a game review, he gave A:CM the same score he gave Halo 4.  

 

Tom Chick is just a controversy whore. He knows he'll get clicks if he just says something that is contrarian. As such, I won't bother clicking on links involving him, and thank you for not including a link.

Also, Ron and David, remix the audio so that your voices are stronger, it's hard to hear you guys over the game audio, especially the loud gunfire.

He gave Halo 4 1 star - isn't the issue here what he gave to Halo 4 rather than what he gave to Aliens?

[Autistic Angel]

For some reason EGM gave it a 90 and called it "a big event for the genre" or something. Next highest review is in the 60s. Can you say payoff?

No kidding. That entire review reads like an Amazon.com product placing with no actual meat in it in the slightest. Go read the comments (before they all get removed) for a few good laughs.

Next highest score (at least for the moment) to that is a 65/100, which includes Ron's review. Which frankly seems like a much more accurate score if you were a fan of the Aliens series.

Brandon Justice thinks X-Com is a RTS - http://www.egmnow.com/articles/playstation_3/e3-2012-the-big-question-xcom-enemy-unknown/

This guy is the executive editor of EGM?

Not any more.

Some of you may have heard that Brandon Justice is no longer with EGM. This is true. But before speculation once again overwhelms fact, let me state that his departure has absolutely nothing to do with his Aliens: Colonial Marines review and is actually related to actions that took place prior to last week. Brandon is free to share these reasons if he so chooses. I want to thank Brandon for his service during his tenure with EGM and wish him the very best in his next endeavor. We will be announcing EGM’s new executive editor in the days ahead.

I hope it's me.  I spent all week collecting boxtops.

-Autistic Angel

[Destructor]

Nothing to do with Aliens:CM? BULLSHIT.

That said - part of it? Most definitely. All of it? I'm guessing there's something else going on.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Nothing to do with Aliens:CM? BULLSHIT.

That said - part of it? Most definitely. All of it? I'm guessing there's something else going on.

Take a read over his previous reviews.  Aliens was just the final straw. 

[Autistic Angel]

If you need more proof that Tom Chick sucks as a game review, he gave A:CM the same score he gave Halo 4.  

 

Tom Chick is just a controversy whore. He knows he'll get clicks if he just says something that is contrarian. As such, I won't bother clicking on links involving him, and thank you for not including a link.

On a related note, Tom Chick never did a review of War Z that I know of, but he did dedicate an entire segment of his podcast to defending the "game's" fraudulent advertising and pile of missing features.  None of the whiners were *really* upset about only having one map, or the map being deceptively small, or the limited player cap, or the missing skill trees, or the non-functional economy -- they were just bringing that stuff up to have something to grouse about.

Then there's his...review? of Dragon's Dogma.  I know this looks like I've just purged random text from the clipboard, but this really is a representative sample:

We really like what you’ve done, but, well, there are some issues. Have you met Jared? He’s our usability tester. Jared, how many times have you played Dragon Age?

Three times, all the way through. And Dragon Age II two times.

What level are you in Star Wars Old Republic?

I have a level 50 consular, a level 50 sith warrior, and a level 42 agent.

What did you think of the ending of Mass Effect 3?

I hated it. You should change it.

Good boy, Jared. See, this kid knows all the angles. Jared, you also play that other MMO, don’t you?

World of Warcraft, yes.

All right, all right, there’s no need to actually say the name.

I also play all the Elder Scrolls games, and the Final Fantasy games, and the Divine Divinity games, and Xenoblade Chronicles. Especially Xenoblade Chronicles.

All right, Jared, this is a development meeting, not a sales pitch.

But not Demon’s Souls or Dark Souls.

It goes on like that, the whole thing.  The premise is about what three people might say about Dragon's Dogma if it had been published by EA.  Since none of those people exist and the game was not published by EA, you could legitimately finish Tom's review knowing less about the game than when you started.  It's really something.

I think Tom Chick still produces some of the most exacting strategy game reviews around, but the longer he goes without a professional editor to manicure his ideas, the wilder and more overgrown they seem to become.

-Autistic Angel

[USMC Kato]

Nothing to do with Aliens:CM? BULLSHIT.

That said - part of it? Most definitely. All of it? I'm guessing there's something else going on.

Take a read over his previous reviews.  Aliens was just the final straw.

From what I read he phoned in most of those reviews.

[Andrew Wonser]

Review sent from Tom's iPhone using Tapatalk

[Knightshade Dragon]

Review sent from Tom's iPhone using Tapatalk

LOL!  Well played, sir.

[metallicorphan]

so has it been said yet what his actions were prior to last week?

nothing to do with his Aliens: Colonial Marines review and is actually related to actions that took place prior to last week.

[Autistic Angel]

so has it been said yet what his actions were prior to last week?

nothing to do with his Aliens: Colonial Marines review and is actually related to actions that took place prior to last week.

Not that I know of.  EGM seems content to leave the story there and Brandon Justice's aptly chosen Twitter handle "@jokeontheworld" has gone effectively dark since the firing.  As skystride pointed out upthread though, this was not the first high-profile WTF article to appear under his byline.  The XCOM reboot is a real-time strategy game?  What is the maximum number of seconds an idly curious person could investigate that game before realizing that isn't true?

Can you imagine being the executive editor of a magazine, making your living in a job where you get to choose whatever games you want to cover and assign the rest out to your staff, and fucking it up this badly?  A job is a job -- there's deadlines and stress and general tedium -- but this guy doesn't demonstrate even the most basic skills of his profession.

-Autistic Angel

[metallicorphan]

True or not,it just goes from bad to worse,now Gearbox are being accused of stealing from SEGA

Gearbox "stole" from SEGA to fund other projects-claim

“Gearbox stole from SEGA,” said Danielson. “They robbed us, lied to us about the game, and tried to get another company to make the game instead.

“Pitchford and Gearbox wanted to focus heavily on Duke Nukem Forever, but how would they get the money to hire some of the 3D Realms team and even buy the intellectual property?

“Sure, they made a lot from Borderlands, but guess where they got the money to fund Borderlands in the first place? Yup, SEGA.

“So Gearbox essentially lied to SEGA, mishandled funds, broke agreements and contractual obligations to work on other projects, didn’t want to work on a game they were contractually obligated to work on and gave it to another team, poor organization and direction on ACM, took on too many projects from different companies at once, and other things that we may not even know about.

“Hell, part of me believes that Gearbox wanted this thing delayed as much as possible so they can get more funding money to embezzle from SEGA.”

“I strongly believe that SEGA should not have released the game and made the fans pay for it, they should have taken Gearbox straight to court, because they stole money from us to fund Borderlands and Duke Nukem Forever,” said Danielson.

“This should be a lesson in management for you all. In my view, the board and the people supplying the money should not have any creative control over a product. In this case, what happened clearly was SEGA had a decent eye on the project, rightfully cancelled it, when they saw the problems, then someone decided to restart the project, leading to this massive mess.

“This game should have been cancelled permanently, and the final product is undeniable proof of it. Despite that, I believe SEGA wanted to try to get some of the money back, at the fans’ expense. SEGA should have also watched the project and development a lot better, because there was a lot of warning signs that said this was a disaster in the making.”

more in the link

[Teggy]

I do wonder - did no one from SEGA go over there and play the game while it was in development?

[leo8877]

More stuff

http://kotaku.com/5986694/from-dream-to-disaster-the-story-of-aliens-colonial-marines

[Crawley]

After reading that I still don't get what the big stink is about. Bad games get released all the time.

[TiLT]

After reading that I still don't get what the big stink is about. Bad games get released all the time.

Summed up: Gearbox gets money from Sega to develop an Aliens game. Gearbox instead uses the majority of that money to develop other games, while letting Aliens rot in a cellar and pretending that work is being done on it. After many years and a change of developers (who did a shitty job due to shitty management), Gearbox realizes they might get sued if they don't show any results for the money they've embezzled. They rush Aliens Colonial Marines to the market, hurting both Sega and Gearbox in the process.

It's not that it's a bad game that's the problem. It's that Gearbox made a fool out of Sega and spent the money earmarked for Aliens on Borderlands and Duke Nukem Forever, if the report is to be believed. That's potentially illegal, and if true, Gearbox might be in for a shitstorm the likes of which we've rarely seen in the games industry.

[pr0ner]

Saw on Facebook that TimeGate's going through massive layoffs.

And the hammer starts to fall....

[Turtle]

This is one of the few cases where I hope the publisher sues the crap out of the developer. Gearbox may have given us Borderlands 2, but they also gave us these two craptastic games, DNF and ACM. If this report is true, then Sega deserves a chunk of money back from Borderlands 2 profits.

And none of this surprises me actually, hanging around game developers, you hear a lot of similar stories, often with just as crazy outcomes.

[Soulchilde]

If this is true then I would sue Gearbox for the money given to develop A:CM and damages.  Ownership of the Borderlands 2 IP would be nice too

[metallicorphan]

Update is currently rolling out for 360

The PC and PS3 patches "are on their way"

3/7/2013 Update

General
-Addressed an issue that could sometimes cause co-op player revival to not work under certain circumstances.
-Addressed issues with players not spawning into a level properly.
-Fixed a marine player invincibility exploit.
-Resolved several instances where players could walk or fall outside of maps.
-Fixed an issue that could cause localized text to sometimes display incorrectly.
-Addressed an issue where weapon ammunition was not always highlighted properly.
-Addressed some issues where multiplayer / co-op clients could see interactive objects displayed in a different state.
-Fixed a bug affecting voiceovers with the Firing Range bonus content.
-Addressed an issue where Ripley’s Flamethrower (bonus content) would sometimes fire continuously without player input.
-Addressed a rare issue that could cause Achievements to not unlock properly.
-General user interface improvements.
-Miscellaneous bug fixes.

Campaign
-Addressed some issues that could cause improper warping for co-op players.
-Various tweaks to address instances where NPC characters would not always properly navigate to objectives.
-Added safeguards to prevent players from using a weapon in the weapons-suppressed portion of “One Bullet.”
-Modified Bella and Reid’s behavior in “No Hope in Hadley’s” to prevent them from spawning at the wrong point.

Versus
-Fixed issues that could clients to report inaccurate results and statistics.
-Addressed instances where a map would appear to “pop in” when loading into a new match.
-Addressed an issue that was could cause stutter when opening the multiplayer scoreboard.
-Switching profiles while in a lobby now returns players to the title screen immediately.
-Multiplayer teams should now correctly auto-balance between rounds.
-New Xeno appearance customization added.

[EngineNo9]

That doesn't look like enough to satisfy any complaints about the game, just basic first-round bug fixing.

[metallicorphan]

That doesn't look like enough to satisfy any complaints about the game, just basic first-round bug fixing.

already had the first round on the 12th Feb  

Spoiler for Hiden:

2/12/2013 Update

General
-General user interface improvements.
-Various performance improvements.
-Fixed issue where a door may not function properly if a Xeno was killed while opening it.
-Addressed issue where players could become stuck in a close encounter after killing a Lurker that had pounced them.
-Fixed collision issue where bullets would not pass through certain open doorways.
-Fixed an issue related to clients incorrectly interrupting Xeno melee encounters.
-Addressed an issue where doors would sometimes not open properly.
-Addressed an exploit where players could melee while throwing a grenade or placing a claymore.
-Fixed some collision detection issues that could result from a close encounter.
-Prevented campaign pop-ups from appearing outside of campaign.


Campaign
-Fixed an issue that could prevent NPCs from getting on the elevator in the Sulaco.
-NPCs no longer attempt to open doors while being welded.
-Fixed issue where Raven could sometimes pass through welded door.
-Implementing a message to warn players that campaign progress will be overwritten if they try to start an offline campaign game from within the co-op campaign UI.
-Adjusted the distance between players before they're warped to the location of furthest player in co-op.
-Fixed issue where torch would sometimes appear incorrectly to co-op clients.
-Fixed issue where difficulty could sometimes become stuck incorrectly after switching modes.
-Fixed issue where co-op player would not recover properly after being saved from a close encounter.
-Fixed issue where Russian players could not drop into a co-op match in some missions.
-Updated late-game close encounter moment to disable player input, which could cause them to become stuck.
-Splitscreen: Weapon Radial menu no longer appears for other players when the pause menu is opened.
-Splitscreen: Fixed issue where if the Game Menu is opened while accessing the Weapon Radial, it stays up on does not function properly.

Versus
-Resolved issue where campaign Motion Tracker could incorrectly in multiplayer loadouts.
-Fixed issue where clients would sometimes be invisible after spawning in No Hope in Hadleys.
-Multiplayer teams are now randomized (parties excluded) if percentage difference in scores is greater than 15%
-'Switch Teams' option removed from the Pause menu.
-Corrected issue where server and client could get out-of-sync when switching out of a power-up while firing.
-Fixed issue where controller would vibrate during the scores screen if Rage ability was active upon match end.
-Fixed issue where Cloak ability would not conceal the Lurker when walking or jogging.
-Corrected bug where clients appeared to spawn outside of world before match start.
-Removed placeholder text from appearing on scoreboard in certain situations.
-Improved camera transition when Xeno enters a vent.
-Fixed issue where Xenomorph HUD could sometimes appear in the wrong color.
-Fixed issue with Spitter acid sometimes preventing players from deploying a Sentry Turret for a short while.
-Spitter's "Acid Spray" now originates from the mouth.
-Escape: Fixed issue where Xenos could spawn in unplayable space.
-Escape: Fixed issue where Xeno players could lose functionality if warped to next area while in a vent.
-Escape: Addressed issues where players would spawn with no weapon if they were the last Marine to die in Escape.
-Escape: Fixed issue where Cat-Like Reflexes ability would not properly complete in an Escape match.
-Escape: Improved timing and placement of warp locations in Emergency Evac map.

[Caine]

word is that a new patch is incoming with some big changes, most notably better textures.  it's weighing in at 4gb 

General
Improved texture resolution.
Various visual improvements.
Added mouse smoothing to options menu.
Fixed crashes tied to launch and motion tracker.
Added additional safeguards to better protect save data.
Resolved an issue where a player's level could sometimes appear incorrect when backing out of a party.
Addressed several scenarios under which players could spawn without a weapon.
Changes to better prevent audio from sometimes cutting out during end of mission cinematics.
Fixed issue where Xeno death animation was not properly calculating momentum of the killing blow.
Smart Gun animation now properly tracks targets.
Addressed some instances where Xenos would display erratic animations.
Increased light radius for player's shoulder lamp.
Adjusted aim assist to better reflect player input.
Addressed an issue that could sometimes cause co-op player revival to not work under certain circumstances.
Addressed issues with players not spawning into a level properly.
Fixed a marine player invincibility exploit.
Resolved several instances where players could walk or fall outside of maps.
Addressed an issue where Ripley's Flamethrower (bonus content) would sometimes fire continuously without player input.
Fixed an issue that could cause localized text to sometimes display incorrectly.
Addressed an issue where weapon ammunition was not always highlighted properly.
General user interface improvements.
Miscellaneous bug fixes.

Campaign
Tweaked enemy and friendly AI to be more aggressive and responsive.
Modified campaign difficulty to account for improved AI responsiveness.
Improved enemy collision detection regarding doors and Power Loader.
Addressed some issues that could cause improper warping for co-op players.
Various tweaks to address instances where NPC characters would not always properly navigate to objectives.
Players will no longer bleed out immediately when downed in a Power Loader.

Versus
Fixed issues that could cause clients to report inaccurate results and statistics.
Addressed instances where a map would appear to "pop in" when loading into a new match.
New Xeno appearance customization added.
Multiplayer teams should now correctly auto-balance between rounds.
Increased duration of Lurker Pounce Challenge "Cat-Like Reflexes" from 10 to 20 seconds.
Fixed issue where certain multiplayer challenges would not unlock properly for all characters.
Crusher pick-ups now correctly appear as highlighted for clients.

I doubt even a patch of this size is enough to make the game as good as we all were led to believe, but at least it's an effort.

[hepcat]

I wonder if they'll ever release a "director's cut" in which they fix all the issues with the story and what not? 

[metallicorphan]

Bug Hunt DLC is out today..1200msp  (or a code that came with the game)

The Bug Hunt DLC is an objective based survival mode where players will take on wave after wave of increasingly difficult AI opponents.

You can look for the DLC to launch soon for everyone, but don't be surprised if Sega or Gearbox decide to completely forgo promoting the content in light of all the controversy.

admittedly,i didn't see any..i saw more about the Patch

Link

Just realised that the link is called Cinema Blend,but their game section is called 'Gaming Blend'

[CeeKay]

I wonder if they'll ever release a "director's cut" in which they fix all the issues with the story and what not? 

sure.  that'll be 1600 MSP

[metallicorphan]

SEGA says No Comment on the Wii U version as it misses its Q1 target window
CVG

The Wii U version of Aliens: Colonial Marines has quietly missed its release window as it appears delayed indefinitely.

Sega and the developer in charge of the port, Demiurge Studios, have declined to comment on the status of the Wii U version of the game, which was due for release in Q1 2013 - or anytime before the end of March.
When pushed for an update today, a Sega rep told Gamespot, "Still no comment on ACM, sorry!"

It would appear the Wii U version has hit a serious bump in the road, despite Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford's claims last year that the Wii U version would be superior to its Xbox and PS3 counterparts.

Those versions released in February to generally negative reviews. We called it "a shooting gallery that fundamentally fails to understand what makes the Alien films so great," in our Aliens: Colonial Marines review, scoring it 6.2/10.

In related news, the game and its publisher have come under fire this week after Sega Europe was forced to acknowledge complaints that its Aliens: Colonial Marines trailers "did not accurately reflect the final content of the game".

[Harpua3]

Easily my game of the year! It's not April 1st Anymore! Crap!

[metallicorphan]

Yup,Cancelled

"We are constantly looking at all areas of our business and in this case have made the decision to not continue development of the Wii U version," a Sega rep told Kotaku. "Rest assured that we have some fantastic developments for Wii U in the pipeline which we will announce at a later date."

[CeeKay]

Yup,Cancelled

"We are constantly looking at all areas of our business and in this case have made the decision to not continue development of the Wii U version," a Sega rep told Kotaku. "Rest assured that we have some fantastic developments for Wii U in the pipeline which we will announce at a later date."

translation: yeah, we don't think people are going to buy our bullshit about this game twice so we're going to cut our losses.

[JCC]

Yup,Cancelled

"We are constantly looking at all areas of our business and in this case have made the decision to not continue development of the Wii U version," a Sega rep told Kotaku. "Rest assured that we have some fantastic developments for Wii U in the pipeline which we will announce at a later date."

translation: yeah, we don't think people are going to buy our bullshit about this game twice so we're going to cut our losses.

Or.... Why would we port our awful game to a console that isn't selling?