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Aliens: Colonial Marines

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The sad thing is this game is going to sell like fucking gangbusters just like the 2010 AvsP purely because of the Aliens property

Sales

Despite its mixed critical reception, Aliens vs. Predator debuted at number one on the UK all formats chart.[20] It is currently the fastest-selling game of 2010 in the UK, a record previously held by BioShock 2.[21] It was also the best-selling game on Steam, as well as on the retail PC charts.

http://en.wikipedia....tor_(video_game)

And probably most casual gamers with their lower expectations who just want to shoot some aliens with a pulse rifle will have an absolute blast and recommend it to all their friends

Sega and gearbox will make their money and can churn out another subpar aliens game in a couple of years time

I wonder how review embargos and lack of demos aid in this?

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The idea of it even being some kind of franchise is so bizarre, and highlights how gross that whole aspect of modern life is. Alien was a singular thing. One of 2 good movies Ridley Scott has made, and 7 years later the terminator guy takes this nuanced quiet thing, and makes it a shoot em up. It's the best example of something being flogged as a corporate property I can think of. (sidebar: I like Aliens & Terminator (the first movie) )

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Alien is still absolutely stunning and as good as when it was released, but I really disliked Aliens (and Cameron's other work, though I haven't seen the first Terminator). The best thing Alien 3 did was immediately wipe the slate by killing off the other characters.

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Aliens mostly suffers from irritating & generic characters and the fact that the aliens all look like stuntmen in football gear. The movement of the creature in Alien lends it so much of it's power, but the necessities of shooting for action, rather than suspense, mean that Cameron wasn't really able to utilize that Val Lewton-style power of suggestion.

That said, Cameron is REALLY GOOD at shooting action sequences, and that facehugger attack scene is amazing.

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I'm going to ignore everything being said here about the films.

Are Gearbox still rumored to be developing another Half-Life game? I'm pretty sure that was nothing but baseless speculation but that would be amusing if they were lined up for Episode Three or something.

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I was actually going to say that probably a lot of this was Timegate dropping the ball before you posted that. Everything about that studio seems pretty sleazy based on my very minor first and second hand experience (I haven't worked there). The Houston game development world is a joke as it starts and ends with that company.

That's not to say that Gearbox should have some quality control in place for outsourcer screw ups, since it's ultimately their name on the box.

Alien is still absolutely stunning and as good as when it was released, but I really disliked Aliens (and Cameron's other work, though I haven't seen the first Terminator). The best thing Alien 3 did was immediately wipe the slate by killing off the other characters.

That is such an incredibly unpopular opinion to have, but I love you for it. Totally agree.

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Also let me just say: while the marines in Aliens were overtly and purposefully clichéd there was plenty of really interesting character work being done. Bishop, who's loyalty was dubious up until the very end. Ripley's character arc of overcoming the trauma from the first film and developing strong maternal instincts toward Newt; which led up to the fantastic symbolism of the final standoff/showdown of between her and the queen - two mothers battling to protect their own. Aliens is the film where Ripley went from victim to warrior and that was awesome to witness. (Cameron designed a very similar arc for Sarah Conner in the second Terminator.) While she was great in Alien, Aliens made her a bad ass female protagonist and that's an incredibly unique thing. Then Alien 3 came along and made her a victim once again (the rape scene, ugh)

And argobot, I did watch the first two back to back recently after the disaster that was Prometheus. I like them both for very different reasons. (some of which I've described here).

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Did I mention how much I hate the special edition of Aliens? Knowing that Ripley lost her daughter makes Ripley-Newt relationship creepy sad. Leave it on the editing room floor, I say.

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I enjoy both Alien and Aliens, I approach each film differently I guess. I don't go into Aliens imaging I am going to get the same atmosphere as Alien. When the CMs show up at the beginning I am pretty sure all pre-texts about the film being more horror focused as the original was goes out the door.

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Did I mention how much I hate the special edition of Aliens? Knowing that Ripley lost her daughter makes Ripley-Newt relationship creepy sad. Leave it on the editing room floor, I say.

Oh I disagree, I think it adds to her motivation. Without that background, the movie has this unfortunate implication that the only reason Ripley cares about Newt is because she's the main female character. Ripley's decision to go back and try to rescue Newt makes so much more sense given the context the extended edition provides.

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Oh I disagree, I think it adds to her motivation. Without that background, the movie has this unfortunate implication that the only reason Ripley cares about Newt is because she's the main female character. Ripley's decision to go back and try to rescue Newt makes so much more sense given the context the extended edition provides.

But what about the other unfortunate implication that, maybe - just maybe - had Ripley not lost her daughter, she would have not bothered rescuing Newt? Is she an awesome heroine or a crazy mom? In any case, this is all I can think of when I watch Aliens now:

GH2Td9u.jpg

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As much as I love Alien and Aliens, I simply cannot get warm for an alien action game. It should have been an adventure game with a bit of action.

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I actually found the xenomorph acting in Alien to be the one thing that didn't age well at all. *JAZZ HANDS*

But the way that Jazz Hands moment is edited (I assumed you're talking about Dallas' death), it gets me every time.

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I might pick this up in a few months just to give it a look.

As for the films, Alien is about 99.99999% perfect to me. The only thing that bugs me these days is the chestburster running across the table. Still, forgivable for 1979. Every time i watch it i'm instantly transfixed and more convinced of how good a film it is. Definitely one of the greats.

Aliens on the other hand gets worse every time I watch it. Don't get me wrong, it's still amazing and in my top 20 (maybe even 10) but I've just never been as drawn in as the first time I saw it. Dunno, just gets a little hokey-er with age I guess.

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But what about the other unfortunate implication that, maybe - just maybe - had Ripley not lost her daughter, she would have not bothered rescuing Newt? Is she an awesome heroine or a crazy mom?

Of course she'd try and save a defenceless child(!) -- remember she famously rescued the cat in the first movie? Do you really think she'd leave a child? Their resulting relationship just resonated more because she's of what she's been through. That's all.

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Props to the polygon review which refused to use the screenshots sent to them by sega/Gearbox (The ones used in that EGM review and probably most other site) as they felt they bear little resemblance to the actual game. :tup:

http://www.polygon.c...al-marines/3159

From that review: "Colonial Marines isn't satisfied with borrowing, though. Rather than work around existing fiction that most licensed games follow, Gearbox has instead taken it upon itself to play the part of revisionist. Aliens: Colonial Marines actively rewrites the film canon, and they do it in the most hackneyed way possible: by bringing back the dead.

The Alien films aren't averse to reviving the dead, but even Alien: Resurrection provided a plot-driven, logical motivation for doing so. Colonial Marines can't manage even the thinnest justifications for its actions — the character in question isn't a plot device. It's a fifth wheel on a car that doesn't have a working engine. I couldn't tell if Gearbox didn't know how to provide a functional explanation for the revival or didn't care to — said character literally brushes off this specific question by insisting they don't want to talk about it."

Yikes. :(

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Regarding the spoiled ending of Aliens: Colonial Marines:

Hicks doesn't actually die at the end of Aliens, he survives that movie along with Ripley, Newt, and Bishop's head. Newt and Hicks are killed offscreen at the start of Alien 3. Aliens: Colonial Marines is basically disregarding the events of Alien 3 and Resurrection, which in theory is a move i would be all for.

I'm going to ignore everything being said here about the films.

Are Gearbox still rumored to be developing another Half-Life game? I'm pretty sure that was nothing but baseless speculation but that would be amusing if they were lined up for Episode Three or something.

Lol Wat. Can you fucking imagine

Don't forget that Gearbox did three separate add-ons for the original Half-Life. (At least one of which is genuinely fantastic.)

The sad thing is this game is going to sell like fucking gangbusters just like the 2010 AvsP purely because of the Aliens property

I think AvP 2010 is a hell of a lot better than it gets credit for being, it's a beautiful game with a really nuanced melee system that seems to have flown way over most people's heads. There were definitely a lot of reviews making factually incorrect statements about how shit in that game works, and citing those misunderstandings as marks against the game.

It is definitely not a great game, but it's better than its reputation makes it out to be. (It was best in multiplayer, to be clear. Most of the AvP games actually have really, really great multiplayer.)

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