Aliens: Colonial Marines

It’s a crowded market out there for shooters, as any CoD, Halo, MW, or other acronym-fan will tell you. Ever worse for making a game off of an existing franchise, which has to please both fans of the original film, and people new to the story. Trying to do both well is nothing short of impressive, but that’s the aim of Aliens: Colonial Marines, coming out this month.

Gearbox have had this one in the works for a while, pushed back several times due to all kinds of shifting schedules, but previews into the gameplay have been abundant, and in this case, have kept the enthusiasm for this title going.

The game borrows some of the best bits of Aliens 2, all the great motion tracking kit and pulse rifles and flamethrowers and throws the player into the role of a marine with what could be described as a very limited life expectancy for many levels. It also goes one better by adding new types of aliens to casually eviscerate you and lay their eggs in your chest.

More compelling is the multiplayer offering, which pits teams of marines up against the alien hordes, each with different objectives and very strategic means of accomplishing them, beyond just point and shoot.

Ultimately what will separate this from the swath of other shooters out there will be how much they capture the feel of Aliens films (creepy, claustrophobic, surrounded) and how much they add to it (new aliens, strategy, barest sliver of hope of survival). This will live and die on the loyalty of the fan base, or else be doomed to being dragged off into a dimly lit corridor with face-hugger attached. [Alex Cole]