Welcome to our review of Aliens: Colonial Marines. See that YouTube video embedded above? It is our very first SEGAbits Video Review! We’re trying to sort out a way to get these video reviews put up for all upcoming games. Seeing as how this is our first one, there is always room to improve. So positive criticism is definitely welcomed. Let us know what you think in the comments section. After the break, an old school written review.
We usually don’t post much NPD numbers here because SEGA really never charts. Well, I guess the Aliens license does make quite a bit of cash. In the UK it hit number one the week it released and in America it came in sixth for its release month. Only to be beat by heavy hitters like Dead Space 3, Crysis 3 and Metal Gear Rising.
Want to see the full top ten chart? Hit the jump.
Segabits will soon have our own review up for Aliens: Colonial Marines, though if you have been awaiting our opinion, I don’t think it’s spoiling much to say that the game doesn’t exactly come with a recommendation.
That said, if you still had an interest in trying out SEGA and Gearbox’s controversial shooter for yourselves but were hesitant to pay $59.99, now might be your chance. Toys R Us has both the PS3 and 360 versions on sale for $39.99 through Saturday the 16th, though apparently only in store; not online.
The game was released this past February to (putting it mildly) a very mixed response. $39.99 should hopefully prove to be a more reasonable price for what’s offered should you opt to pick up the title.
We already reported that Aliens: Colonial Marines had a fantastic first week, coming in at number one in the charts. The second week it came in at number 5 and now in its third week it came in at number seven. That means that the game is dropping down slower than expected. Well, I guess SEGA made some nice change from the title.
If you want to see the 20 sold games in the UK from February 23rd – March 2nd.
Even with big budget new titles like Crysis 3 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Aliens: Colonial Marines still takes up a spot on the UK charts coming in #5. Frankly, the game doesn’t deserve to chart at all, but I guess in a perfect world most of these titles wouldn’t chart.
Last week Aliens: Colonial Marines took the #1 spot, beating out Dead Space 3 which took #2. This week it beats that game at the same pace, since Dead Space 3 is #6 on the charts this week. So, at least in the UK, Aliens: Colonial Marines is more successful than the higher rated Dead Space 3. So, in the end, do reviews matter?
This week on the show George and Barry the Nomad sit down with the Sonic Talk duo Nuckles87 and Shigs. Listen to us talk about the new SEGA laptops, whine about Aliens: Colonial Marines and criticize the Playstation 4 announcement. Like every podcast, you can’t get us to shut up about Shenmue.
[MP3 Download] [Archive]
Destructoid has done a pretty awesome job covering the clusterfuck that is Aliens: Colonial Marines. Now they have learned, courtesy of a former Gearbox developer that spoke to them only under the condition of anonymity, that Gearbox not only lied to SEGA but that this lie lead to the project temporarily being canceled.
“Gearbox was taking people off the project to put them on Borderlands 1. This was before the big art style change happened on Borderlands. Our team was getting smaller by the month, making it very difficult to get the game made. Ironically several of the team members were ex-3D Realms people who were saying [paraphrasing] ‘Finally, we’re going to Gearbox to make Aliens, and we’re going to ship a fucking game!’ Hah.
At some point in 2008, SEGA temporarily pulled the plug on the game. They caught wind of Gearbox shifting resources (despite still collecting milestone checks as if the team were full size) and lying to SEGA AND 2K about the number of people working on each project. This led to the round of layoffs at Gearbox in late 2008.” -Anonymous former Gearbox developer
It should be noted that due to the developer’s anonymity, this should be regarded as a rumor. Though if this is to be believed, the next question one has to ask is…why did SEGA pick the project back up? While this is pure conjecture on my part, I would surmise that the resurrection of this project had everything to do with the financial success SEGA saw with Aliens vs. Predator, released in 2010. The following year, Aliens: Colonial Marines made its debut at E3 and…well, we know the rest, don’t we?
I would suggest reading the entire article over at Destructoid.
Say what you want about Aliens: Colonial Marines, just to allow some people from the UK to overhear you. Aliens: Colonial Marines debuted at number one in the UK charts, beating out Dead Space 3. This is one of the rare moments that SEGA gets number one on charts, I just wish it was a game that was actually good or that I wanted to see more of. Like Binary Domain or Rhythm Thief.
This isn’t surprising since Aliens vs Predator (the SEGA published one) also did really well. Actually it did better than this one and is the most successful Aliens game in UK history. Now imagine if SEGA released an actual triple A Aliens game? Well, might happen since Creative Assembly (Total War franchise) has been working on an Aliens game for awhile. Hit the jump to see the UK charts ending on February 16th.
EDIT: Aki-at has corrected us, the employee on reddit worked at SEGA, not Gearbox. Though what he says sounds about the same as the Gearbox employee that took to Reddit a few days ago.
We had a post a few days ago about a Gearbox Worker spilling his guts on the development of Aliens: Colonial Marines. Now we have another one and this time, he is verified. Meaning he sent proper verification that he works at Gearbox Software to the moderators. So what did he say that was interesting?
“Gearbox didnt care about the game, they spent the money from acm on the borderlands games. Look at the release of borderlands and when aliens was anounced, they had the other companies like timegate do the work. When they got the game back timegate had done a terrible job. When it came into sega it was shit basicaly. Gearbox only cared about fixing ‘progression blockers’ (things that stop a player from getting through a level) or crashes” – soetester
The first and easiest is that all that money SEGA pumped through them was actually used to develop Borderlands. Do I see a lawsuit coming? Well, I think something happen since if you go to the Reddit page, his account was deleted. No worries, screenshot of his answers after the break.
The PC community is great, always striving to make their games look better even if the developers are incompetent. Right now there are two mod packs that are making this game look ‘less crap’ than it did before. The first one is the DirectX 10 mod packs that add some better lighting effects and soften those shadows. The SweetFX mod gives you a sharper texture filter, deeper color saturation and stronger shadows.
Sadly, the game will still suck. But at least it will be prettier to look at it sucking now.
VideoGamer has dug up demo footage of Aliens: Colonial Marines, apparently from a demo shown off last year, and compares it scene-for-scene with what we ended up with in the final product. The results are fairly shocking; the graphics, resolution, and the presentation itself are significantly better in this demo in almost every conceivable aspect.
It’s hard to say where development went so wrong on what will likely (and unfortunately) be SEGA’s biggest game this year, but this video speaks for itself.
One day maybe we’ll learn the full story…
The developer on Reddit basically confirms that Gearbox didn’t have too much to do with Aliens: Colonial Marines due to the fact that the developer was doing Borderlands 2. They basically got TimeGate to do most of the single player campaign due to this. In my opinion, Gearbox and SEGA should never work again. This game was in the works for 6 years and Gearbox couldn’t give less of a shit about it, it seems. Pecan = code name for Aliens: Colonial Marines.
“Additionally, campaign (which was being developed by TimeGate) was extremely far behind, even as Pecan’s Beta deadline got closer and closer. In April or May (can’t remember which), Pecan was supposed to hit beta, but GBX instead came to an agreement with SEGA that they would push the release date back one more time, buying GBX around 9 mos extension.
Considering that SEGA was pretty close to taking legal action against GBX, asking for an extension wasn’t an option, and so Pecan crash-landed through certification and shipping. Features that were planned were oversimplified, or shoved in (a good example of this are challenges, which are in an incredibly illogical order). Issues that didn’t cause 100% blockers were generally ignored, with the exception of absolutely horrible problems. This isn’t because GBX didn’t care, mind you. At a certain point, they couldn’t risk changing ANYTHING that might cause them to fail certification or break some other system. And so, the product you see is what you get.”
You can read more over at Reddit, even ask the guy some of your questions.
Well, seems that Aliens: Colonial Marines isn’t being as well received as we would have hoped and now everyone is pointing fingers. First comes a statement made by a ex-Gearbox employee, stating that Gearbox didn’t really develop most of the title and that the game was outsourced. The anonymous employee who goes by the forum handle “mugwurt” posted:
“Hate to say it, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high for Colonial Marines. I used to work at Gearbox, and the development of that game has been a total train wreck, going on what, 6 years now? Gearbox isn’t even making the game, except for the multiplayer. Primary development was outsourced to TimeGate Studios, which has a less than stellar past.” – Link to response
When asked about this, SEGA’s Senior Producer Matthew J. Powers had this to say:
It’s a big day for packaged SEGA games in the US today! Aliens: Colonial Marines releases to Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed releases on the Nintendo 3DS. In the case of Aliens: Colonial Marines, there is a Wii U version coming in March for the US and sometime in the first quarter for other regions. Both games feature bonus content, with Aliens: Colonial Marines featuring pre-order content from Gamestop in the form of playable movie characters, a flame thrower, and additional marine customization. Aliens: Colonial Marines also has a Collector’s Edition for PS3 and 360 owners, which includes a load of goodies including a figurine, the pre-order DLC, and a number of replica print materials from the Aliens universe. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for the 3DS features the same bonus content that the 360, PS3, Wii U and Vita had, with a playable Metal Sonic racer and an OutRun track. The content is downloaded to your 3DS via codes, and the codes are contained within the game case. The bonus content is limited to the first run of the game.
We posted that Aliens: Colonial Marines was going to get a season pass, this obviously means that DLC was going to be announced very soon and guess what? Here is the first pack, titled “Bug Mode”. If you pick up the upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines at Wal-Mart, you will get the Bug Mode DLC for free. How much does it cost solo? Well, Gearbox Software or SEGA haven’t revealed that just yet. Wal-Mart says its a ‘$14.99 dollar value’.
We also posted about the season pass DLC here before, back then the season pass was only confirmed for PC. Now Gearbox has confirmed it for all consoles. You pay $29.99 dollars now and you recieve all four DLC packs at a discounted rate. If the first ‘Bug Mode’ is going to cost $14.99, then that is a pretty good deal. Bug Mode will basically be Horde Mode (Gears of War) or Invasion Mode (Binary Domain). Basically you and friends take on waves of enemies that increase in difficulty as you progress.