just for you dannyjo22, read further down in bold
Everything We Know
Here are the things we have been able to ascertain so far. Charlie Wiederhold, Associate Producer on Aliens: Colonial Marines said the design was iterative so all information presented here is subject to change during the course of the development.
Last Updated: 03 / September / 08
Full Title
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Release Date
Previously announced by SEGA to be late 2008, apparently the game has slipped to 09 now. The very first press release estimated late 2009 though so the game is likely on schedule. The most recent date we have heard from SEGA has the game marked for Q1 of 2009.
Formats
The game is being developed for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Game Engine
The developers are using the most recent version of the UE3 engine. Same one as Gear of War 2.
Is This A Remake?
Many fans have asked if this is a remake of the Aliens: Colonial Marines game that was going to appear on PS2, but was cancelled before release. To answer that I’ll just quote what wieder said: “The game isn't intentionally related to the previous game, but the title was absolutely perfect. It's not an association we're upset to have, as we all wish that game had been able to be finished because it showed promise. But yeah, any similarities are coincidences or just because they are good ideas for an Aliens game.”
Story
The story is written by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle (Correct Names) who most recently wrote for the Battlestar Galactica 'remake' series, and also worked on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The game will be divided up into 'TV-style' episodes. Each instalment will focus on a different main character, telling its own story yet being tied into the narrative as a whole. We don’t know how many levels will be in each episode but previewers from gamesradar said they'll last around an hour each, and their will be more than six episodes. It was also mentioned that we will be going up against a human enemy faction that want to harness the alien as a biological weapon. And that we will finally get to learn more about the alien race known as the Space Jockey found long dead in the derelict spacecraft from the first film.
The plot set-up published in GameInformer: “Ripley is dead. None of the soldiers dispatched from the military ship Sulaco survived the infestation of the colony Hadley’s Hope. The details of their doomed struggle against a predatory alien species on the moon LV-426 are unknown. In the absence of firsthand accounts, only one clue remains to illuminate the unexplained disappearance of Hicks, Vasquez, Hudson and the rest of the squad. That clue is the Sulaco itself, which has been found floating through space, the hypersleep pods ejected after an apparent fire in the chamber. The ship does not respond to any communications. Sent in to investigate the disappearance, a new squad of colonial marines is about to stumble upon the horror Lieutenant Ellen Ripley sacrificed herself to destroy: ruthlessly adaptable creatures bred as weapons and created for war. Hundreds of them.”
Single Player Campaign
The games single player component will focus on the Colonial Marines from James Cameron‘s sequel, ALIENS. Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox software said: "Our game's about becoming a Colonial Marine, and looking at it from the Colonial Marines' perspective,".
Cooperative Campaign
The game will feature 4 player drop in / out coop mode that can be played online with friends, or offline in two player split screen mode, or a combination of both. No word on whether the screen will be split horizontally or vertically, *Crosses fingers for the former* and hopefully their will be System Link on consoles.
Adversarial Multiplayer
The game will feature an online competitive MP component, but no details have been released as of yet. Sega have said that details will be released later in 2008.
Gameplay
It seems Gearbox intend to give us a broad range of experiences when it comes to gameplay as can be evidenced by the following gameplay aspects.
Squad Play
Aside from himself the player will have control over three other colonial marines making for a four man squad. The squad gameplay wont be as in depth as BIA or Rainbow Six: Vegas. And players will have to re-evaluate the standard squad based tactics. Positioning and firepower along with cooperation will take precedence over finding cover.
Driving Segments - The game will feature driving segments, but no details on what vehicle or how they will be implemented yet.
Solo Segments - From time to time the player will find themselves completely alone against the xenomorph. This was talked about by Brian Martel in the GI video interview. He said it was important to capture the solo horror elements from the original film.
Make A Stand -
The game will also feature 'Make A Stand' sections which will be like the alien assault on operations in ALIENS. A classic siege moment, the player will receive information over his com-link that aliens are about to attack. The player will have a slim amount of time to secure the area by giving orders to his squad, like seal vent / bulkhead, position and set-up sentry gun or push heavy objects in front of openings etc. Once time is up, the aliens will attack wave after wave coming from every un-secured opening and the squad must hold them off to survive.
Context Sensitive Orders
The control mechanic is context sensitive based similar to Brother In Arms or Rainbow Six: Vegas. We will be able to send marines to perform specialised tasks like sealing vents with the welder, hacking open doors, setting up sentry guns and booby trapping oxygen tanks etc. In addition the player will be able to give basic move to, attack and follow commands.
Playable Characters
There will be six playable characters in the single player campaign and five playable in coop. We know that four of the characters are currently named Winter, Bella, O’Neal and Monday, and that female marines will appear alongside their male counterparts. Each marine will have a unique skill such as hacking, welding, explosives, and a specific set of weapons and equipment.
Close Encounters
To you and me that's Quick-Time Events (QTE), but Gearbox prefer to call them 'Close Encounters' since they are taking a different approach to them with their game. It has been said that the QTE’s are tightly scripted events that appear at set points during the course of the game. Its speculated that the QTEs will also be initiated when an alien moves into melee distance. When iniated, each QTE will replace the players general control scheme with a prompt mechanic that flashes up bright, but subtle colours at the edges of the screen. They represent a corresponding control on the controller which the player must press to succeed at the mini-game. Pressing the correct corresponding control will play out the rest of the mini scripted sequence, all from the first person viewpoint of the player. According to the gameplayer preview, the QTE's won't require super fast reflexes like in other games (Tomb Raider: Legend, God of War, Resident Evil 4). And PC controls will be designed separately to make the QTE's feel intuitive to use with M/K.
Load-Out
Each character can carry five items of equipment; four weapons and a single gadget. Additionally, it was mentioned in the Game Informer preview, that in general we wont be picking up / dropping or switching weapons. (Hopefully they just meant the aliens wont be dropping weapons and we can in fact have a choice over which guns and gadgets we get to use during a level). Here is what the marines carry:-
Primary Weapon: Includes Pulse rifles and Smart Guns etc.
Secondary Weapon: These weapons are personalised to the character like Hicks’ shotgun.
Sidearm: A pistol for backup or use with a gadget in the off-hand, like a motion tracker.
Grenade: For use with the pulse rifles grenade launcher, but probably also usable as an ad-hoc hand thrown grenade.
Gadget: Motion tracker, medkit, welder etc.
Marine Arsenal
The game features a moderate arsenal and so far that includes the following:-
M41A Pulse Rifle
M240 Flame Thrower
M56 Smart Gun
Shotun
VP70 Semi-Automatic Pistol
M4A3 Semi-Automatic Pistol - Or something that looks very similar to the one in the ALIENS: Colonial Marines Technical Manual.
M40 High Explosive Fragmentation Grenade - Not known if it can be used as an ad-hoc hand thrown grenade yet.
UA 571-C Remote Sentry Weapons System
Explosive - Some type of explosive device, possibly the M5 Bounding Mine from the Technical Manual.
Gadgets
The following gadgets are confirmed so far:-
Motion Tracker - An actual in-game model that the player can equip in his off-hand. When equipped the player wont be able to use his primary weapon. But will be able to equip his pistol in his free hand.
Medical Kit - This item can revive injured squad mates and neutralise acid burns. Your A.I. Squad can also use this item to revive the player.
Hacking Kit - Is used for bypassing lock-downs on doors.
Miniature Welder - Used for sealing air vents and doors. (No confirmation on whether it can be used to cut new entryways or doors open yet.)
Locations & Combat Environments
We will be experiencing both claustrophobic interior combat as well as less-restrictive outdoor conflicts. Here is a list of locations we have heard about so far:-
Sulaco - This will be the opening mission according to GI.
Derelict - Mentioned in GI preview we will re-visit LV-426 and the crashed alien vessel.
Cargo Ship - Talked about in CVG mini preview.
Futuristic City - See the city concept art.
Deep Space Mining Asteroid - Apparently it acts as a cover for a secret W-Y alien research facility.
Shanty Mining Town - According to the gameplayer preview its on a barely terraformed sterile dark planet.
Characters and Enemies
So far we have heard about a number of non-playable characters and enemies that will be appearing in the game. The developers have said that alternate xenomorph castes wont be anything stupid appearance wise. Instead any new alien types will mostly differentiate themselves with their behaviour and attack patterns. Here is a list of characters and enemies we know about so far:-
Androids - Confirmed, but not whether they will be enemies or friendly.
Human Opponents - Confirmed, but its still unclear who they will be (Weyland-Yutani?)
Warrior - The classic ridged Cameron alien design seen in the second film. This alien will be the main one we encounter and it will often attack in numbers.
Drone - This sub-species of alien appeared in Cameron’s original script. It wasn’t used in the film but, it was to be the worker caste, nursemaid and hive builder. Currently the devs are experimenting with this caste and its ability to transport eggs using its carapace. (Not confirmed to be in the final game.)
Scout - The devs have confirmed that the smooth headed Giger design from the original film will appear in the game, and will be a much more sneaky solo hunter compared to the Warrior. This alien will hide and ambush the squad.
Face Hugger - Seen in the screenshots. It has been confirmed that head humpers will initiate a QTE if they land on the players head.
Chest Burster - We know there will be exploding stomachs, but its doubtful if the little critters will present any real danger.
Queen - In the game she will apparently appear as a boss fight. (Maybe a QTE?)
Animation
The alien characters are being animated fully by hand using NaturalMotion's middleware morpheme engine. No motion capture for the xeno's, this is to make them appear more inhuman and more alien like. In the gameplayer preview it was said aliens move impressively. They are fast and agile and hop around the level, grabbing onto pillars and leaping back down to the ground to attack marines by whipping their tails and slashing with their claws. David Carter, director of animation at Gearbox said:-
"NaturalMotion's morpheme is poised to make a huge impact on the animation pipelines at Gearbox Software. Gone are the days of building countless transition and tweening animations, morpheme takes care of it all, while placing the 'look' of AI behaviors complete in the hands of our animators."
Alien A.I.
The developers have said the aliens will be smarter in this game, compared to older Alien titles. The aliens will use the air ducts to travel around and launch surprise attacks. They will hide in air ducts, pipes in the ceiling and the grating under the floor and wait for just the right moment to attack. The aliens will often attack players and their team-mates head-on, but they will also set clever traps and attack from ambush. The alien movement within the environment will be unpredictable making it difficult for the player to draw a bead on them as they move and attack.
HUD & ADTS
The heads-up display will be minimal with nothing but weapon model (complete with left side, built-in ammo counter) in hand and a small crosshair for targeting the enemy. It also appears that the weapons will have an Aim Down The Sights (ADTS) feature similar to BIA and COD4. Not completely sure if all the weapons have that feature since we have only seen the pistol aimed with iron sights so far, but if its anything like GBXs other games then all the weapons will have it.
Health, Damage & Death
This hasn't been talked about very much yet. From previews, we do know that the game will have a recharging health system similar to Halo / COD4 etc. It was also said that the medic character will be able to treat acid burns and revive critically injured team mates. Apparently, the marines wont die until the plot deems it necessary later on in the game.
Gore, Drool and Acid Blood
It has been said there will be plenty of blood and guts and if its anything like Gearbox’s other game BIA: Hells Highway then it will be more than enough. The devs have also mentioned that they are implementing alien drool using in game shaders, and that acid blood will mark the environment and hurt the players, but it wont corrode away the environment except for leaving burn marks etc. Though there will be static acid burned holes pre-built into the levels for aliens to emerge from.
Authenticity
Gearbox are well known for their faithful recreation of the source material they are working from as can be seen in their previous titles. For instance in ACM:-
The Aliens: Colonial Marines development team have access to all the original mixed and un-mixed sound recordings from Cameron's film provided by Fox. The sound guys said they are busy remixing / recreating them through modern sound hardware/software.
They have contacted Syd Mead who was a concept artist on the films, and are working with many other artists who also worked on the films. Syd Mead actually went back and created new concepts pieces for the game, like designing the rest of the Sulaco for gamers to explore.
The ACM team have accurately matched the film grain and colour tones to recreate the original look of the films.
They have constructed an actual working pulse rifle, motion tracker and apparently their offices are filled with other aliens related props and toys.
And best of all, Gearbox's Brian Martel (Executive Vice President) even got the chance to sit down with Ridley Scott (the original Alien films director), and discuss the whole back story of where he thinks the Alien came from and the species known as the Space Jockey.
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