14 DAY TRIAL // The multiplayer modes are one of the main features of the upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines and the development team at Gearbox needs to create smart enemies in order to challenge the tightknit teams that experienced human players will organize.
Brian Burleson, the senior producer working on the upcoming shooter, talked to VG247 about level design and alien Artificial Intelligence.
He said, “The AI is smart because it does have a concept of when aliens have died, and a concept of where they are at – the damage, what routes they can use to get away from you – and if there’s no way to escape they can become more aggressive and just tear at you.”
The very nature of the aliens, as seen in the movies and previous games in the series, means that they never organize tactical retreats of complex flanking maneuvers, relying instead on quick movement and powerful attacks.
Burleson adds, “That makes them very terrifying. Because if there’s a whole bunch of Xenos in the room and you just happen to start shooting one, don’t kill it, then move on to the one next to it – the one you shot first isn’t going to keep running at you. That’s because it doesn’t want to die. They’re smart creatures.”
Players will have to explore all the maps that Gearbox has created in order to find choke points and other areas where a solid defensive effort can be organized.
The multiplayer modes will include versus matches, an Escape version where players need to get out while being hunted and Extermination, which is pretty self-explanatory.
We got hands-on time with the cooperative multiplayer of Aliens: Colonial Marines during E3 2012 and quite enjoyed the frantic action.
Aliens: Colonial Marines will be out on February 12, 2013 on the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.