Fast action and good-looking xenos combined with the joy of using a Pulse rifle

Feb 11, 2013 23:16 GMT  ·  By

I still remember the first fifteen minutes of the Marine campaign in the Aliens versus Predator game launched during 1999 by Rebellion, because it made me uncomfortable at first and then segued into clear horror once the first xenomorph appeared and proceeded to kill me.

I chose to first play Aliens: Colonial Marines cooperatively with one of my colleagues and, because I am older or because I am more accustomed to video game tricks, the game failed to scare me when it introduced its own first alien, which we killed in about two seconds.

The title is developed by Gearbox and so far, it seems well balanced from a gameplay perspective, with the aliens coming in fast and furious and the humans having to rely on solid movement, well placed shots and a little bit of teamwork in order to hold them back.

The team pulls no punches and even the first mission, which has many tutorial elements, quickly becomes a whirlwind of running, gunning and waiting anxiously as aliens pour out from every wall and crevasse and players struggling to kill them in time.

The only somewhat incongruous element of the Aliens so far is represented by the highlighted pieces of armor and ammunition that are spread all over the levels and eliminate every pressure that comes from scarcity.

The game also fails to scare in any meaningful way so far, although that might change as the campaign progresses.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is also very faithful to the style of the movie series on which it is based, with a worn look for all the environments, some interesting alien and human design mingling and suitable gruff Marine faces and voices.

The cooperative gameplay was also easy to set up and it was a blast to play with another human, even if there are times when Aliens: Colonial Marines treats those cooperating as if they were the same person, which can be a weird experience.

Worth a full Softpedia review? Yes.