Face-Off: Aliens: Colonial Marines

[Soldier 95B]

Aliens: Colonial Marines - the Digital Foundry verdict

All in all, it'd be churlish to expect every shooter to match the technical accomplishments of pack leaders like Halo 4 or Killzone 3, but Aliens: Colonial Marines is stuck too many years behind the curve to deliver even on its limited ambitions. While there is some evocative work put into the level design, you can see the game's roots in 2008, around the time it was first announced. Image quality is garishly reminiscent of the first wave of fuzzy-textured Unreal Engine 3 titles on console, and the scatter-brained AI, collision detection glitches, and rigid, weightless xenomorph animations all amount to an underwhelming extension of the Aliens universe.


If you're committed to buying this for any platform, make sure it's PC. It still has its glitches; the Alien Queen boss passes through concrete walls during a one-on-one encounter, and it's still possible to fall through the ground on occasion, only to float around until deciding to restart. However, it's the version that avoids the constant screen-tearing of the 360 version, which appears to a lesser extent on PS3. It's also the edition that resolves all aliasing issues present on both consoles, and does it while adding the fully dynamic lighting system we were promised - plus higher-resolution textures on characters.


In the final call, it's hard to recommend either console release, but at a push we find the 360 one marginally more playable due to it holding above 30FPS through thick and thin. The PS3 version offers certain advantages in the image quality department, such as running at the full 720p framebuffer, as opposed to the 360's softer sub-HD output, but when the frame-rate drops for Sony's console it's ultimately even more of a distraction. Looking to the upcoming Wii U version, confident claims are made by Gearbox's Randy Pitchford that it offers the "best looking and best console performance version of the game". Coming from a background of solid PC ports, here's hoping Demiurge Studios is able to not just adapt the game to the GamePad layout, but use the extra time to optimise appropriately for Nintendo's hardware.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/di...rines-face-off

I am surprised they chose to go HD on the PS3 and lose performance, and go sub HD on 360 and retain performance. I would have gone with consistent and gone sub HD on both so performance wasn't affected.

According to reviews, it's a shit game anyway.

BTW, for console only gamers, the Wii-U version must be the one to get it seems.

[Sub-stance1]

I really wanted this game to be good.

[radgamer420]

I'm going to pass on that game entirely after reading all the horrible reviews.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

I'm still going to get it, but when it's cheap as fuck.

[DarkVincent07]

I'm still going to get it, but when it's cheap as fuck.

Same. But yeah all versions look like shit


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[T0PGUN]

Is this the N64 versus PS1 comparison??

[Fon]

They took how long to develop this game?. I remember hearing delays after delays that I was expecting to see a nice polished game. Kind of bummed to see this happening.

[T0PGUN]

Wasn't it supposed to come out for ps2/ xbox? looks like they didnt update the engine/ graphics/ AI