Rumour: Anonymous Source Explains What Went Wrong With Aliens: Colonial Marines

Rumours are flying around the internet about the reasons behind Aliens: Colonial Marines‘ rather underwhelming quality. Chief amongst these is that Gearbox outsourced a significant portion of the gameplay to other studios. Some more information regarding this could potentially have come to light, due to a post on Reddit by a user by the name of throwawayacm.

[SJPFTW]

anyone remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Well not only did the game not resemble this "gameplay video" but this entire section is not even in the finished game. worst case of false advertisement EVER! I love how they play it off as it was actual gameplay but really just a pre-rendered video. GEARBOX YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!

[Wingsfan24]

Gah, why'd you have to post that link. Now I'm depressed.

[PopRocks359]

I'm gonna go off on a limb and assume that Gearbox worked on that build for the demo while the guys at Timegate worked on those sections in the final product. Hopefully Gearbox can update each version of the game with something closer to their original vision.

[febreeze1]

I still don't understand why Gearbox is always outsourcing their stuff that has their name on it...first the borderlands dlc's, now this game.

[SilentNegotiator]

http://n4g.com/news/1172216...

Stop spreading the bogus rumor that Gearbox had little to do with the campaign.

[PopRocks359]

@SilentNegotiator

Considering Sega had little to no involvement with the development of the game, I don't see how they would know how much of the game was or was not outsourced. Besides, it's already known that Timegate was actually involved with development. By how much is the question, and right now all we have is word of mouth. Gearbox's word against theirs.

So no, I would not say the rumor is entirely bogus.

[UnholyLight]

Go to IGN and read the interview with Randy Pitchford. In fact I think he said there was TWO other studios that worked on it.

[Kamikaze135]

Wow....that's a low blow to their fans.

[CapsLocke]

You have no idea what you're talking about, hardcore Aliens fans like the game.

[andron]

I'm a hardcore Alien fan and I think the game is mediocre and technically sub par.

I'm just planning to play as much as I can stand and get rid of it as fast as I can...

[Kurylo3d]

@CapsLocke
Speak for yourself... me and my friends are hardcore aliens fans... the game kinda sucks. Great for nostalgia, but at best its just another shooter to run through.

[Irishguy95]

The narration of the vid...oh my ****/

[Sandmano]

Grade A scammer...

[deno]

I will still purchase it but I will only do it so they may make another in a more professional way. Granted this game doesn't look as bad as people are saying. And yes I did see the original demo. It is sad.

[andron]

The end of the game makes it clear they are keeping it open for a sequel, but I doubt it will ever be made...

[WeskerChildReborned]

If their is a sequel, it should deserve a better developer or the devs should focus more on it.

[Kurylo3d]

Whoever did the character art on the faces... man oh man.. shittiest artist on earth!

[Ricdog]

I still blame Gearbox. To me they are a bit overrated. Other than Borderlands and Brothers in Arms (the first one), they haven't made that many great games. People give em too much credit.

Now that people are beginning to see them for the developers they are they are quickly looking for someone else to blame.

[DomceM]

im with you on that. I think borderlands is the only thing they really got right. Although i thought the gun system sucks in that game (i hate generic randomly generated guns. Id rather just have them make 20-25 quaity weapons and forget the random generation crap). I never played brothers in arms so i cant comment on that.

Overall however, they are very overrated.

[OneAboveAll]

So instead of choose better, more well known developers to share the load such as Epic, Crytek, Dice, Valve etc, you chose TimeGate. Who did a garbage job.

You dun goofed. Not buying another one of your games ever again. (glad I didn't buy Aliens).

As a mater of fact, Brothers in arms: Hell's Highway was also a travesty!

[DevilishSix]

I think the developers that should have made this game or an aliens game in the future is Visceral Games. They have proven they can create intense atmosphere with their Dead Space games. That is what is needed for an aliens game. Only problem is their games have been third person, wonder if they could create a great first person game?

As far as ACM goes. Gearbox and/or SEGA should be sued to give an option where any gamer that wants there full purchase price back, can get it. Because this demo misrepresented the final product by a HUGE margin and lured gamers into preordering this game. This is fraud on a grand scale. This is not just a little difference between the two its major. Gamers wanted what the demo represented not what the final product is. It's not even close.

[ironfist92]

To be fair, it was either Aliens or Borderlands 2 which was going to be of high quality considering their lack of time and resources (hence outsourcing Aliens to finish it on time). Im glad its Borderlands tbh

[Ashunderfire86]

I would rather them delay it again and give us a beta for the multiplayer, and a demo for the single player to post our opinion about the game. Then they can iron out the problems before release. Man this suck. Outsource is not the way to go. I'm talking to you too Capcom !!! Cough.. Coug.. Lost Planet 3.

[DevilishSix]

Iron, why would it be either aliens or Borderlands of higher quality? You know this aliens game was announced back in 2006. Seven years ago not just in the last couple years.

I have a hunch, Gearbox took ACM development money from SEGA to help finance the original Borderlands game, which became a huge success and because of that successful and the need to get another Borderlands out the door, Gearbox became overwhelmed and out sourced some of ACM to others and this has bitten them straight in the a## and it should. Randy Pitchford should have never allowed this to launch in this state and have his company name on the box. He and his company have and will continue to take a huge hit to their reputation.

[jay2]

Yeah sounds right, the games TERRIBLE

[WitWolfy]

Ooooooooooooh this could be bigger than Mass Effect 3 ever was... NICE! Time for game companies step up when the final product doesnt look as good as the beta or demo. Talk about insulting our intelligence!

[isa_scout]

While I'm actually enjoying the game(only playing it co-op with friends) it's sad because Aliens had the potential to be one of the best horror/action games this generation. If Gearbox spent as much time developing the game instead of creating fake demos and hyping it, it would've sold like hotcakes. Now instead we're left with this bland looking game. I have no doubt they'll eventually be sued for false advertising, and in all honesty they deserve it. If they loved the Aliens franchise as much as they say they did then they would've treated it with the respect that it deserved.

[AllroundGamer]

and thaaat's why people don't buy games nowadays :P

[SITH]

Gamefly.

[testsubject]

I had really good interest in this game and hoping it would be good,but now after seeing what people said it isn't a good game,but I still would like to play it and see for myself,is it worth buying if it went down in price like say $20-30?

[scotchmouth]

No. Rent it if you must

[MysticStrummer]

Tough to say. I bought it and I enjoy it, though it definitely has problems. If you get it at Walmart you get some free DLC (basically a horde mode) in march that will supposedly cost $14.99 so you could factor that into your purchase calculations. Personally I think the really low scores (anything from 1 to 5 out of 10) are ridiculous. I'm a big Aliens fan, but I had no expectations for this game and I like it. I didn't buy it based on a demo from E3. I bought it based on the footage I saw in the last couple of months, particularly the IGN two hour live stream, so I don't feel I was lied to by Gearbox. It's a very basic shooter with very basic AI, but I think the atmosphere (sound, music, lighting) is mostly really well done. The story and dialogue aren't Shakespeare but most games aren't. I think a lot of what's wrong with it can be patched, but that doesn't mean it will be. I noticed the game was different than the demo but it really didn't send me into a tailspin like it has other people. My score at this point is a 7 but a patch or two might bump it up to an 8. Go play Blacklight: Area 51 if you want to see a game that deserves the type of scores A:CM is getting.

[Tzuno]

well it's another year lets make another alien game put a new title and sell it but hurry because we must hurry to make more crappy games i wont spend my entire time developing alien just throw it there and done.(a inside source)

[Bonerboy]

What went wrong?......giving this to Gearbox is what went wrong.

[Pintheshadows]

Does this remind anyone else of the Homefront debacle?

Massively hyped with a huge advertising campaign but the actual game ends up being beyond atrocious despite the concept having so much promise.

[isa_scout]

Yeah it does remind me of Homefront, but Homefront didn't have a loyal fanbase that demanded more, and it was developed by the same people that made Frontlines:FoW so people probably expected it to suck I know I did. This however is a completely different story Gearbox LIED about the game, and even though I'm enjoying the game co-op I would not have ANY fun playing solo.
Also, I really hate that they offically called this story part of the canon, but at the same time it's no worse than Ressurection; that movie was by far one of the worst sci-fi movies I've ever had the displeasure of watching.
Gearbox should be ashamed of themselves for lieing and then trying to push the blame elsewhere. I for one will never buy one of their games again. One of the most shady companies out there, first Dead Space 3 and now this; my faith in sci-fi/horror games is rapidly diminishing.

[Pintheshadows]

I agree with everything you said apart from criticising Dead Space 3. Yeah, the early parts are not very 'Dead Spacey', but 2/3 of the game feels like classic Dead Space. Especially on hard. The story and pacing are off though.

And as a huge Aliens fan i'd seen the preview in 08' and managed to be cautious and excited at the same time, but the more I saw of ACM, the more I realised it just looked distinctly average. Massive shame.

[VTKC]

Capcom is one company I have decided will not give my money to anymore due to the DLC Street FighterXTekken scam.

Now I am contemplating this to Gearbox. That long demonstration shown a while ago looks nothing like the released product. Being incomplete would mean it would either look the same or look better. But it is infact gone the other way.

[TisMayo]

Isn't this false advertising?

[stepbrwn1981]

Hello all,

The game is an absolute shambles, and it is an absolute kick in the teeth for all fans of old that have followed the false promises made by Gearbox.

Where else in the consumer world would anyone except anything other than a finished product?

The answer to, I guess would be 99 plus percent of the time, and the game that was released on the 13th was far from complete.

I managed to fudge a refund today from Blockbuster but shame to the guys who won't have that luxury, as the game is worse than a budget under title in the 90's at best.

Shame on Gearbox and a waste of a chance to re invigorate the Aliens pedigree that consumers/fans are still so desperate for.

[Megaton]

Well their outsourcing to other devs is certainly the reason behind Borderlands 2's DLC being so mediocre.

[Th3 Chr0nic]

Its still their fault cause they made the choice to outsource..... extremely lame of them to use this as an excuse really.

[JohnRecon]

That game is truly in pre-Alpha state.

Every time I read a review for ACM that has low scores, I smile within...

[M2-]

"PS3 was way over memory"

I wonder how often this problem [if true] arises during both multiplatform and exclusive game development on the PS3. It might explain why the majority of multiplatform games appear worse on the PS3.

[WeskerChildReborned]

They spent 6 years on this game..... seriously some devs can drop AAA titles within a couple years and this has been in development for 6 years... -_-

[Soldierone]

I don't care if it was "outsourced" YOUR NAME is still on it! This is the second game that was pure crap that Gearbox went "oh well we didn't actually make it" Well then who the hell did and why are getting credit for it? For the slight possibility its actually good and well received?

I'm playing the game now and honestly had to look at my PS3 and make sure it didn't turn into a PS2....

[ThatsGaming]

Gearbox is a B Devt... The only reason Borderlands is good is because Gearbox opt'd to simplify development by using cell shading.

Their Half-Life work was probably supervised by Valve, Brothers in Arms HH was a sub par game this gen, and Duke Nukem Forever stunk... And now Aliens CM...

I think Gearbox are ambitious and I applaud that... But, they also, have to be smart and focus on quality vs. quantity of projects. They made enough on Borderlands (since they own the IP) that they shouldn't need to do this type of crappy stuff.

[Th3 Chr0nic]

the style of graphics used has nothing to do with borderlands success. gameplay is still the core

[ThatsGaming]

The gameplay was able to be good because they didn't have to spend their time optimizing the graphics.

Top tier devts give great graphics with great gameplay.