A Open Heart Felt Letter To Anyone That Tries To Defend Aliens: Colonial Marines

Clayton Donaldson addresses the game designers, gamers, game journalists, etc who for some ungodly reason try to defend Aliens : Colonial Marines.

[PopRocks359]

Maybe because they disagree with you? Not everyone is as put off by a game's flaws as the next person, or some people are just more forgiving. It's all subjective.

[Timesplitter14]

And not everyone treats people's appreciation of a certain video game as some kind of important social issue

Jesus Christo

[PopRocks359]

Okay, how about I send you an open letter every time you like a game I don't? Bet that wouldn't annoy you at all.

[Timesplitter14]

I was talking about the author of the article you silly goose shut up and kiss me

[zeee]

"A open"? A open? Seriously. ..?

[SilentNegotiator]

No, the game is pretty objectively horrible and not what they demoed at all.

[PopRocks359]

Really. I've read a review or two that say otherwise and have heard crossword here on N4G form some users that it's not that bad, just nothing too special. I can't say because I've not yet played the game myself.

So SUBJECTIVELY not everyone hates the game. Hence my point there's no need to send "open letters" to people just for disagreeing with you.

[aliengmr]

@PopRocks359

I agree about the "open-letter" stuff and that not everyone hates it.

But seriously, you can find people who love eating dog s**t. Doesn't mean eating dog s**t is good.

Then there are those that simply want to be counter to the masses.

This game hasn't received "mixed reviews". Its fallen squarely into the bad category for various reasons, many of which being technical in nature. Its objectively bad.

People can like something objectively bad, nothing wrong with that. But pointing to a minority people and saying that because those few liked it, there's nothing wrong with the game and its just a matter of taste, is absurd.

EA actually had the balls to blame gamers for MoH Warfighter. When gamers buy crap, we just smile and pretend its not crap. Gamers need EA's balls.

[maelstromb]

@aliengmr -- I agree with mostly everything you said, except for the very last part where you said, "gamers need EA's balls." I have to respectfully disagree with you on that one b/c sure EA has taken some chances concerning new IPs that have become very popular (IE. Dead Space, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc.), but to claim that they played no part over the years in fanning the flames of tired, overdone franchises, is disingenuous at best.

[SilentNegotiator]

If everything was subjective because of a few classless opinions, a psycho that makes suits out of human flesh wouldn't go to asylum.

[aliengmr]

@maelstromb

You may have misunderstood what I was saying about EA.

EA was discussing the failure of Warfighter and blamed gamers "not getting it" as the reason for that failure. That the game was stellar and would done amazingly well had it not been for their stingy stupid customers.

Gamers fight amongst themselves in defense of crap. We are the most gullible consumers ever. So gullible that EA actually had the balls to shame us for voting with our wallets. Gamers will buy bad games just because their afraid they won't get a sequel.

We need that level of ballsy-ness. A:CM is just one of many examples that shows the complete lack of respect the industry has for those it relies on.

[WeskerChildReborned]

Yep, i loved AvP despite it's flaws and i would still be playing it now but the online community is pretty much dead, kinda sad cause the MP was actually really fun IMO.

[Gigglefist]

I've absolutely adored it.
It has mild technical bugs, yes. Know what else does? Half Life 2. AKA the (widely considered) greatest FPS of all time.

Everyone is obsessed with polish nowadays. Yes, there are flaws that shouldn't be there. However, it is HARDLY enough to make me wish I didn't buy it. I had a blast doing campaign on Ultimate Badass, and multiplayer has enough content to keep me going.

I'm NOT saying this is an amazing game. It's still fun though. That's what games are about. It's a shame they didn't polish it more, but it's really not a huge loss.

I totally recommend this game 100%

[BX81]

The game is a piece of crap!

[Gigglefist]

You have every right to your opinion.

[BX81]

I can see how some would find it fun but for me it just sucked. I liked the last 2 moh's but a lot of people didn't like those, lol.

[Jobesy]

Awesome you enjoyed it and didn't let a review make decisions for you. You obviously get what gaming is about...fun!

[Gigglefist]

I won't lie,I was scared pretty bad by the reviews, but I'd awaited this game for years. I bit the bullet with this one, but I have no regrets. Half-Life, Ocarina of Time, Skyrim. All three have just as many bugs, if not more, than this game, and they're praised nonstop.

Message to everyone: Reviews are, naturally, based around opinion. I've hated games with 9's or 10's (GTAIV, MW3, etc.) and loved games with mediocre reviews (Jericho, Silent Hill 4, etc.)

Don't just say "It sucks" because everyone says it does (most people who will comment on this article). Play it for yourself.

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one. But don't use somebody else's asshole as your own. That's just gross.

[ElectricKaibutsu]

Ocarina of Time has bugs? Like what? I'm honestly curious. I can't think of one.

[greatcrusader44]

Never heard someone say Ocarina of Time was buggy, one of the things I like about Nintendo 1st party games is the enormous amount of polish they receive. (Though I heard Skyward Sword had a major glitch that erased saves or something that they patched with a Nintendo Channel)

[aliengmr]

@Gigglefist

But would you say MW3 and GTA4 are bad games because you don't like them?

I loathe CoD, but its obviously great despite my hatred for it.

[XXXL]

This game is pure hot garbage topped with shit

[stragomccloud]

I have a feeling if you're a big fan of the franchise the game is a lot more enjoyable. Like all of the Dragon Ball Z games. I love those games, but I wouldn't really recommend them to anyone except hardcore fans.

[dredgewalker]

Yeah, I think alien fans won't mind too much. I've been playing Super Robot Wars for years and I would only recommend it to mecha and super robot fans.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

This kind of thing worries me.
It's like in the beginning of the Wii, when Wii games kept getting docked because they weren't and couldn't be run at 360 or PS3 Specs.

-It seems kind of Short sided and hurtful to the industry.

I am sure other people with other console preferences get this but being a Nintendo Fan and conversely, a PC Gamer, you learn that Graphic-Styles, Photo-Realism, and Max Graphics are not the purpose for buying and playing games-

FUN (is the reason).

I do understand that things ruin/hurt the experience.
But some people are able to get over mistakes if the Game does what it is supposed to-

-Entertain.

[MikeCosimano]

I didn't read any of your comment, but I just wanted to let you know that I love your avatar.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

LOL

Thanks-

"Funny" Bubble-up!

[stuntman_mike]

exactly i think most people have forgotten why they game and fall in to the PR crap spiel that goes around. if your not having fun gaming it may be time to hang up your controller.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

^ And the Gamers said, "AMEN."

"Well Said" "preacher"man_mike

[Saleem101]

I tried go in with open mind after I saw the reviews for a game that been in development for 6 yrs the game looks terrible.... gearbox should remove there name from cover box its bad real bad...

[Megaton]

TotalBiscuit is pretty spot-on about this, IMO. There's always some weird bunch that defends bad games to the death, and they're a negative force on the industry as a whole.

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

[ElectricKaibutsu]

That video was incredible.

[Soldierone]

If you do like the game, look at the positive side of things. The more negative thing that float around, the faster this game will hit the bargain bins lol

I can't say I haven't done that before. I loved a game everyone hated, knew this would happen, ended up getting it for 20 bucks instead of 60.

[RFornillos4]

so the game sucks, big deal! you can't blame others if they enjoy the game. some people just love the gameplay, regardless whether there's accurate lighting, physics or whatever.

this "open letter" doesn't really do anything. it won't sway anyone's opinion of the game. it's not like, "love playing the game, but i'm sympathetic to this guy's opinion, maybe i should stop".

can we really blame the publishers and developers? oh yes we can, but as consumers one way to show your distaste is simply to not buy the game. it's not like Sega's forcing you to buy the game. if you prefer to read reviews before deciding to buy the game, then so be it; but if you're compulsive enough to get one regardless of the bad reviews then it's your call.

but when someone does buy it, play and enjoy it, you can't tell them that's wrong.

don't get me wrong, i'm not defending the game. i still haven't tried it, but maybe i will just to see what the fuzz is all about.

[DarthJay]

I'll defend it. Playing as a Xenomorph in multiplayer is as much fun in a multiplayer game as I have had in a long time. The game is average, it's not worth $60, but it's not as terrible as people are claiming it is. I am not even a huge Aliens fan in general, but I don't hate this game, and for anyone to possibly criticize me for it is pretty ridiculous.

[Somebody]

There were a number of games that have received less than stellar reviews but once I tried them out (thanks for Stem Sales). I was surprised to see they were pretty good.

I'll wait for a Steam sale before getting this game so I can see what's all the fuss about at a price point that won't made me cringe. The downside of this method is that I will be terribly left out when it comes to multiplayer (being the lone Level 1 player VS a whole battalion of high level, fully armoured+armed veterans) but luckily I'm not interested in that anymore.

Review is one thing but actually trying it out is another. It's just a matter of opinions and preferences. Then again...I have SEGA's Aliens VS Predators in my Steam library that I really don't want to instal anymore. Barely played pass the first 2 levels missions of any of the factions' missions.

[DarthJay]

Oh I don't endorse paying $60 for it whatsoever, but that's a whole lot different than saying people finding nice things to say about the game are the ones with problems.

Is it so unfathomable to think that people actually enjoy the game for what it is, regardless of the price? Who is anyone else to tell them they are wrong?

Whatevs. I really enjoy Extermination mode. Shame on me I guess...

[ACEMANWISE]

I think the visuals took the biggest hit and Gearbox has been covering it up. They masked the IGN gameplay demonstration by playing the PC version through Steam and using a 360 controller. They focused largely on the fact that they had official access to the movie materials, and was approved authentic by Fox, and how big fans they were.

I don't see how the graphical downgrade happened. It makes no sense. All I know is Gearbox should be pressured to answer to the fans. I'd hate to believe these companies are following the trend of COD games hoping the overwhelming popularity will overlook the visual quality.

[porkChop]

"one of which is GearBox which has burned us all in the past with the Duke Nukem fiasco"

Wow. Really? You're going to blame Gearbox for a game they didn't even develop? All Gearbox did was buy the Duke Nukem rights, and brought all the people from 3D Realms into their office to let them FINISH the game. All the content had already been created, Gearbox just helped them put everything together. It wasn't their game.

________________________

I haven't played Aliens: Colonial Marines yet, so I won't pass judgement or defend the games quality. However, everyone has the right to an opinion. The fact that this "journalist" goes out of his way to basically say that he's right and everyone who defends or enjoys the game is wrong... it's just pathetic.

Believe it or not, some gamers can see past the bugs, or aren't bothered by bugs. They're capable of enjoying the game for what it is. If the author, Clayton Donaldson, has the right to voice his opinion that the game is bad, then the people who like the game have every right to voice their opinions as well.

[Psychonaut]

The game is fun. myself, and three friends all of who are ALIENS friends enjoy the game so much, all the easter eggs, the sounds, and music just gets us. I just wanted to share that. Also this open heart letter is so ego driven, just because someone likes the game does not mean they are defendining it, and just cause someone likes something you do not does not make them right, or wrong and same merit to you.

[Blacklash93]

So basically... "ATTENTION: Anyone who disagrees with me! Your opinion sucks!"

My god we may as well call "videogame journalism" glorified blogging, instead.