"A few years ago, we made a list of a lot of projects that we would really like to work on.
At the top of my list was Aliens"
Brian Martel, creative director
(reminder: Starcraft, Doom and Halo, etc. marine concepts WERE ALL INSPIRED BY Aliens,
the ultimate movie and ultimate space marine xenomorph survival universe.)
"We're finally at the point where the game in a similiar blockbuster style as the movie was -
and be a legitimate treatment, not a watered-down version."
Brian Cozzens, art director
Aliens : Colonial Marines is a First Person Shooter with mechanics that stress working
together as a unit. Four Colonial Marines investigate the Sulaco. Unlike many FPS titles,
thre is not one central hero character (awesome!!!), the role is shared among the whole
squad. The game reinforces that notion by assigning the player to control a set marine
for a particular mission; you will experience everyone's perspective.
Marines carry four weapons:
*Primary weapon
*Secondary weapon
*grenades
*handgun
Primary weapons like pulse rifles and smartguns, are how class will be represented.
"We wish to remain authentic to the true soldiers, so characters generally do not drop
or pick up weapons. That is one of the reasons we switch character during the story -
to keep our soldiers realistic, but still give the player access to different weaponry
throughout the game".
The secondary weapon will vary and be customized according to the character,
like Hicks' shotgun in Aliens.
Each character will also carry a special item they can interact with allies or the
enviornment.
*Hacking tool for sealed doors
*Torch can weld things shut
*Medical Kit can revive as well as neutralize acid burns.
There are Squad Commands. Besides move and attack orders, you can also
use context senstive commands like hacking doors, sealing vents, and setting up
gun turrets.
There will be elements at highlight horror and suspence from the film. Aliens
will use the enviornment to their advantage. Air ducts, ceiling pipes, gratings on
the floor. Position, firepower and cooperation will be important. Motion tracker
confirmed and flamethrower confirmed.
FOUR PLAYERS CO-OP CAMPAIGN
2 players Splitscreen and 4 players online play!
players can join and drop, a.i. takes over the vacancies.
There will be moments whre you can barricade yourselves to survive an onslaught
of aliens. With more feelings of tension and desperation to survive.
Character depth will is being worked on. "That's something people forget:
The characters DO matter." Everyone thinks 'Oh, they're going to be fodder',
but if you don't care about them, they're pointless."
The game will go beyond the Sulaco, there will be human enemies involved that
was the aliens as biological weapons. And the mystery of the space jockey's species might
be also revealed.
"We have squadmates that need to survive, until we kill them in the story."
[This could throw a wrench in the workings of the group, especially if it leaves a player
without a marine to control. Gearbox is aware of that but hasn't settled on the best way
to resolve the situation. "We are going to make the absolute best co-op game we can
make to the extent that it doesn't interfere with the best single player game we can make."
"Obviously there are some things we can't do if there are always four people alive, but
there are ways around that situation. We are going to find them, because it's our job to."
CLose-Encounters system. "Close encounters are almost unlimited in their ability to
let us do what we want to do. Aliens can interact with the world - it isn't just a bunch
of button presses until its over. The alien could leap back onto a cabinet, or another one
of your squadmates. He could leap back and through a duct and out of sight."
The marine's actions in the example are initiated by the player through responding to
less intrusive instructions. A subtle flash of green on the right side of the screen
tells you to move the analog stick in that direction, whereas one in the upper left corner
could be a prompt to pull the left trigger. By abandoning the usual control scheme,
close encounters makes it possible for the team to create those one-of-a-kind combat
situations that caputre the flavor of the most iconic moments in Aliens.
"If we were to recreate the power-loader battle against the queen, that would be a
close encounter."
TYPES OF ALIENS. "There won't be porcupine aliens shooting spines at you. It
can't be goofy or stupid. You have the original Alien, and we sort of think of him
as the smart one, as a scout. He'll hide and ambush people. Then there's the Warrior
Alien, which we see in Aliens, which is going to be the one that rushes you and comes
in volume."
"It's the granddaddy of military sci-fi. With next-gen technology, we can finally do it
justice. We can really make the aliens look scary, we can make the setting freaky, and
we can creat the characters the players care about."
THE GAME WILL HAVE MULTIPLAYER CAPABILITIES in addition to the
4 players co-op campaign.