Aliens: Colonial Marines

[privateer]

SEGA of America Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced the signing of critically-acclaimed developer Gearbox Software to create a first-person shooter title based on the Alien film franchise for the next-generation systems, with license from Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising. The agreement complements the recent announcement of an Alien RPG title for the next-generation systems to be developed by Obsidian Entertainment.

 

Gearbox Software is a leading developer in the first-person shooter genre, producing titles for the industry's top franchises including Brothers in Arms, Halo and Half-Life. They consistently produce best-selling titles and have garnered numerous industry awards. Gearbox Software's FPS Alien title will retain the atmospheric look and feel of the original films while leveraging next-generation technology to create an entirely new interactive Alien experience.

 

"Gearbox Software has a storied history of bringing innovative and compelling design to the FPS category," said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America, Inc. "Combining their design talents with the intense action of the Alien franchise ensures that gamers will have an immersive and action-packed experience."

 

"The Alien series has been a tremendous influence for myself, the people at Gearbox Software and the video games industry in general," said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. "The opportunity to work with the amazing people at SEGA and Fox to build a next generation video game in the Alien universe is one of those dream projects that is a perfect fit for our capability and our passion."

 

Since its 1979 debut, Alien and its three sequels have grossed more than $557 million worldwide, garnering numerous awards, including two Academy Awards. In 2002, Alien was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

[privateer]

GameSpot translated a Swedish TV interview with Gearbox's Randy Pitchford who dishes out some details on its upcoming Aliens licensed first-person-shooter. Here's a pinch:

 

First up was Gearbox's forthcoming shooter based on James Cameron's 1986 sci-fi classic Aliens. Development for the project is apparently well under way. "We're working really hard on that right now," said Pitchford. Sega is publishing the game in conjunction with 20th Century Fox, which owns the film rights.

 

The executive also revealed some tidbits about the plot of the Aliens game, which is due on "next-gen platforms" in 2009. "Our game's about becoming a Colonial Marine, and looking at it from the Colonial Marines' perspective," explained Pitchford. The Colonial Marines battled the acid-blooded xenomorphs in Aliens, and were a template for the troopers who fight alongside the Master Chief in the Halo games.

[privateer]

"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.

 

Screenshots

 

http://xbox360.gaming-universe.de/news/2252_aliens-colonial-marines-angekuendigt--erste-screenshots.html

[outlaw star]

τα alienvs predator εκτός απο απίστευτα fps είναι μακράν ότι καλύτερο απο άποψη τρόμου και ατμόσφαιρας έχει κυκλοφορήσει για μένα...το να παίζεις βράδυ με ακουστικά στους κατασκότεινους διαδρόμους και να ακούς το χαρακτηριστικό ήχο του motion tracker να δυναμώνει συνεχώς και να μη βλέπεις απο που θα σου σκάσει...απλά όλα τα λεφτά....περιμένω με ανυπομονησία το νέο παιχνιδι ε πε καρδιακά που έχουν να γίνουν...

[Wolfidis]

Αν η AI της ομάδας κ των Aliens είναι όπως λένε παραπάνω, ίσως το παιχνίδι είναι αρκετα καλό! Γιατί, καλά κ κακα τα ψέμματα, η απόλυτη ξενέρα είναι, να παίζεις τέτοια ατμοσφαιρικά παιχνίδια, να προσπαθείς να το ζήσεις, κ να στην χαλάνε μερικά ηλίθια bots....

Πού είσαι Ηalo να δώσεις τα φώτα σου!!!!

 

Για πότε είναι αυτό να κυκλοφορήσει?

Θα βγεί σε χ360?

[Barret]

Ας ελπίσουμε ότι δέν θα γίνει η ίδια $%$%^*& με το Jericho. Γενικά το να χειρίζεσαι 4 χαρακτήρες χαλάει το immersion στο παιχνίδι. Πρέπει για μένα να αισθάνεσαι ότι είσαι 'ενας χαρακτήρας και κινδυνεύει η ζωή σου.

Τώρα αν αναπαράγουν σκηνές απο τις ταινίες και προσθέσουν και το στρατηγικό στοιχείο. Πχ να προσπαθείς να οχυρωθείς σε ενα δωμάτιο για να επιβιώσεις κτλ θα έχει σασπένς.

Θα δούμε.

[GhostRiderLSOV]

To Star Wars: Republic Commando είχε 4 χαρακτήρες και ήταν πολύ καλό, κατά την γνώμη μου.

[kostacurtas]

Aliens: Colonial Marines Screenshots Present First Clear Picture of Ultimate Badasses

 

The first screenshots of Aliens: Colonial Marines--that weren't pulled from a fuzzy magazine--have been released by the developer Gearbox.

 

The shooter is set to sport four player co-op, recreating the tactical aspect of the marine squad from the classic sci-fi film sequel Aliens.

 

[Wolfidis]

Αυτές οι φωτος έχουν κυκλοφορήσει εδώ και μήνες.... απο τότε τίποτα καινούργιο έχει βγει????

[kostacurtas]

Ναι οντως και εγω τις θυμαμαι.

 

Αλλα τις ποσταρα επειδη δεν υπηρχε καποια φωτογραφια στο topic και με την ευκαιρια της επανεμφανισης τους στο Shacknews.

 

Οσο για την προοδο του παιχνιδιου θα εχει μεσα στην εβδομαδα, παλι το Shacknews, συνεντευξη με την Gearbox.

 

 

Για την ωρα εχει ενα μερος της συνεντευξης.

 

Gearbox Talks Aliens Creative Team: BSG Writers, Original Film Artists, Craig Mullins

 

"This is no joke," said Gearbox president Randy Pitchford, and I had to agree. The more we hear about Aliens: Colonial Marines (PC, 360, PS3), the more exciting it sounds for fans of the original films.

 

Gearbox seems dedicated to staying faithful to the source material, and smartly expanding on it with a solid creative team. Four player co-op doesn't hurt, either.

 

Last week I had the chance to catch up with the Gearbox squad during a quick E3 lunch. During the interview, Pitchford explained the lengths that his company went to in order to make their game feel like an authentic piece of the Aliens franchise.

 

Randy Pitchford: One thing that's cool is some of the people we've been able to work with to help us [on Aliens]. The guys that write the Battlestar Galactica series, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, they wrote our script. They're amazing guys. They gave us a lot, too. We could make a whole season of TV with the stuff they gave us. [laughs] We profited from the writer's strike, let's just put it that way. We talked with a lot of people, but those guys are so good.

 

And then a lot of the concept guys that helped make the movies. Like [Aliens concept artist] Syd Mead, that guy walks on water. And to be able to go to his studio, his house, and then have him draw a bunch of stuff. "Here's when I designed the Sulaco back when we made the first movie. Here's the original artwork. You want a copy, Brian?" And Brian's like, "Yes."

 

And now he's designing all the new stuff, because the Sulaco's a big ship and we only saw a bit of it, so you get the guy who designed it to design the rest of it. And he's awesome, he designed so much stuff. And then like [concept artists] Keith Thompson, Craig Mullins.. anybody who knows these names knows what we're talking about. This is no joke.

 

It's a big team. And we're also working with people from all over the world. We've been working with a lot of amazing talent at other studios. I don't know how much of that will be used in PR, but there's a lot of people who care about this franchise. The opportunity to build a dropship, or build a pulse rifle, or build a smart gun, that's a pretty cool opportunity--a lot of artists would want to do that. So we have our core Gearbox team, but we're also finding a lot of folks around the industry now, guys who are on top of their game.

 

Check back later in the week for our full interview with Gearbox.

[outlaw star]

μήπως έχουμε ακούσει τώρα τελευταία για κάποια ημερομηνία?

[kostacurtas]

Τιποτα πιο συγκεκριμενο απο Q1 2009.

[mandipl]

πωπω και ειναι απο τις αγαπημενες μου ταινιες . θα λιωσουμε παλι!!!

[kostacurtas]

Aliens: Colonial Marines - Narrows Down Release Date

 

Based on the Aliens movie, Aliens: Colonial Marines, developed by Gearbox Software, is a squad-based first-person shooter where players are part of a United States Colonial Marine squad and must prepare to face an Aliens assault more intense and horrific than ever before. Originally scheduled for late 2008, SEGA confirmed that the game is currently slated for somewhere between April and June 2009.

[HellasVagabond]

Μην περιμενετε τπτ τρομερο παντως. Γενικα η SEGA δεν ειναι γνωστη για πολυ καλες υλοποιησεις σε γραφικα και ατμοσφαιρα.