The simple answer is YES. Now bear with me, this is going to be one of those long articles. So I took some time off this weekend from my usual online work to catch up on my gaming and so i figured out that i never really finished Colonial Marines, heck i didn’t even try to, back in the day. If y’all remember, the game was bad and not like a day one release bad, it was quite horrible in regards to the AI within the game. In case you’ve been living under a rock, i’ll explain, it’s a bout the fact that the enemies were plain stupid and even on hard mode you could easily finish the game in a mere few hours. Multiplayer was something nobody really cared for, they, just like me, actually came in for the single player and coop mode for the campaign.

To be totally honest, i really was hyped about the game because i’m a big Alien fan, there, i said it. Imagine my disappointment. Prometheus came out in theaters, things were going crazy in the Alien universe. Thing is, i just finished the game, on medium settings, the story was sort of ok….-ish. I also used some graphical enhancements and also the critical fix for the dumb programming of the enemy AI. Yeah, somebody back at Gearbox HQ fucked up one letter to be precise and everything went to shit. “Theater”, remember that word? This is one of those examples where modders should get some love, so all the thanks get out to James Dickinson aka TemplarGFX that found the issue and gave the world a fix. Yeah, the problem could have been fixed, but keep in mind that game dev corporations are just here to take your money, if they see a backlash upon release the mostly move on to the next project.

Fanboy rant:

They kind of mixed up some things from the spinoff series AvP and i can’t have that as die hard fan, like who the fuck is Michael Weyland? Remember when Peter actually created Weyland Industries? Then he dies and Yutani steps in and thus the first Alien takes place? Don’t even get me started on Bishop. Who? The guy from Alien or AvP? Make up your goddamn minds you assholes. They also re-introduced Hicks, like what the hell, he died in the movie. What did he do, find a body, suit it up in military gear with his dog-tags and put him in the hypersleep chamber? Remember when Ripley, Newt and Hicks get on the ship and each has their sleep chamber? Some wild facehugger appears, the navi fails and the ship crash lands on Fury 161. You’re telling me he randomly found a lookalike? Way to go, you just fucked up the timeline, writing director my ass. Hicks was great in Aliens but once dead should have stayed dead.

I sometimes have the impression that people that crate a movie and/or a game prequel and/or sequel didn’t even watch the originals their work is fucking based on. I mean, like, how can you release a game with a story that is not based on the original timeline. What a way to milk a franchise. Thank God Ridley Scott is back in the news with his latest alien movie comebacks. Everybody thinks they’re some cool director and shit, and think they have good ideas and have the fucking nerve to fuck up a timeline that spans numerous movies books and games. Because you’re full of shit.

Now back to what i was saying before i started ranting. Don’t mess with the lore, the Alien series is a good as it is, don’t fuck it up because you’re not smart enough to create something new while following the source material. As a whole, the game is your typical fps, not terrible. I could call it a waste of time, but the game didn’t even last that long, from start to finish. I played with all the DLCs, imagine how short of a campaign it would have been without them. Gearbox fucked up, Sega is out jerking of in some dark corner and 20th Century Fox is just a bunch of corporate assholes that don’t give a fuck. So thanks a lot, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

I would recommend this game, but i simply can. Even if the AI was working from the beginning it wouldn’t have any difference. It tried and failed miserably. I guess i can scratch another game off the bucket list. In any case, i’ll leave the fix below if you really want to give this game a go.

Step 1: Go to “My Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config”

Step 2: Open up “PecanEngine.ini”

Step 3: Search for “ClassRemapping=PecanGame.PecanSeqAct_AttachXenoToTether -> PecanGame.PecanSeqAct_AttachPawnToTeather”

Step 4: Remove the “a” from the word “Teather”

Step 5: Save file and load up the game!

Anyways, to be completely honest, i did enjoy the Xenos, seeing the jockey and the alien eggs spread across the Derelict. Also the music, those recognizable tunes. That being said, it could’ve but it didn’t. Check back soon, i’ll be dropping a review on Alien:Isolation. Now that’s a game worth mentioning. Watch out for facehuggers, ’till next time.