Colonial Marines to appear at E3?

[Sebastian]

Get psyched!

It appears Gearbox/2K have been sending out neat little promo packages to the press with an awful familiar-looking dollhead with the name Rebecca scratched into its neck.

Suffice to say, look for a full E3 re-reveal for Aliens: Colonial Marines at E3 this year when it kicks off on June 7th, in a little less than two weeks.

Stay tuned for more coverage then.

Source.

[Hieronymus]

You know, I've never thought before about how fucking creepy that doll's head is.

[Into the Void]

I won't be holding my breath...

[AcheronLV426]

**MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD**

After standing in line for an hour waiting for opening day at this year's E3 I immediately made a beeline line for the SEGA Booth and the ALIENS: Colonial Marines Demo.

No video or recording of ANY kind was allowed.
Randy Pitchford of Gearbox made sure it was known one the their own people was utilizing NIGHT VISION as a deterrent.

I was shocked to see Randy presenting the demo, but after listening to him and see his giddy enthusiasm, there was no denying his love of all things ALIENS and his exuberance was intoxicating and refreshing.

The game utilizes an an ALL new proprietary graphics engine with Real-Time dynamic lighting.
Meaning the lighting was not, as traditionally done, baked in (i.e. artificial or faked). 
This was in great effect during firefights as you saw the ALIENS naturally lit up by the glow of Pulse Rifle muzzle flashes and explosions.
The ALIENS movements and animation were A.I. driven (ala Left4Dead) and not scripted for infinitely more tense and dynamic firefights.

The audio presentation was spot on with sound samples of motion trackers, pulse rifles, wind, water drips and overall environment ambience nailed perfectly. 
And best of all the ALIENS sound and look like they were lifted right off the screen.  Their screams and cries after getting shot were pitch perfect.

The graphics, to paraphrase Randy Pitchford, were amazing and the best I've seen of any ALIEN game to date. 
Minor quibbles include the lack of motion blur on fast moving objects, aliasing of sharp/straight edges and the occasional graphics pop up.

The demo began with U.S.S. SULACO still orbiting LV-426 and another starship arriving (I believe the name stenciled on the side was SEPHORA (someone verify for me?)). 
Next began the sequence of the Marines on the SEPHORA waking up from hypersleep (ala ALIENS) and a series of quickly accelerating cuts showing an event (from the opening of ALIEN 3)
causing the ship to crash land onto LV-426.  The remaining Marines regroup and head toward the now decimated remains of Hadley's Hope. 
Here we witness the Marines working their way toward Operations (similar to ALIENS).  Making sweeps through now familiar areas like Medical with Facehugger specimens still in stasis.
They are quickly attacked by multiple ALIENS.  The main player used a shotgun to great effect for most of this fight.
The versatility and speed of the ALIENS was highlighted here as they breached the room from various points of entry including the floor and ceiling. 
One fantastic moment involved an ALIEN grabbing the player and attempting to impale him with the infamous 2nd jaw.
Easily the highlight as it showed the impeccable texture detail and animation employed by the artists at Gearbox to perfectly nail the signature look of the ALIENS.
The player and ALIEN tumble from the 2nd floor outside onto the ground with the ALIEN now dead and a new threat looming. 
Here we were introduced to a "new" species of ALIEN... one that can only be described as almost Rhino in nature with a massive sweeping skull much larger than the Queen's. 
On all fours, squat and bulky but, extremely fast as it pulverized several not so lucky Marines as the player and another NPC made their way back to safe haven in Hadley's Hope.
This is where a "Last Stand" scenario played out as the Marines reloaded and were given access to Sentry Guns and the M-41A Pulse Rifle.
4 Player Dynamic (anytime drop in or out) Co-Op was also on demonstration as one player was tasked with setting up the Sentry Gun in the area below while the other 3 took positions awaiting the onslaught.
Unintentional comedy ensued as the player trying to setup the Sentry Gun failed (numerous times) to do so before the attack.
An innumerable amount of ALIENS poured in from all areas of the massive enclosure and the room was soon bathed in the iconic ALIENS red light.  Gunfire and the blood curdling screams of doomed
Marines as well as the shrieks of fallen ALIENS drowned out any attempts of communication.  The remaining Marines retreated to a much larger area with 2 Power Loaders getting retro-fitted with flame throwers
as the ALIENS once again breach the room en masse.  The main player holds his ground with Pulse Rifle and Grenade rounds to good effect until the climatic entrance of The Queen.
She makes her way to him, grabs him and thrusts him to her maw as the the screen cuts to black on her gaping jaw and the sound of organs bursting and bone crunching.

Randy Pitchford and the creative folks at Gearbox with this Demo have managed to do something no one else has... create not only an incredible and extremely faithful ALIENS game, but also a proper and unique "sequel" to ALIENS itself.  Randy was quick to mention that this game does not alter the canon established in ALIENS or ALIEN3.  Rather answer the questions left at the end of ALIENS. e.g. what happened to Hudson and Burke?

With Borderlands, Brothers In Arms, Duke Nukem Forever (releasing next week) Gearbox proves they are a developer of great creative power and I for one cannot wait to see what they accomplish with the finished build of ALIENS: Colonial Marines come spring of 2012.

[Sebastian]

This was a fantastic preview! Lots of information I did not previously know about. After seeing the brief clips recorded at E3 and reading your article it's safe to assume this is going to be one hell of a game.

But..

Rather answer the questions left at the end of ALIENS. e.g. what happened to Hudson and Burke?

Was there ever any doubt about what happened to them? Don't tell me they somehow lived through the hive blast?

[beckmen]

I still don't understand how anything survived the blast. 

[Company Man]

Maybe they dove behind a log like Dutch did?

[beckmen]

Yeah, but he was only able to repel a thermonuclear blast because he flexed at the right time.

[Hieronymus]

Do we have any solid information regarding the distance between the colony and the atmosphere processor?  It's possible that the blast would have damaged the colony so severely that any human inside would have stood a very high probability of dying, but the structure itself would remain intact enough to explore in this game - though perhaps in a ruined state.

As for Hudson and Burke, if they were taken to the atmosphere processor, then they were caught in the epicenter of the blast and there would be no trace of them left.  However, they were both nabbed in the colony itself, and Hudson was armed.  It's conceivable that he took out the alien that was carrying him.  A player might run into his acid-splattered body in the colony sewers...it's even conceivable, given what I said above, that he survived somehow, but missed the flight off of the planet.  I would hope that's not where they're going, but it's possible.

As for Burke...he didn't have a weapon.  Unless Hudson saved him ( ), the alien either killed him outright or dragged him to the atmosphere processor, where his body was converted to a superheated plasma.

[BlackWatch]

where his body was converted to a superheated plasma.

Plasma is superheated gas... so would superheated plasma be superheated superheated gas? I know, I'm a dork. I'll get me coat.

[Hieronymus]

If I recall, not all plasma has to be superheated - it's just matter in a state in which electrons are dissociated from atomic nuclei.  You can get that by heating it, but if it's formed that way (for instance, by solar processes) and escapes into the vacuum of space before it can recombine into normal matter, you can get cold plasma.

I think.

[Neltharion]

Plasma is superheated Electrons. It could also be quarks, but most people would say its just electrons.


I don't think you can get cold plasma as the electrons would just escape, in the method you suggested they are still hot, as its the magnetic field of the sun that traps them and brings them to earth/other planets via Solar Wind.

I am not 100% sure but, I doubt you can get "cold" plasma.

[Hudson]

Facehuggers still in tubes sounds a little sketchy. *sigh*

But honestly, I really can't complain here. How often do I get the "correct" sequel to a 1986 movie on a next generation system? 

[deezelboy]

Do we have any solid information regarding the distance between the colony and the atmosphere processor? 

The script gives it as one kilometre.

The explosion was subsurface, which I guess would have saved the colony from a more devastating shockwave and thermal effects. 

[Hieronymus]

Plasma is superheated Electrons. It could also be quarks, but most people would say its just electrons.


I don't think you can get cold plasma as the electrons would just escape, in the method you suggested they are still hot, as its the magnetic field of the sun that traps them and brings them to earth/other planets via Solar Wind.

I am not 100% sure but, I doubt you can get "cold" plasma.

The interstellar medium is described as a plasma.  That would necessarily be pretty cold.

The explosion was subsurface, which I guess would have saved the colony from a more devastating shockwave and thermal effects. 

There was still a mushroom cloud...but I suppose the rock may have deflected the blast upward, sparing the colony some of the force of the explosion.