Aliens CM Reactions

[Necronom IV]

I guess "the sequel to Aliens" is just cursed. In film or video game form.

How is Gearbox outsourcing the game even legal? If Sega contracted Gearbox to make the damn thing, they chose that company for a reason. Wouldn't that be like hiring Christopher Nolan to make your movie and then Nolan hiring Uwe Boll to do it instead?

But, ya know, if Christopher Nolan is too busy making Inception 2 and of course ensuring Ghostbusters 3 is finally released, therefore he's going to have to prioritise such projects, especially if he only has 6 years to spare. But if he gets Boll in on-the-quiet, the job will at least get done. And if the result sucks, he can at least blame Boll for the result (because it's clearly not his fault for handing it to an underskilled director in the first place).

[deezelboy]

How is Gearbox outsourcing the game even legal? If Sega contracted Gearbox to make the damn thing, they chose that company for a reason. Wouldn't that be like hiring Christopher Nolan to make your movie and then Nolan hiring Uwe Boll to do it instead?

Outsourcing's not only legal, but it's incredibly prevalent in the games industry - most of the games you've played will have been outsourced to some degree. I think there was some kind of survey done a few years back which found something like 9 out of every 10 developers stating that they were outsourcing - usually asset creation, console implementations and so forth, although it's getting pretty normal to see one studio doing the single player and another doing the multiplayer.

The movie analogy doesn't really hold, as films are massively outsourced. Even at the level of director - I mean, for most films we have no idea if the scene we're watching was filmed by a second unit, assistant director, etc.

[Neltharion]

Is it not usually "outsourced" internally?

As in, the same company but a different Studio based in a different city? Like Bioware Montreal did ME3 multiplayer while Edmonton did Singleplayer.

That sort of thing.

[Necronom IV]

But regardless of whether it's right, wrong or indeed simply the norm, why did Gearbox outsource it such a lowkey crap company? I don't blame Timegate at all, since they've merely lived up to their reputation, I blame Gearbox for choosing them to do it. Surely they could have had a greater say in ensuring it was handled by a company with more talent and resources if they weren't prepared to make it themselves?

What annoys me the most is that A:CM got shafted for Duke Nukem Forever of all games, a game no one really cared about anymore, was hideously outdated and had literally become a vaporware joke. It should have just been cancelled.

Teacher - "Thompkins, this homework is appalling! It's a solid F. Explain yourself boy!"
Thompkins - "It's not my fault sir, I got Richardson to do it for me!"
Teacher - "I see, well done, you're let off. Richardson however, DETENTION!"

[deezelboy]

Is it not usually "outsourced" internally?

As in, the same company but a different Studio based in a different city? Like Bioware Montreal did ME3 multiplayer while Edmonton did Singleplayer.

That sort of thing.

Don't think so - at least, if it's not a separate company it's not outsourcing.

It's more like Bioware outsourcing the ME3 Wii U port to Straight Right, or Eidos Montreal outsourcing the PC version of DX:HR to Nixxes, and the boss fights to Grip Entertainment.

[Neltharion]

That would explain the whole mess with the Boss fights then

[deezelboy]

Yep! That's basically how the story came out - lots of complaints about the boss fights.

But regardless of whether it's right, wrong or indeed simply the norm, why did Gearbox outsource it such a lowkey crap company?

I wouldn't say Timegate are crap. They're ok. They're lowkey, but if they weren't they would have probably got the license for A:CM themselves.

And Timegate was probably a very good fit to what Gearbox wanted for A:CM, given Section 8 used the Unreal 3 engine and Timegate were heavily influenced by Aliens for the game (allegedly - dunno, never played it).

...I blame Gearbox for choosing them to do it. Surely they could have had a greater say in ensuring it was handled by a company with more talent and resources if they weren't prepared to make it themselves?

I don't think it's got very much to do with who Gearbox outsourced it to. There seems to have been a breakdown in communication between Gearbox and Timegate, with Gearbox primarily focused on their own games.

What annoys me the most is that A:CM got shafted for Duke Nukem Forever of all games, a game no one really cared about anymore, was hideously outdated and had literally become a vaporware joke. It should have just been cancelled.

I think DNF was a drop in the ocean. Gearbox couldn't have spent any more than a year on that game, at a point where four years had already passed since they'd agreed to take on A:CM for Sega. Four years! And apparently they had very little to show for four years work - allegedly even the script hadn't been locked down at that point.

[Hudson]

As much as I'd like to blame Sega for not laying down the law with Gearbox more harshly and Timegate for helping to make a crap game, I think all the blame to be laid should rest on Gearbox. It was their responsibility to develop the game; they had the final say on everything. They devoted their time to Duke Nukem and Borderlands instead of a game that needed more attention.

In the same way I would like to blame Fox for Resurrection, AvP, AvPR, and Predators. The directors on those films are responsible.

[Necronom IV]

Two new review/articles about it.

Topless Robot's Nine Biggest Disappointments of Aliens Colonial Marines:
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2013/02/nine_reasons_why_aliens_colonial_marines_is_not_an.php

And a (naturally) scathing review from Zero Punctuation:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/6912-Aliens-Colonial-Marines

[Hudson]

Played multiplayer for a few hours today. Totally boring except for wreaking absolute havoc as the Boiler Alien. So much fun once you realize you do not have to explode to kill people. It's acid spitting attack is ridiculously strong. Plus, it runs so fast that if you charge people they can barely hit you, plus they're freaking out so bad because they know they're dead anyway if you die near them, so their aim is way off. Hilarious. And of course if you don't kill them by using the spitting attack, you blow up and kill them anyway.

Other than that, I got pretty bored. The challenges are starting to get pretty annoying.