Okay, you may have guessed from the title how this view of the game is going to go. Let’s clear up a few things first, I loved the first and second Alien movies, as well as the Predator tie-ins. The third instalment of was awful but Resurrection made up slightly for it.

In terms of the games, there were some previous Alien games such as Alien on the Atari back in 1962, as well as Aliens in 1990. I never played these games, but I did play Aliens VS Predator released in 2010. I had been excited for an Alien game since early 2000 when there were several features for an upcoming PC release. My memory is a little fuzzy but I think this was the original Aliens: Colonial Marines being developed by Check Six Games. This was set to take place during Aliens, and Alien 3, similar to this release, but Gearbox has stated they have nothing in common.

Anyway, after being let down by Aliens VS Predator, I thought maybe there could be hope for Colonial Marines, since it actually took place during an actual Aliens event, and was considered to be an actual instalment rather than a randomly unconnected cannon.

Unfortunately, it once failed from the get go. I know graphics don’t mean everything, but on a console that is capable of producing stunning locations like those seen in Forza, Far Cry and even Soul Calibur, surely they can do better than this. They look on par of a mid level PlayStation 2 game, washed out with a foggy draw distance. During the scenes showing objects in space, there is no sense of ‘Space’. Everything looks like something filmed in a Thunderbirds studio, where as games like Halo and Mass Effect take their locations seriously.

The next part of the problem is the enemies, whether they are human or those bad ass Xenomorphs. So far I’ve encountered the humans, who for some reason all look like they were bread at the Star Wars Clone Factory. They could have at least gave them some slightly different features. The Xenomorphs on the other hand, look pretty good as they crawl over walls and ceilings and claw they’re way towards you. Sadly, this is just all laughable since you know they die after a couple of shots and just fizzle down as their blood pours out. They don’t give that sense of fear found in many of the movies, and instead just provide a slight nuisance when they show up. It is fun though watching them beep on the motion sensor as they get closer, in true Alien fashion, but it’s a bit lost when you can see them in front of you as well. Eventually you do get to meet the queen, and their ar some slight variations on the Aliens, as well as the chance to see some face huggers.

Overall the game feels put together half arsed. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m not that far into the story, but so far I have seen a lacking selection of weapons (they have the main guns from the films, that can be upgraded and customised, as well as hidden ‘Legendary’ weapons for die hard fans to find), a tiny selection of enemies, and predictable story telling. I’m hoping this gets better but it definitely isn’t a game I would happily pay £30+ for.