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Aliens: Colonial Marines: Is it really that bad?

I used the image above because I found it funny, not because I agree with it :)

Aliens: Colonial Marines came out the gate mired in muck. I had high hopes for this game. Great source material, developed by Gearbox using the Borderlands 2 engine, it just seemed destined for awesomeness. But then the prerelease reviews started flowing in and it became clear that buying this game was not in your best interests. Sloppy alien AI preventing them from even reacting to your presence, save-wiping bugs, texture issues, the list goes on. It was cheap a few weeks back so I grabbed it and put a few hours into it. So-- is it really that bad?

No, definitely not. At least not anymore.

I... Read All I used the image above because I found it funny, not because I agree with it :)

Aliens: Colonial Marines came out the gate mired in muck. I had high hopes for this game. Great source material, developed by Gearbox using the Borderlands 2 engine, it just seemed destined for awesomeness. But then the prerelease reviews started flowing in and it became clear that buying this game was not in your best interests. Sloppy alien AI preventing them from even reacting to your presence, save-wiping bugs, texture issues, the list goes on. It was cheap a few weeks back so I grabbed it and put a few hours into it. So-- is it really that bad?

No, definitely not. At least not anymore.

I generally don't pay much attention to reviews when deciding to buy a game or not, because more often than not I feel like the emphasis is on the wrong things. This time, though, I listened. Technical issues aren't a matter of opinion. But since then there have been a couple of massive patches, one of them 5GB, big enough to be a game itself. Most of the technical issues have been fixed, which lets us evaluate the game based on what it was meant to be.

The graphics are good enough, but not great. The voice acting is good enough, but not great. The plot is good enough, but not great. See the pattern? The friendly AI is still not perfect. Your teammates will sometimes get a little stuck. Sometimes the difficulty curve is wonky, throwing you at a brick wall when you aren't expecting it.

A minor problem I have is with the concept itself. If I, a lone marine with a machine gun, can take down wave after wave of aliens, then it significantly diminishes the danger level in the movies. Ripley is deservedly known as a badass for taking down one in the first movie, but I just took out like 80 in 5 minutes. I'm aware that you can't really make a game in this franchise without that, but it's still a bit of a disconnect for me. One that I can luckily ignore.

But the gameplay, the gameplay is quite good. If you've handled a gun in Borderlands 2, you know what to expect. Fighting off waves of xenomorphs is damn fun.

But was it too little, too late? By the time the massive patch came along to fix the most egregious bugs, public opinion had already turned against A:CM, and for good reason. It definitely won't be the success that it could have been, but the good news is that you can get your hands on it for cheaper, sooner.

A:CM also raises some questions about how games should be reviewed. Even after the patch, there are still a lot of flaws. In fact, I spent most of my time in this post writing about the flaws. But the game is fun despite itself, and fun is what we play for. This is why I don't like the number rating system. If I was rating this purely on fun, based on what I've played so far I'd probably give it around an 8, but would feel the need to subtract from that due to the problems still present. The truth of the quality of this game is more complex than a number can represent.

I'd just say, give it a shot when you can find it for a good price, just go into it expecting some issues and try to look past them. If you can, you might just have a lot of fun.

Plague of Game Harrasment

I read a very good article on Polygon about harassment focused at game developers. The article features a good synopsis of the topic and collects a few interviews with people that have experienced some I call, "The Internet Hate Factory."

I am glad this topic is getting broader coverage and I hope it spurns more dialog in the community and fosters some change.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/15/4622252/plague-of-game-dev-harassment-erodes-industry-spurs-support-groups

You should also check out the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable Ep. 2 "The Internet Hate Factory" that covers this topic, Cheerful Ghost Ghost style.

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/1527

Plants vs. Zombies 2 Released On iOS

Plants vz. Zombies 2 It's About Time has just dropped on iPhone and iPad today and it costs nothing. After playing a few missions I can say that it is quite a bit of fun and well worth downloading. There are a few changes to the game, but it contains the same core PvZ action I have come to love.

Since the game is a free release on iOS it has a built in store to purchase upgrades. With only a few levels under my belt I haven't had to need to purchase anything. The game contains an overworld map similarly to Candy Crush Saga and its a nice touch.

The game starts you out around the house you played the majority of the first game from. Crazy Dave shows up with a time... Read All

The Firehose: Legend of Dungeon, Hammerwatch ++

Hammerwatch is now available for purchase on Steam for Mac, Windows and Linux. It will do your sould well to play this amazing new Indie Gauntlet styled hack n slash.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/239070
http://cheerfulghost.com/Travis/posts/1039

A game I have been crushing on recently has just come to Steam as pre-purchase. Take a swing at this beautiful new Rogue-like from the awesome dev duo Robot Loves Kitty.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/238280
http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/1215

John Carmack gives a really insightful talk on the physics of light and rendering. More wisdom from the master of Doom himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG4QuTe8aUw

Sorry... Read All

Battle.net Launcher Drops for Mac & Windows

Blizzard just opened up its new Battle.net client into open beta for anyone to test. I tried it out on my Mac and found the download and install to be a very simple process. The Battle.net client has a slick layout and is fantastic to use. I hope over time they keep the simplicity of it all.

"The new single sign-on functionality allows players to log in once to access World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, and the upcoming PC and Mac versions of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and stay logged in for up to 30 days.

Players can also install games directly through the app and, if you choose to leave the app running on your desktop, keep them up-to-date automatically... Read All

The Humble Origin Bundle

Now this one is interesting and somewhat unexpected.

Pay under $5 (as of this writing) and get:

* Dead Space 1 and 3 (2 will probably be unlocked later)
* Burnout Paradise
* Crysis 2
* Mirror's Edge
* Medal of Honor
* Battlefield 3
* Sims 3

All of these games unlock on Origin, but the games that are available on Steam will also be redeemable there.

Another important piece of info to point out: EA gets none of the money. So if you want to play these games but don't like supporting EA, here's your chance.

What do you think about this one?

Timogorgon Member wrote on 08/14/2013 at 07:53pm

Darn! You beat me to the punch on this one. I was just coming to post about it. :P

I dunno about this one. On the one hand those are some very high profile games being sold on the cheap and EA gets none of the profit. On the other hand, some of the games require you to install Origin, which for me is a deal breaker. :\

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 08/14/2013 at 08:55pm

I have Origin, it's not that bad. I gather it started off pretty rough, but it works as you'd expect now.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 08/14/2013 at 09:49pm

That's good to know the kinks have been ironed out. Still, I already have Steam, GoG, and PSN accounts for my digital download needs, so I think I'll still pass. That's awesome that EA is giving all of their share to charity though. EA also recently abandoned the on-line pass thing they were doing with console games. Maybe EA is trying to turn the company around to be a little more consumer friendly?

jdodson Admin wrote on 08/15/2013 at 12:04am

Not interested in installing Origin right now, perhaps that may change over time? News that the Sims 3 works on Mac is compelling... I don't know, I might do it.

That said, the amount of games this supports on Steam may well be worth the price of admission alone and EA's cut is entirely going to charity.

I am going to say that I think this is a good thing EA is doing. Putting games in a Humble Bundle and giving your cut to charity is a good thing. Now some could argue a saucy motivation, but i'll give them the benefit of the doubt, giving all your revenue for something to charity is nice.

They get a ton of new Origin customers and build back some goodwill, but what's wrong with that? No one need buy it or do anything so I can't see the downside here.

BR Supporter wrote on 08/15/2013 at 01:23am

I will most likely get this just because of the dead space games. The only one I have played is the second and it was really fun.

Tungsten wrote on 08/15/2013 at 04:01am

I've been looking to go back through Mirror's Edge. Steam's downloading it right now :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 08/15/2013 at 05:23am

They just hit the 2.3 million mark in the first day. Zoiks!

scrypt Supporter wrote on 08/15/2013 at 03:06pm

This is really interesting. You could look at it and give EA the benefit of the doubt as a rare move in benevolence on their part. You could also see that most of these titles are older, and have several DLC packages, which could bring in quite a bit of revenue. At last look, the number of bundles sold was just over 79,000. If only half of those people bought only 1 expansion at $15, then EA will have made almost $600,000. Granted, that's not much money for such a large company, but it's a decent pull for throwing out a few bread crumbs. Merely an observation, and not to take away from the charity that's going on, which is currently over $3.7 million! At least some good is happening here, even if the Empire is at the helm ;).

hardeyez wrote on 08/22/2013 at 08:55pm

They just added 2 games to it: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising and the original Populous.

Also, there are now steam keys for most of the games also.

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Fez Is A Magical World Of Exploration

After news that Phil Fish decided to halt Fez 2 development, in a fit of angsty sorrow, I decided to play Fez for the first time. From the intro screen to the first swaths of gameplay and score, Fez is magic. So magical that if video games can be art, Fez pushes that discussion forward. How much higher praise can a game get than it gave me genuine feelings of joy and exploration?

I am not sure what I can say more about a game that was featured in Indie Game: The Movie as well as reviewed and Let's Played as much as Fez. The rotating camera gameplay coupled with gorgeous retro graphics are a delight. Each new area offers new rich visuals and the unique gameplay Phil... Read All

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 08/14/2013 at 03:16pm

I picked this up recently after having seen Indie Game: The Movie. It's one of the few games I keep Windows installed (although the settings hint at a Humble version soon). I have only just begun playing but in the first ten minutes alone, the game brought several spontaneous smiles to this cranky gamer's face.

Fez is another of those games where screenshots fail to accurately capture the magic occurring onscreen. They fail to capture the depth that is revealed when transitioning between 2D planes. Nor do they show off the amazing level design when platforms that seemed so far away take on new form when shifted 90 degrees.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/15/2013 at 12:00am

Yeah, great point. Occasionally i'll just spin the world to get the depth of things and how it all works together. The lighting of Fez is also really good and I think its usage of shadows in later levels is something I haven't really experience much of, even in triple A shooters.

gmlawton wrote on 08/25/2013 at 01:35am

The fake glitches at the beginning and end blew my mind. Fez really is something special. The meta-puzzles are way over my head, but to me that just adds to the feeling that something really big is going on in the world.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/25/2013 at 06:47am

Agreed. I came to the part with the obelisk that repeats back your controls and wrote those down. Took me forever to realize you have to do the codes from look at them from the right.

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Wolfenstein: The New Order QuakeCon Interview

Jens Matthies of Machinegames gave a pretty interesting interview at QuakeCon about the upcoming Wolfenstein: The New Order. The video showcases some of the stuff we can expect from the game. Some of the video footage shows off BJ scaling a wall to the top of a building one hand on a rope while the other is spent killin' Nazis. As BJ scales the building a plane epically crashes into it and since nothing seems to stop him, he just keeps climbing.

The video also shows off a cool new stealth takedown mechanic new to Wolfenstein. Wolfenstein: The New Order will allow both a run and gun and stealth style of gameplay.

The difficulty modes in The New Order will mirror those in... Read All

Video Game History: Space Invaders

"In 1977 the video game market was flooded with clones of the game 'Pong.' 'Pong' released in 1972 had been such a huge hit that many other game companies had tried to produce there own versions of the game."

To celebrate today's retro Tuesday I decided to share a video about the history of Space Invaders. Space Invaders is a classic game I mostly played on the Atari 2600. It was re-imagined by the people that made it in 2006 as Space Raiders which was a pretty fun take on the formula.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Raiders_(video_game)

NPR Tiny Desk Concert Featuring Jim Guthrie

"Guthrie and his band drove 18 hours round-trip from Ontario just to perform three songs behind the desk of NPR Music's Bob Boilen. Watch them perform some of the wistful and infectious highlights from Guthrie's new album, Takes Time."

Its a great 3 song set featuring "A Difference a Day Makes," "Before and After" & "Like a Lake."

Jim Guthrie is the composer behind the music of Sword & Sworcery, Indie Game: The Movie and the upcoming game Below. He also recently released his entire catalog on the Humble Weekly sale and his new album "Takes Time" was part of that.

http://www.npr.org/event/music/210523884/jim-guthrie-tiny-desk-concert