They’re still far from release, but Gearbox is saying all the right things about their Aliens game. After revealing Colonial Marines in late 2007, the much loved developer behind Half-Life expansions Blue Shift and Opposing Forces have made it their mission to craft the perfect interactive sequel to James Cameron’s opus, not just another cash-in on the abused Alien franchise. Early screens betray an almost fetishistic love of Aliens, its forbidding environments awash in Cameron’s trademark palette of sterile blues and grays. The proposed gameplay also channels the film’s tense action, with group tactics based more on securing rooms than running and gunning. Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford’s announcement that Colonial Marines is being scripted by Battlestar Galactica’s Bradley Thompson and David Weddle is one more signifier of the game’s potential quality.
Bringing on Thompson and Weddle is more than just bringing on some recognizable talent. Battlestar Galactica’s strength as a dramatic work is its terse, loaded dialogue, character interaction that manages to inform personality as much as it propels the show’s grand narrative forward. The tone they bring to BSG is ideal for the bleak militarism of Aliens, but it remains to be seen if they can adapt their deliberate style to a medium that requires extreme freedom in narrative flow to be successful. Nothing will ruin this game's atmosphere like constant cutscenes.
Personally, I think Colonial Marines is one of the most exciting games coming out in the next year. Thompson, Weddle, and Gearbox just need to remember that they mostly come out at night. Mostly.
Our thanks to Joystiq and Shacknews for spreading the word.
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