New shooter was developed using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 technology to continue big screen adventure.
“Corporal Winter (the player) is pulled out of Cryosleep to help sort things out and it all snowballs from there,” said John Mulkey, lead designer of the game at Gearbox Software. “Over the course of the game, we revisit iconic locations from the franchise like the Sulaco, the surface of LV-426, the remains of Hadley’s Hope and we even visit the Derelict Space ship where the Alien Xenomorphs were first discovered by the doomed crew of the USCSS Nostromo.”
Cozzens said the team’s high level goals were simple; create a scary, atmospheric, and exciting game that’s true to the Aliens universe and moves the story of Aliens forward. Mulkey said Unreal allowed the team to create a number of new Xenomorph types that will become part of the official Aliens canon. He said each of these creatures were designed both to present great gameplay variety and a challenge to the player, but to also fit into the fiction of the hive structure of the Xenomorph mythology.
“We are doing a lot of things that add to the gameplay, while also feeding into the canon of the Aliens universe,” added Mulkey. “Being a four player co-op game allows you to fulfill that fantasy of experiencing the Aliens universe with a squad of your friends. We are presenting a meta game shared across game modes that allows you to personalize your character and gear as you saw in the film. Other aspects we are really excited about that present gameplay opportunities unique to the world of the films is the gear itself and what that affords. The Motion Tracker, as an example, creates an amazing sense of tension and combat awareness that is really unique to our experience.”
Another unique experience will come in the multiplayer gameplay, which features characters from Aliens like Private Hudson, Corporal Hicks, Private Drake and Sergeant Apone. Gearbox worked with the Hollywood actors to reprise their roles from the film. The fact that they died in the movie prevented them from appearing in the campaign story line.
“We are doing some really exciting things with the story that I think will blow the minds of fans of the series,” said Mulkey. “Alien 3 as a standalone film is a pretty cool film, but if we do our job right, I think we will end up making Alien 3 an even better film in the series.”
Unreal is known for delivering quality multiplayer online gameplay, which is something Gearbox has done across all of its Unreal-developed franchises. That experience with Epic’s technology has helped bring this convergence of one of the most beloved sci-fi action films of all time with a brand new interactive adventure that promises to answer some questions that have remained all these years. Aliens: Colonial Marines is also the first cross-platform Unreal game that includes the new Wii U console. That version of the game will get exclusive gameplay that takes advantage of the GamePad controller.
