Am I the only one here who has played Left 4 Dead? I mean, don't my teammates know that if we stick together we'll have the best chance for survival? But no one was communicating, even when I started to bark orders for us to stick together. Then one of my teammates pulled a Hudson, panicked, and sprinted off into the slimy xeno-infested tunnels ahead of the rest of us -- that's when I knew we were going to be in for a world of hurt. Soon after I was incapacitated by one of the xenos. Great. Thankfully someone on my team came back to my rescue, killed the xeno, and brought me back into the fight. Thank you, mysterious PAX attendee.

Run Away! Run Away!

These were the opening minutes of my time with Aliens: Colonial Marines' recently announced "Escape" multiplayer mode. This is where a team of four marines moves from waypoint to waypoint while fighting back four player-controlled xenos, who just happened to be controlled by the dev team at PAX so we didn't stand a chance in hell, as they constantly stalked us every step of the way to our APC that was waiting for us some distance away.


These waypoints also serve as a temporary safe zone from the xenos so we could pick up some armor, reload ammo, and swap weapons. Once we were all set it was back to trudging through the infested tunnels. Each of the waypoints have a specific goal, like using a blowtorch to open a sealed door or waiting for an elevator. But until that door opens or the elevator arrives, our backs are up against a wall constantly killing members of Team Xenomorph.

Game Over, Man!

It did feel like everything favored the xenos, and not just because the team was intimately familiar with the map. The marine players, when killed, well that's it. You're watching from the sidelines. And once one teammate goes down it's like a domino effect -- you can kiss survival all but goodbye once you're down to two marines. The xenos on the other hand could respawn a couple of seconds after being killed. And the different classes of xeno can cause all sorts of trouble, especially the spitter that would launch a puddle of acid at our group forcing us to scatter. Then the soldier xenos would rush in and start tearing us apart.



I will say that this mode was the first one that I've seen in Aliens: Colonial Marines that really captures the chaotic mess of the original films, where an outnumbered squad of marines is up against the odds and needs to make it to safety. It also makes me want to see more from the co-op campaign other than the opening level I saw earlier this year. Not to mention how the xenos control in multiplayer. Hopefully I'll be able to report back on that aspect in some greater detail later this year. For now I'll just re-read a bunch of my Dark Horse Aliens comics to keep me occupied.


Spy Guy says: I've spent years developing a special xenomorph retardant, but I've yet to test it out in the wild to make sure it works. Weyland-Yutani, the client I'm working for, is paying handsomely for someone to try it out. Contact me if you're interested.