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Hey I'm far from a Bioware "defender". I have levied plenty and numerous complaints about DA2, I just don't think it was this abomination that people made it out to be. Regardless though, I just don't agree with them being "lazy" as an entire developer. If anything, I would argue that they are stretched way too thin in comparison to what they used to be, and when you're working for someone like EA that would be on an annual schedule for all of their hits if they had their way, I think you ask for corners to be cut. I just don't blame Bioware alone, and I wouldn't call them lazy. That being said though, I still don't think the comparison was apt or good, as Gearbox's situation is completely different (and entirely their own fault for making the SAME mistake again).
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Posted on Reddit by someone claiming to work at Gearbox.
TL;DR - Gearbox bit off more than they could chew by trying to develop both Borderlands and this game, and got a shitty single player campaign after they outsourced it to TimeGate.First off, due to me breaking NDA, I can't provide any proof that I'm not just talking out of my ass. But I figure you'd be interested in hearing what I have to say regardless. I've been on the project for around a year and a half, so some of the following are things I've heard from more senior guys.
Pecan (the internal codename for ACM) has a pretty long history. SEGA, GBX and 20th Century FOX came to an agreement to produce an Aliens game around 6 years ago, after which SEGA almost immediately announced it, long before Pecan had even started production. The game has been in active development in the past, only to be shelved in favor of another project (Borderlands, Duke, etc), and each time it was resumed it would undergo a major content overhaul.
SEGA, naturally, wasn't super pleased about the delays, but GBX got away with it for a long time and the contract between SEGA and GBX kept getting augmented to push the projected release further and further back. The last time it was resumed, GBX outsourced a good portion of the game to outside companies. Initially, the plan was for TimeGate to take the majority of campaign, GBX would take MP, Demiurge and Nerve would handle DLC and various other focused tasks. This decision was made mostly so that most of the developers at GBX could continue working on Borderlands 2, while a small group of LDs, coders and designers dealt with Pecan.
Somehow the schedules for Pecan and Borderlands 2 managed to line up and GBX realized that there was no fucking way they could cert and ship two titles at the same time. Additionally, campaign (which was being developed by TimeGate) was extremely far behind, even as Pecan's Beta deadline got closer and closer. In April or May (can't remember which), Pecan was supposed to hit beta, but GBX instead came to an agreement with SEGA that they would push the release date back one more time, buying GBX around 9 mos extension.
About 5 of those 9 months went to shipping BL2. In that time, TimeGate managed to scrap together 85% of the campaign, but once Borderlands 2 shipped and GBX turned its attention to Pecan, it became pretty apparent that what had been made was in a pretty horrid state. Campaign didn't make much sense, the boss fights weren't implemented, PS3 was way over memory, etcetcetc. GBX was pretty unhappy with TG's work, and some of Campaign maps were just completely redesigned from scratch. There were some last minute feature requests, most notably female marines, and the general consensus among GBX devs was that there was no way this game was going to be good by ship. There just wasn't enough time.
Considering that SEGA was pretty close to taking legal action against GBX, asking for an extension wasn't an option, and so Pecan crash-landed through certification and shipping. Features that were planned were oversimplified, or shoved in (a good example of this are challenges, which are in an incredibly illogical order). Issues that didn't cause 100% blockers were generally ignored, with the exception of absolutely horrible problems. This isn't because GBX didn't care, mind you. At a certain point, they couldn't risk changing ANYTHING that might cause them to fail certification or break some other system. And so, the product you see is what you get.
Beyond gameplay, the story has been raised as an issue several times. I can't really comment without feeling bad beyond saying that the script was approved by 20th Century FOX, and that the rush to throw a playable product together came at the cost of the story. Campaign does a pretty bad job of explaining a lot of the questions raised at the start of the game, and so hopefully there will be DLC to flesh that out a bit better.
I'll answer some questions, but I have to run soon, so it may take a while for responses.
If this is true, Gearbox needs to get their shit together and either go full time development of Borderlands or hire more staff to handle more than one project at a time.Comment
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I'm not sure what's worse? Putting out a half assed game for $60 or having a day one Season Pass that costs half as much as the half assed game?
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All things considered, Colonial Marines is a consistently solid, occasionally spectacular shooter that does more than enough to honor the Alien name. It was going to be a tough task from the onset, but despite a ton of potential pitfalls for the talented team at Gearbox, they’ve gone a long way toward reminding us that, for folks who love the craft of building great games, the best challenges only seem impossible.
SUMMARY: Like most successful license-based games, Aliens: Colonial Marines is much more than a loving homage; it serves as one of the most robust story-driven co-op experiences to date. The concept definitely has room to grow, but as maiden voyages go, Colonial Marines is a clear winner.
THE GOOD: A modern Alien game that does much more than avoid being total crap.
THE BAD: AI teammates that seem to forget the alien menace must be obliterated
THE UGLY: The cutscenes. Love-ya-mean-it, guys, but next time, can ya get Halo 4’s CG squad?
SCORE: 9.0
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Is EGM the new IGN?
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anybody get this??
agree/disagree with that 9.0 rating??
3rd & 14, inside your own 15, up 6, 3:20min left to go = call a PA Pass and Cancel. *its Legit, so no needless complainingComment
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Played co-op at a friend's house..
It's okay, nothing special. But it isn't the horrible tragedy I've been seeing all over the internet.Comment
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too bad......it was promising too.
maybe wait to get pre-owned for like $20 ........
3rd & 14, inside your own 15, up 6, 3:20min left to go = call a PA Pass and Cancel. *its Legit, so no needless complainingComment
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Yeah, I'll probably get it at $20.
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got this game pre-owned..........it is soooooo bad in campaign mode; i cant imagine online being good at all.3rd & 14, inside your own 15, up 6, 3:20min left to go = call a PA Pass and Cancel. *its Legit, so no needless complainingComment
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