On of the great things about a show like E3 is the opportunity to catch up with friends and former colleagues. The gaming industry is a small, yet tight-knit group of men and women who use development crunch cycles as a baptism of fire for new recruits. As enlisted men become veterans, they continue to master tricks of the trade and past experiences to hone their craft to bring you the best gaming experiences possible.
Senior Producer Matt Powers is an old colleague of mine where we shared a history on the frontlines of Nazi occupied Germany during the development of the Medal of Honor franchise. That game has undergone significant changes over the years as has Matt’s career in the game industry where now instead or fighting Nazi’s, he’s focused on fighting Xeno’s a.k.a. Xenomorphs. (You know, the aliens.) in the game Aliens: Colonial Marines by Sega.
When I caught up to Matt, there was already a multiplayer gameplay session already in progress where one team were playing as Colonial Marines as seen in the movie Aliens, and the other playing as, well, the Xeno’s.
One of the challenges that Matt said he had to overcome was the balancing between the two factions. On one hand, people know what to expect when playing as soldiers. You’ll have your general classes such as engineer, medic, etc. but with the Xeno’s; you only saw in the movie a couple of classes such as the Face Hugger, the “Drone”, and the Queen. Given this game is a direct sequel to the Aliens film; they had some creative license thanks to FOX to create a couple new species specifically for the film.
Another game mechanic that had to be handled was the combat style of soldiers versus Xeno’s. Given that the Marines will have an array of weapons at their disposal, the Xeno’s have a different combat style relying on stealth and close-quarter combat.
If you were a fan of the film franchise, you’ll already know what to expect blending horror and action. If you’re a gamer, you’ll have something new to tinker with when the game releases early next year.
Watch this space for more news from E3 2012. Also be sure to check out KONSOLE KINGZ also showcasing news and info from the show.
[…] Colonial Marines – I’ve featured this game in a previous blog post during E3, but now that it’s nearing release in a few weeks, I’m definitely ready to shoot some […]