The video game, "Aliens: Colonial Marines" is based solely on the "Aliens" franchise, picking up right where it left off with the third installment of the movie, "Aliens 3". As a recap, the third movie took place with Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, crash landing on a strange planet known as Fiorina "Fury" 161. The planet was strange to Ripley as it held only male prisoners who were shipped away from their home planets to live out their life sentences here. Ripley's ship, the U.S.S. Sulaco, was originally programmed on a course taking them straight back to Earth, until unforeseen events took place, causing her ship to crash land, with no survivors, or rather no human survivors. The only non-human survivor that was able to inform Ripley of the events that caused the ship to crash land as it did was the humanoid-android, Bishop. In his destroyed state, he was still able to be connected and recount the final events that resulted in their crash landing, an alien. For the rest of the movie, Ripley and the crew members strive to come up with a way to protect themselves, survive for as long as they can until help can come. Until then, they must carry through the act of carrying out their plan to destroy the alien before it destroys them all. An unpredicted twist took place however, Ripley has been implanted with an alien embryo while she was in a stasis pod on her ship. But this is no ordinary alien, she comes to realize that she is carrying the Queen alien of all things.
Now as many know who have seen the movie, Ripley died, along with Corporal Dwayne Hicks, and the little girl they were taking with them. Along with this death tole, the other group of marines died as well the movie "Aliens". But, unaware of such events arising in "Aliens" and "Aliens 3", a dispatch team is sent out to investigate the where abouts of Ripley, and all those involved with her crew. This is where "Aliens: Colonial Marines" picks up it's part in this historic franchise. This game is a first person shooting game that is set to begin their journey on the U.S.S. Sulaco, the ship that was seen predominantly in "Aliens", and the very beginning of "Alien 3". The team sent to this ship, which is found on Fiorina 161, is a search and rescue. Their mission, to find Ellen Ripley and all those surviving marines from "Aliens". Unbeknownst to them, they will be created by a different set of guests, those of a deadly appetite for killing, the aliens. The ship is invested with aliens, all taking on their original forms that they are so well known for. The creators of this game have incorporated all the major players of the aliens. There will be the infamous facehugger, who will make their attacks through trying to grasp hold of the face of the player to implant an alien embryo in them. Next is the Warrior aliens who will be seen throughout the majority of the video game as the player fights their way through them to get past the levels. Then there are the scouts, aliens who will be seen throughout the game peaking their head around tops of edges and corners, spying on the player, but never engaging the player or their team. But shoot them quickly because once they get done with their spying, they will return to the Queen to deliver what they've seen, and a massive swarm of warrior aliens will come for the kill. The warrior aliens will attack either in a head on style, or span out in a more coordinated manner to split up everyone in the room. The drones are meant to stay in the hive to take care of the eggs carrying the facehuggers, and provide any assistance to the queen alien as needed. And of course, the ultimate alien of them all, the queen alien, the most powerful of the aliens, and the hardest enemy the player will come in contact with. The queen alien will always appear as the boss fight at the end of the game.
The game is broken down between different places that have been seen throughout the "Aliens" and "Aliens 3" movies, including the U.S.S. Sulaco, Fiorina 161, and other places seen in the movies. These other places have yet to be disclosed to the public yet, and are predicted to not be revealed until the game itself is actually on the market. The player will be able to choose from several different characters, each one armed with their own unique personality and weapon in which they are an expert at. Throughout the game, of course, the player will have the opportunity to pick up other weapons that will prove more than useful along the way, one of which just happens to be a flamethrower. The player is responsible for setting up different sets of orders for the other members of their team to follow. On the search and rescue team itself, there are four players total, the player included. The player must deliver a set of orders every so often for searching, and battling the aliens. Another perk of the game is the player is able change from their character to another character on their team. This allows them to upgrade all of the characters on their team, and help out in certain spots on the board. From a collaborative effort with their other players, as there is also a multi-player option available, a person is able to get through the game, unscathed, to discover the answers that await them at the end.
Players are also able to play "Aliens: Colonial Marines" online with those who have the game as well. "Aliens: Colonial Marines" will be released for Playstation 3, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, and for the computer. The majority of these systems will allow for online access, granting players of "Aliens: Colonial Marines" the chance to play with all those around the world. While online, players will be able to access other boards, other aliens, and more weapons that have the power to blast the entire board with a force that will kill all the aliens in the room. Currently the game has yet to be released, and the release date is expected to happen in autumn of 2012.
