A new Aliens: Colonial Marines Overhaul mod has been released! The critically reviled game, Aliens: Colonial Marines, is getting some positive attention recently. As some of you may have seen reported by numerous gaming websites, modder TemplarGFX has been working on significant changes to the game, which in his words bring it closer to “how it should have been when it first released.”
The “ACM Overhaul” mod has improved Alien AI, adjusted Mercenary AI to keep the focus on the Aliens, adjusted weapon mechanics and handling, added graphical improvements, and many other changes that players hoped for upon the game’s initial release. TemplarGFX says he is going for for a darker tone with the new graphics.
A new Aliens: Colonial Marines Overhaul Mod has been released! A “Boiler” Alien hides in the shadows. Some of the shading and lighting has been reworked for the new mod.
I tried this mod myself, using it to play a mission right after I had played through it using vanilla settings, and it definitely seems like some steps have been taken in the right direction. The Aliens rush you quickly (think Left 4 Dead) and are devastating up close. The Mercenaries are more manageable, they no longer have that “hive mind” intelligence that was frustrating for many players, and your Marine companions actually seem like they’re assisting with the battle.
Personally, my favorite change was the weapon mechanics. The pulse rifle is now film accurate (Original M41A rather than the MkII) with a full 99 rounds, and the “weight,” aiming, and recoil felt improved for all weapons. Even on a high end gaming PC, the ultra settings of the new graphical enhancements slowed down my frame rate significantly, so further optimization may be needed. The mod can also be used with the game’s original graphics.
A comparison between the current PC version of ACM on top and the Overhaul Mod below.
I played Version 2 of the mod but Version 3 has just been released yesterday. Head over to ModDB if you’d like to give it a try yourself and see the full list of changes. Have you played the mod already? Let us know your thoughts down below!
The higher Alien speed made the game more enjoyable for me since I found myself looking around more often. Many times I would turn around, see nothing, then turn again to see an Alien in my face. Very pleasant. Sections where Aliens can spawn to your side and behind you are the best. The late game is really bad, since the Aliens always just rush you from the front, and even with the changes still attack in a straight line.
In indoor sections the Aliens were more fun to fight. I'm not sure if it's shit pathing or what, but sometimes Aliens would just run right past me, towards my side. This was not a bad thing, since it actually gave his buddies a chance to run at me from what used to be my front. I would see Aliens jump into spawn locations when shot at and then reappear later. Coupled with multiple Aliens it creates the illusion that they are flanking you and distracting you for their siblings. Sometimes they seemed to "bug" out and just stand right in front of me on all fours. Most of the time this looked pretty stupid, which is unfortunate, but I can recall at least one time where one did it among lots of dead bodies, and I actually thought he was dead. I walked almost right into him before noticing his tail wagging. Was pleasantly surprised. I still think they can afford to be even stronger.
I thought Lurkers could also have used a speed boost. I found them pretty lacking in general, and only ever died to one in the warehouse where 3 appear. It was actually pretty neat. One attacked me from the front while his friend pounced from the side and killed me. They don't usually behave like this. The locations they hide in are obvious and they are really slow when compared to the soldiers.
PMCs continue to be the worst parts of the game, but I have some memory that they were way worse in the vanilla game. Only one segment with them gave me cancer and that's when you have to leave the Sulaco on the dropship. Mostly thanks to random pin-point accurate grenades that they'd throw from the floor level onto the catwalk.
It is still very irritating that the guns in this game are inaccurate as hell beyond 10 meters. The assault rifle's stupid scope attachment is completely worthless because the gun shoots wherever the f**k it wants. I think it was like this in vanilla as well. You'd spend a clip shooting a stupid PMC because your asshole marine can't shoot straight.
Melee is massively overpowered and I'm not sure what can be done about it. Although the Aliens would get surprise slaps on me my elbow would bail me out easily every time. Coupled with the guns killing so quickly at close range you'd need situations where Aliens attack from multiple angles, but these are rare.
I was divided on how AI teammates work. It's good that they are useful, but they trivialize some encounters. They saved my ass loads of times but it made the game a bit too easy. Also, my teammates killed the Crusher literally instantly. He charged at me, ran past me and into my friends, and Cruz just executed the motherf**ker in one shot.
All in all, I am impressed with what was done. The game is elevated from a piece of shit to a game firmly entrenched in mediocrity with some highlights. Nothing can be done about the story or the missions being interactive cutscenes where you move in a straight line for 7 hours but the gameplay itself feels improved. Hudson's rifle is the actual pulse rifle, full auto and all. Why they made it burst fire only in the first place I'll never know.
I didn't play vanilla to compare but the game seemed darker and more foreboding than I remember, which are positive qualities. I also think I had a harder time telling dead Boilers from living ones, which I recall stuck out like sore thumbs to me on the vanilla game. Maybe just misremembering.
Edit: I forgot to talk about acid blood, which goes to how just how little it does. I think I read that it does deal more damage but I'll be damned if I noticed. As far as I was concerned, the acid blood did next to nothing.
Unfortunately I have no idea. I didn't think people really used Macs for gaming anymore. You could give it a go - its cheap enough now-a-days.
Again, they should've just done a standalone story that didn't have any big connections. I mean come on, they expect us to believe that Hadley's Hope survived an explosion the size of Nebraska?
Course, I never consider videogames and books as canon, cause once they make the next movie, they get retconned. Like the Aliens comic books got retconned when Alien3 came out, and even more when Resurrection came out, and especially after Prometheus. Star Wars expanded universe anyone? Don't get me wrong, expanded universes are great for new ideas, but they'll only be canon for a short time. They always do.
One last thing and then I'll shut up. The instructions seem to say that you need Steam and Windows to get it to work. But I have a Mac. But I also have Crossover, which sometimes work. So if I buy this on Steam with Crossover can I play it? Or would I have better luck buying the CDRom and installing it that way?
Yeah, it's for the PC.
There is a readme file with instructions included in the download.
It almost makes me want to buy it again just to try your mod, man, except I gave that fat lying bastard sixty of my precious dollars once, and I'll be damned if I'm ever doing that again.
I'll have to acquire it through other means. I'm sure you've worked your ass off on this - thank you, and keep up the great work.
sadly, i wish someone implemented a way to play as the aliens -_-
Oh, I see. Thank you.
Never played the initial game to be honest, due to the awful reviews, so can't tell about the campaign...
True on both counts though.