Fan Reviews

[And stuff]

I gotta go with ScardyFox on this one. Are you saying I have some kind of psychological problem and denial issues because I like this game and not a game like Black Ops 2?

I think they're just saying folks are easy to please.  Yes it's a psychological issue but certainly not a problem.

Then people who are hard to please have a psychological issue, too, right?

Yes, we all do.  Do you know what "psychological " means?

Oh yeah, I do. I just wanted to make sure you weren't one of those douche bags that thought his side was better than everyone elses. Then, you did kinda turn into that douche. 

We're all douches on forums, I'm not in denial here.  I was responding to Scardyfox because he or she seemed to think we're all on the same level as far as standards go.  We aren't - and if I needed to be a douche to get that across then so be it.   

Bottom line is some of us like things with higher quality, while some of us are okay without.

Edit:  And Gearbox telling us the game was going to be superb was just the icing on the cake as far as expectations go.

[Prime113]

I gotta go with ScardyFox on this one. Are you saying I have some kind of psychological problem and denial issues because I like this game and not a game like Black Ops 2?

I think they're just saying folks are easy to please.  Yes it's a psychological issue but certainly not a problem.

Then people who are hard to please have a psychological issue, too, right?

Yes, we all do.  Do you know what "psychological " means?

Oh yeah, I do. I just wanted to make sure you weren't one of those douche bags that thought his side was better than everyone elses. Then, you did kinda turn into that douche. 

We're all douches on forums, I'm not in denial here.  I was responding to Scardyfox because he or she seemed to think we're all on the same level as far as standards go.  We aren't - and if I needed to be a douche to get that across then so be it.   

Bottom line is some of us like things with higher quality, while some of us are okay without.

Well, I like things of high quality too - Halo 4, Mass Effect 3, Kansas City BBQ, Dredd(2012). Are the games I mentioned better than ACM? You bet your stuffy ass they are, but I have enjoyed my time with ACM, and probably will for as long as this site has people playing it on the 360.

[Salt The Fries]

No; agreeing with a comment that states the game was never marketed as anything other than mediocre dictates denial. They were clearly gearing this up as hot shit; it isn't; saying that they never hyped it up in the first place is the denial.

This guy totally got the point across.

The level of denial is so enormous it's not even funny. But in the end this exact psychological mechanism that drives you to the denial and excuses is very well documented, it always goes to the stage of making constant excuses to repress initial expectations to make yourself feel better.

A difference of opinion on enjoyment in a videogame dictates denial? Nice two-bit presumption clearly based on several years of clinical psychological studies run by such an esteemed psychologist such as yourself.

Got any more advice for us, life coach?

This guy, however, by missing (or avoiding deliberately) the point entirely just reinforced what I just said.

[SiL]

No. Insinuating that people who like the game somehow showcase a state of denial is ridiculous.

I agree completely.

Which is why no-one said that.

That you like the game is irrelevant every bit as much that it's irrelevant that I didn't liked it. The point is the comment was made that Gearbox never said this was going to be any sort of big deal and that people had much too high expectations considering what the marketing and interviews said. That is the denial; saying they weren't making a big deal of it when they clearly were.

If you liked it, more power to you. You get a game you enjoy and don't feel you wasted time and or money. But to say people's expectations were unfounded by what was said pre-release?

Well, that's a river in Egypt.

[Aceburster]

Just finished it. I gotta say that I think they took the crappiest parts of the game and stuck em up front because it slowly gets better. Its not perfect or even far above average for lots of reasons but it turned out to be more fun than annoying. : ) 6/10 final verdict. Better marine SP than AvP2010 but thats not saying much imo.

[Elicas]

Honestly, y'all make me think of the BDSM community. Some people like taking it up the arse with a rusty spike while being whipped and beaten, f**k some people even pay for the experience.

The majority of people don't.

Anyone, anyone at all, defending Gearboxes treatment of this game deserves the f**king inept fanwank bullshit that the games industry shits out on a bi-weekly basis with no chance at getting a solid Aliens game.

I think the denial part comes from the people saying things like:

People are being WAYYYYYYYYY to over critical. What the f**k were people expecting the next BIG THING! Its exactly how it was marketed out to be..... People complain to complain. ITS NOT THAT BAD!

Mark my words in a weeks time there will be a patch out for some side textures and AI boost!

Gearbox marketed this as the next big thing, arguing that it would make a film in the original trilogy a "better film" and that this game would rectify all the ill's the Aliens franchise had suffered over the last fifteen years. It doesn't, near universal hatred strongly suggests just how shit this game is.

New here, but not to the Aliens franchise.

I got my pre-ordered copy of the game today, and have played through half of the campaign as well as trying out each of the multiplayer modes.

While IGN and Metacritic will have you believe that this is a terrible game with graphical issues and poor presentation, let me dispel any apprehension you may have right now. THIS GAME IS FANTASTIC!!

Critics are misguidedly looking for the next-gen FPS CoD-killer, whereas die-hard Aliens fans will be looking for a true sequel to James Cameron's Aliens. This game represents that, more than any movie-adapted video game I've ever played. Aliens: Colonial Marines is a stalwart example of atmosphere and story done right. With a wonderfully-crafted narrative and a deep, tension-driven, and exciting campaign just ooooooozing with all the fan service and spine-shuddering chills that we've been waiting for with an Aliens franchise game. No true fan will should be disappointed.

Gameplay-wise, you're looking at a campaign mode filled with tight shooting, dark corridors, and some superb voice acting including the return of several actors from Aliens including Lance Hendrickson and Michael Biehn. Weapons feel powerful and accurate, the arsenal of the true badasses that the Colonial Marines are (with the one notable exception of the Assault Rifle...with its wimpy 3-round burst, ineffectual sound design, and the fact that it's completely extraneous since the Pulse Rifle is better in every way). The sound design is dead-on, with everything from doors opening to motion tracker pings to pulse rifle blasts sounding exactly like their movie counterparts.

As for the Multiplayer (otherwise known as "why I will keep playing this game after i'm done with the 6-hour campaign"), the game offers some great sustainability in the way of many different game modes (all of which are teams of xenos vs. teams of marines; some of which the marines have only 1 life while xenos respawn constantly) and a TON of unlockable content for customizing your weapons and armor, xeno attacks, and appearance for both sides. The game modes offer a varied assortment of objectives and gameplay styles, and are a ton of fun.

As for the downsides....which every game has. As of today, the communications aspect of multiplayer is buggy (I tried chatting multiple times and the mike connection only worked about 1/3 of the time). There seems to be some lag or frame stuttering during mutliplayer matches during the downtime between rounds, but i'm not sure what caused it. All in all, any issues are minor compared to just how fun the game is!

The Verdict: 8.9/10 for me, the best Aliens game of the last fifteen years.

This game is neither fantastic, well made nor a suitable follow up to Aliens. Try harder Randy.

Edit: Or even this, from the official reviews thread.

I mean, come on!

If you are a real fan, you should be happy that you got a game.

Be happy that you got a game based on a movie from the 80s... Correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't happen to often.

Be happy you got an Aliens only, not predator game.

Be happy you shoot Hick's Shotgun, Hudson's Pulse Rifle, and Vasquez's Pistol.

Be happy you can choose what finishing move you preform as a Xeno!

If you won't even play it, then don't call yourself a real fan.

I'd rather this story be canon than Prometheus. Not dissing the film, it was amazing, but I prefer it not to be canon.

Stop bitching and be grateful with what you have,

We should be happy, they made a shitty game, because it has authentic weapons. We should be happy because it's based on a film from the 80's. we should be happy, because if we don't like this film we're not a true fan. WE SHOULD BE f**kING HAPPY FOR THIS DAMNIT!

Denial, or delusional.

Or both.

[HappyAlien]

Hopefully I'll have some fun with this game when i play with my friends on multiplayer. I think the main point to me is that i love the first two Aliens films and was hoping for a good or very good game based on them. Seeing the quality of some other FPS i was just hoping for something similar in an Aliens game. for the amount of time that was spent on this game what we got is not very good. If this game was not connected to the aliens franchise i wonder how many people would have bought a game of this quality. I probably wouldn't have but i'm an Aliens whore!


I remember when they brought out the first Star Wars prequel i was a huge fan and the trailer looked great and even after seeing that piece of garbage i insisted to my friends it was a good film took me a few days to realize it wasn't and now i see The Phantom menace for what it is. While this game is no where near as bad as the Phantom Menace, it has too many flaws for a 2013 game when developers should know the XBOX and PS3 inside out. Firaxis were given a much tougher job with creating Xcom (strategy game) for a modern FPS loving audience and look what they brought out. Creating a FPS based on Aliens is a much easier task. Maybe Firaxis should make an Xcom like game based on Aliens universe might be good!

Here are some things that i believe could have made a better Colonial Marines game.

1. Don't worry about being canon and setting the game where the film was set. Set it on a different planet with a bigger colony with a bigger diversity in environment. Maybe a colony where some of the planets environment has been changed some of it still looks like lv426 but some of it has been terraformed (of course include a derelict). Maybe have a prison planet like Alien 3 or gateway station as well in some missions.

2. Change up the gameplay. Some of the missions are going to be corridor shooters like COD that's the nature of Aliens (its mostly set in corridors mostly), but maybe mix in some sandbox missions. Maybe get to play as a colonist in some missions who has no weapons and has to outwit and evade the aliens and use traps to kill them you can fit into air vents that marines cannot  so you can go through levels they cannot. In some missions play as the drop ship pilot gunning down aliens like the c130 or drive the APC around.

3. Better enemy/weapons variety. They could have added some space jockey weapons to make it more interesting think of the gravity gun in District 9 could come up with a whole bunch of interesting alien weapons. Weyland Yutani could have been more than just the same looking guy in white armor. Could have had synthetic marines and spec op troops with the spec ops androids being more advanced androids who are faster and strong plus carry more advanced weaponry. Some of your own troops could also be traitors or company androids like Ash who turn on you and wipe out your team members.

4. Instead of messing with the films  original story lines  have some missions set in the actual films. Ok instead of bringing back characters who are thought to be dead, have some flashback missions like they did in Modern Warfare. Get to play as Ripley on the Nostromo alone with the Alien. Play as Hicks armed with only a shotgun when the go into the hive in Aliens. Have a mission as Newt escaping the Aliens. You can have a whole game based on a whole new colony and other worlds plus have missions directly from the films like Spec ops in MW2 and MW3. I always wanted to play a game on the Nostromo creepy as hell! 


5. Clean up the graphics and glitches. While i don't need perfect graphics since the XBOX and PS3 have been out for so long its not hard to make a game look nice and polished on both platforms, look at Rage.


6. End the game with the promise of the sequel being set on Earth overrun by Aliens and maybe a mission to the home planet of the aliens like the comics and novels. Don't worry about Prometheus the aliens can have their own home world in a video game and if its not canon just as long as its a good game.


There are so many things they can do to make a great Aliens FPS. When people really care about the license they are working on you get games like Batman Arkham Asylum followed by the even better Arkham City. I think we all want an Aliens game that does for Aliens what those two games did for Batman. Or what Firaxis did for Xcom or what Bethesda did for the Fallout series.

The first two films are so loved and admired by many of us and we deserve a game of the same quality and those making it would make a lot of money as well just from making an aliens game that was a true AAA title. Well least i have been enjoying it a bit more than AVP 2010.

[Space Sweeper]

I gotta go with ScardyFox on this one. Are you saying I have some kind of psychological problem and denial issues because I like this game and not a game like Black Ops 2?

I think they're just saying folks are easy to please.  Yes it's a psychological issue but certainly not a problem.

Then people who are hard to please have a psychological issue, too, right?

Yes, we all do.  Do you know what "psychological " means?

I think we should focus more on the term "psychological issue".

Here's one for you.

[Elicas]

I remember when they brought out the first Star Wars prequel i was a huge fan and the trailer looked great and even after seeing that piece of garbage i insisted to my friends it was a good film took me a few days to realize it wasn't and now i see The Phantom menace for what it is. While this game is no where near as bad as the Phantom Menace, it has too many flaws for a 2013 game when developers should know the XBOX and PS3 inside out. Firaxis were given a much tougher job with creating Xcom (strategy game) for a modern FPS loving audience and look what they brought out. Creating a FPS based on Aliens is a much easier task. Maybe Firaxis should make an Xcom like game based on Aliens universe might be good!

Hicks being alive = Midichlorians. It's a similar level of fail, each as bad as the other.

Actually, I'd rather watch the lovey dover scenes between Hayden and Natalie from 2+3 rather than play A:CM, and they were ball shrinkingly cringe worthy to watch.

[SPECIAL FORCES]

Finished almost half of it.IMO one of the reasons it is not scary is because till now i'm always with other marines to ''help'' me.
Never felt alone and desperate on a hostile environment.

If the Xeno AI was good and you didn't play so long with other marines,it would have been a decent game.
I wouldnt care for the bugs and the low graphics.Same for the fact the Xenos seem to have low HP.It would have been covered by the good AI.

[teras]

New here, but not to the Aliens franchise.

I got my pre-ordered copy of the game today, and have played through half of the campaign as well as trying out each of the multiplayer modes.

While IGN and Metacritic will have you believe that this is a terrible game with graphical issues and poor presentation, let me dispel any apprehension you may have right now. THIS GAME IS FANTASTIC!!

Critics are misguidedly looking for the next-gen FPS CoD-killer, whereas die-hard Aliens fans will be looking for a true sequel to James Cameron's Aliens. This game represents that, more than any movie-adapted video game I've ever played. Aliens: Colonial Marines is a stalwart example of atmosphere and story done right. With a wonderfully-crafted narrative and a deep, tension-driven, and exciting campaign just ooooooozing with all the fan service and spine-shuddering chills that we've been waiting for with an Aliens franchise game. No true fan will should be disappointed.

Gameplay-wise, you're looking at a campaign mode filled with tight shooting, dark corridors, and some superb voice acting including the return of several actors from Aliens including Lance Hendrickson and Michael Biehn. Weapons feel powerful and accurate, the arsenal of the true badasses that the Colonial Marines are (with the one notable exception of the Assault Rifle...with its wimpy 3-round burst, ineffectual sound design, and the fact that it's completely extraneous since the Pulse Rifle is better in every way). The sound design is dead-on, with everything from doors opening to motion tracker pings to pulse rifle blasts sounding exactly like their movie counterparts.

As for the Multiplayer (otherwise known as "why I will keep playing this game after i'm done with the 6-hour campaign"), the game offers some great sustainability in the way of many different game modes (all of which are teams of xenos vs. teams of marines; some of which the marines have only 1 life while xenos respawn constantly) and a TON of unlockable content for customizing your weapons and armor, xeno attacks, and appearance for both sides. The game modes offer a varied assortment of objectives and gameplay styles, and are a ton of fun.

As for the downsides....which every game has. As of today, the communications aspect of multiplayer is buggy (I tried chatting multiple times and the mike connection only worked about 1/3 of the time). There seems to be some lag or frame stuttering during mutliplayer matches during the downtime between rounds, but i'm not sure what caused it. All in all, any issues are minor compared to just how fun the game is!

The Verdict: 8.9/10 for me, the best Aliens game of the last fifteen years.

You are being sarcastic right? Right? 

[YutaniDitch]

Hello there, guys...

I have played it yesterday and it took me a day to muster all of it...

First thing is this game proved I am truly an Aliens nerd... I loved seeing the litle details like the names of the Marines we loved in the lockers... I loved watching the Sulaco, seeing the interiors of it... Loved Hadley's Hope and the vistas of LV-426... The graphics were not great, but to me, they got the point across... I was expecting a better graphics game, especially from the trailers and all, but I have to say that from day one, from the very first day I heard they were doing this game, I was skeptical for just this reason: having played Alien Trilogy on Sega Saturn, and knowing already this was taking place post-ALIENS movie, so, no Atmospheric Processor, LV-426 is ruins and so on and so forth, I think they went the only way they could: spending some time on the Sulaco, spending some time on LV-426, expanding it (IMHO, not so credibly so) to an obscure Weyland-Yutani facility annexed to the Space Jockey (aka Engineer) ship... And that is about it, really... I don't understand what fans were really expecting from a game that reduced it's scope so dramatically by calling itself 'a sequel to Aliens'... Maybe I am just being over-positive about it, but I was pleasantly surprised given I had such low hopes going into the game, except for the feeling of walking around Hadley's Hope or the Sulaco or the Jockey's ship... Or seing the four ejected pods on the Sulaco... That was cool... Those were great moments and I am always replaying those levels... Hoorah to ashes...

Also, whenever we see way too many graphical stills and no in-game shots, you should worry... That was my second hint...

About the STORY, I think it was tolerable... I am a huge Alien3 fan, so

Spoiler

having Hicks alive and kicking

[close]

is not a sequel to me, but an alternate, paralell universe... His explanation could make sense, but was a bit flimsy...

But, of course, I understand those who were expecting a lot, maybe too much, from this game... It always disappoints... I liked AVP 2010, the last game featuring my favourite monsters, and given the quality of those 2010 graphics, I can understand the frustration against this 2013 one who, I agree, has the graphical quality of a Starship Troopers game... To me, it was good enough to make me happy to see my favourite tidbits of the movie - Hadley's Hope, Operations (seeing everywhere our favourite characters went was a great feeling; which is what these games are all about)...

Would I have preferred this game with the AVP 2010 graphics? Of course! But we must bear in mind that AVP 2010 is one of the benchmarks for graphical quality, meaning that most may computers may not come to specs... I am lucky, having a top of the line one, but I am aware that many, if not most, may not have... And I should add that, for instance, the Nest bits were better than in AVP 2010, because it had that cool shading effect the AVP 2010 did not have...

Regarding the Xenos, The AI was all over the place, alternating between the good and the awful intrinsically, which means that they were chaotic... The huggers gave back the fear the first AVP game had, even though you could fight it off (sometimes, I couldn't click fast enough and it was game over, man! HAHAHA). The Human enemies were a nice addition vor variety, and I disliked the Berserker and the Spitting Aliens, being two creatures that never existed before! So, unless they had elephants or rhinos on that planet, the Berserker makes absolutely no sense! But we had the Paetorians before in AVP, so... Also, the scarinness factor was clearly sacrificed for action, and since Aliens was more of an action movie with almost IMHO zero scarinness, I think this game followed that movie's choice of action over fear...

So, I will stop here for now, as this post is already enormous, and there are many things to be said about the music (great, best part of the game)...

Cheers!

[AcidGlow]

This game blows.. end of story.

Now if you'll excuse me.. I need to go play a kickass multiplayer match of Aliens vs Predator 3 (2010)!!

[YutaniDitch]

As many of you have pointed out to me, some hate, some love, some are okay about it... I am in the last group...

It has it's flaws, it's strengths, but like I said, it pays off if you go with low hopes as I did...

I remember people saying the same thing about AVP 2010, that it also failed, and now, they think it is better than ACM... So, at the very least, this game made people think differently regarding AVP 2010... 


Many games, like movies, work by comparison... To me, ACM would be perfect if it had better graphics, but then, it would take an enormous amount of hard drive space and a vast quantity of memory and processing power to play it, so I take my wins where I can... You CAN see the love of the material spread across the game, but I agree, for the time it took for them to make the game, it ought to be better looking than this... It reminds me of the Messiah game, actually... or Duke Nukem Forever... Way too much time in production means they are gonna downgrade it eventually... The graphics on the promotional stills often showed a quality that if we had the entire game on those visuals, the game would be brutal, but also incredibly heavy specs-wise... I wonder if that is what made them downgrade the graphics like that...

And regarding Gearbox's bravado, of course, they would over-sell their product!!! That is predictable as hell! I would be surprised if their CEO or MArketing Rep would say =don't buy this game, it sucks'! I watched one of Gearbox talking about it and surely he sounded like an Aliens geek like me! However, he failed to realise that the tidbits he liked about Aliens may not be the ones most of us do, and what I like about Aliens differ not only from me to anyone else, but even through time, my views evolve and somewhat change... I for instance, disliked Alien when I first saw it... Now, ten times after, I love it! It is all a matter of open mindness, especially having bought the game! HAHAHA 

OK, so to many, it blows... I am sorry, because it means you wasted your money... I can say I got my money's worth, especially with the PC version, which is less expensive than a console one, and also adaptable to the video card, memory and processor of the unit... I am sure I paid less for a lot more graphics, having skimmed through the console youtube reviews and walkthroughs... That is very low quality indeed... Because of my high-end machine, I concede on the graphics part... The story is flimsy, but it would be better and look better in an actual sequel than as a game pretending to be a sequel...

I loved Alien3 but I think this game never intended to devoid the Fincher movie... In fact, except for Hicks, it does not affect the third movie at all... He replaced his body with probably one of the first attackers and then sent the pods to the EEV... I also think the rationale behind his early awakening is credible... When attacked during hypersleep, the system automatically awakes the highest ranking officer on the ship... Now, the problem is this: the Opening credits on Alien3 clearly show huggers on board! Now, that would have to have happened between Hicks waking up and before he sent the pods to the EEV! That makes no sense as he would clearly have seen the hugger on Ripley! That is the only reason I don't think this was thought through! But it was nice to see Hicks again and even better, having Michael Biehn speaking the lines! And as always, One of my fave actors, Lance Henriksen, back to play! That guy has the greatest voice in HOllywood, followed closely by Michael Wincott (Elgyn from Alien Resurrection)...

So, these are my reason why I liked, though not loved, the game... It was worth the money, it is worth going back and replay it... I liked the add-ons to the gear, the paint jobs, etc... There are good things in the game... Nothing is ever all bad in my book... But I understand people who were expecting much more... I sure wasn't, hence why I was somewhat pleased with the results...

Cheers, guys!

[teras]

As many of you have pointed out to me, some hate, some love, some are okay about it... I am in the last group...

It has it's flaws, it's strengths, but like I said, it pays off if you go with low hopes as I did...

I remember people saying the same thing about AVP 2010, that it also failed, and now, they think it is better than ACM... So, at the very least, this game made people think differently regarding AVP 2010... 


Many games, like movies, work by comparison... To me, ACM would be perfect if it had better graphics, but then, it would take an enormous amount of hard drive space and a vast quantity of memory and processing power to play it, so I take my wins where I can... You CAN see the love of the material spread across the game, but I agree, for the time it took for them to make the game, it ought to be better looking than this... It reminds me of the Messiah game, actually... or Duke Nukem Forever... Way too much time in production means they are gonna downgrade it eventually... The graphics on the promotional stills often showed a quality that if we had the entire game on those visuals, the game would be brutal, but also incredibly heavy specs-wise... I wonder if that is what made them downgrade the graphics like that...

And regarding Gearbox's bravado, of course, they would over-sell their product!!! That is predictable as hell! I would be surprised if their CEO or MArketing Rep would say =don't buy this game, it sucks'! I watched one of Gearbox talking about it and surely he sounded like an Aliens geek like me! However, he failed to realise that the tidbits he liked about Aliens may not be the ones most of us do, and what I like about Aliens differ not only from me to anyone else, but even through time, my views evolve and somewhat change... I for instance, disliked Alien when I first saw it... Now, ten times after, I love it! It is all a matter of open mindness, especially having bought the game! HAHAHA 

OK, so to many, it blows... I am sorry, because it means you wasted your money... I can say I got my money's worth, especially with the PC version, which is less expensive than a console one, and also adaptable to the video card, memory and processor of the unit... I am sure I paid less for a lot more graphics, having skimmed through the console youtube reviews and walkthroughs... That is very low quality indeed... Because of my high-end machine, I concede on the graphics part... The story is flimsy, but it would be better and look better in an actual sequel than as a game pretending to be a sequel...

I loved Alien3 but I think this game never intended to devoid the Fincher movie... In fact, except for Hicks, it does not affect the third movie at all... He replaced his body with probably one of the first attackers and then sent the pods to the EEV... I also think the rationale behind his early awakening is credible... When attacked during hypersleep, the system automatically awakes the highest ranking officer on the ship... Now, the problem is this: the Opening credits on Alien3 clearly show huggers on board! Now, that would have to have happened between Hicks waking up and before he sent the pods to the EEV! That makes no sense as he would clearly have seen the hugger on Newt! That is the only reason I don't think this was thought through! But it was nice to see Hicks again and even better, having Michael Biehn speaking the lines! And as always, One of my fave actors, Lance Henriksen, back to play! That guy has the greatest voice in HOllywood, followed closely by Michael Wincott (Elgyn from Alien Resurrection)...

So, these are my reason why I liked, though not loved, the game... It was worth the money, it is worth going back and replay it... I liked the add-ons to the gear, the paint jobs, etc... There are good things in the game... Nothing is ever all bad in my book... But I understand people who were expecting much more... I sure wasn't, hence why I was somewhat pleased with the results...

Cheers, guys!

Sorry, this is absolutely wrong!

It is a linear action FPS. All the similar nature games are better looking than this on the consoles.
All the COD games starting from the first Modern Warfare, all the Halos, Crysis 2 and the upcoming 3, the PS3 Killzones etc.
Heck, even the Far Cry games that are non-linear sandbox games with dynamic worlds are looking much better than this.
This is U3 engine at it's worst. A competent and sometimes impressive engine DOWNGRADED to look like U2.

It's one thing to enjoy what you can from the game like I do as well and another to conjure false excuses 

Read this:

http://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=47277.msg1613340#msg1613340